Horry County Board of Education votes to keep class sizes stable

Horry County class sizes won’t be getting larger after all.

The Horry County Board of Education voted to keep class sizes stable Monday after several months of debate.

The board unanimously approved a motion to remove the stipulation that the average class size will increase by two additional students to pay for the Personalized Digital Learning initiative.

For several months officials have been debating ways to come up with $3 million to pay for the Personalized Digital Learning Program, debt repayments and other district expenses.

“Every board member was in favor of putting an end to it because we had enough money to pay for it without adding students,” said Joe DeFeo, board chairman.

The finance committee met in December to discuss an alternative way to save $3 million after the joint finance and human resources committee motioned in November to add two students to middle and high school classes over two years. The addition of one student would cut 41 teaching positions, which would save the district a little more than $3 million, according to John Gardner, chief financial officer.

The full board of education met last month to discuss the two motions, and most board members indicated they wanted to keep classes as small as possible. The board voted Monday to keep class sized stable.

“We pushed this [vote] back three years, but I’m glad we pushed it back,” DeFeo said.

The school board approved using “current year” savings of $1.1 million from the rehabilitative behavioral health services program and using a $1.2 million state grant to pay for half of the district’s instructional coaches’ salary to free up that amount to cover the PDL cost, Gardner said.

Next year, the district can take $800,000 from reading coach allocations – which is now partially funded through the state – and shift it into the general fund, which allows the district to save $3.1 million over two years, Gardner said.

“In some cases, instead of cuts, it’s just moving the funds where we needed and spending in one place rather than another,” DeFeo said. “It’s no longer an issue.”

The average class size for area middle schools is about 25 students, and the high school average ranges from 21 to 26, Gardner said. The larger schools, such as Carolina Forest High, usually have much larger classes than a small school such as Green Sea Floyds, he said.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Horry County Board of Education votes to keep class sizes stable."