Horry County Schools fills vacancy left by board member who died of COVID
The widow of late Horry County school board member Ray Winters will complete her husband’s term, the board voted Monday night.
Tracy Winters was selected to represent District 3, which includes parts of Myrtle Beach and Carolina Forest. The seat has been empty since August, when Ray Winters died of COVID-19 complications after being on a ventilator.
Former state Rep. Michael Ryhal and Ann MacDonald, a nurse, were also in the running to fill the seat.
Tracy Winters was selected after the first vote resulted in a tie. Winters and another undisclosed candidate were put on another ballot, and board members voted a second time, ultimately deciding on Winters to fill the seat.
“I wanted to serve on the school board to continue doing the work that my husband was doing and be an active liaison of students, staff and parents of Horry County Schools,” Winters said.
Board members discussed the candidates in a private executive session before voting in public. Nine of the District’s 11 current board members voted as part of the appointment, as District 5 representative Howard Barnard was absent from Monday’s meeting and board chair Ken Richardson didn’t vote as part of the appointment process.
Ahead of the vote, current board members interviewed the three candidates, asking nine questions about the most pressing issues facing the district and how the candidates would approach situations like disagreeing with the rest of the board and managing growth facing the area.
Winters, an office manager whose daughter went through the Horry County Schools system, said the growth in the district is a key issue. Maintenance of HVAC systems in school buildings is necessary for the district’s success.
“The motivating factor is to make Horry County Schools the best they can be,” Winters said during her interview with the board. “It’s all about the children, and the motivating factor is to be a member along with you all to make that goal happen.”
Because Ray Winters died before his term was up, the candidates went through the appointment process instead of a typical election process where the public votes to fill a seat.
The term lasts until 2022, when an election is scheduled to take place.
Winters will officially join the board Nov. 15, when she takes an oath at the board’s next meeting Nov. 15.
