Newest Horry County Schools board member chosen to fill vacant District 8 seat
Melanie Wellons, a swimming pool contractor, is the newest member of the Horry County school board.
The board selected Wellons after interviewing three candidates Monday for the vacant District 8 seat, which represents parts of Carolina Forest and Socastee.
The vacancy was created after longtime board member and former vice chairman John Poston died Jan. 30, several weeks after being hospitalized with COVID-19.
The other two candidates were Christine Rockey, a longtime instructor at Coastal Carolina University, and Amanda Whyland, a former HCS teacher.
Current board members asked all three candidates the same questions about the ongoing pandemic, the penny sales tax and their potential priorities in public office.
Wellons, who graduated from Conway High School in 1991, said in her application for the position that her children have graduated from the district, but she remains on the advisory board for the Carolina Forest district.
“My vision would be (for Horry County Schools) as the best (district) in the state,” she said. “We should be a district everyone wants to come work for.”
Wellons was supportive of how the board has handled the pandemic. She said one of her priorities would be to further improve the district’s virtual school program.
She also expressed support for increasing employee salaries, noting a study that was completed last year that recommends spending $10 to $14 million to bring HCS district salaries up to industry standards.
In her application, she said she had worked closely with Poston.
“It is his passion and integrity for the job that has led me to apply and put forth my knowledge and love for Horry County Schools,” she wrote.
Rockey said her top priority would be to return all students back to school full-time. She has two children at Socastee High School, which is one of the last remaining schools in the district that hasn’t full reopened. She was critical of some of the ways the district has spent money toward that goal, though she acknowledged the board did the best it could with the knowledge it had at the time.
She also wants to consider block scheduling and move students away from the use of textbooks as a potential cost-cutting measure.
Whyland, who is now self-employed, also supported how the board responded during the pandemic, but she said a top priority would be to improve communication.
“The more we know, the more everyone knows, the calmer and smoother things will be,” she said.
Wellons will be sworn in April 19. She will serve until the next general election in November 2022, according to state law, when the person elected will serve the remainder of the term through 2024.
This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 8:17 PM.
