Shaw pegged to be Conway interim athletic director

Conway High School found itself in a potentially sticky situation last month when none of its three announced finalists for its soon-to-be vacant athletics director position panned out.

The school and district decided to use a method that’s already worked.

Horry County Schools announced this week that longtime district employee Marion Shaw would be named to the position in an interim basis for the 2015-2016 school year. Shaw was in the same position for roughly six months last year at Carolina Forest.

The stop-gap – along with that of Roger Dixon, the current interim A.D. at Carolina Forest – allowed that school to take more time finding a full-time hire. That same approach will be used at Conway, where Principal Steven Fitch is also leaving at the end of the academic year.

“It was decided before Mr. Fitch’s announcement that we were going to do an interim,” said Daryl Brown, the HCS Executive Director for Student Affairs. “When we were doing the interviews, we were already late in the hiring season. We felt to get the most qualified candidate, to put an interim in there.”

That decision, Brown said, was made shortly after the high school’s original search ended in less-than-expected fashion.

Current Athletics Director and football coach Chuck Jordan announced his resignation from the administrative role on Dec. 17, 2014. Two days later, the district posted the opening.

Of the 64 candidates who applied, Fitch, Brown and the rest of the committee pared the list down to Summerville basketball coach Greg Elliott, Rock Hill basketball coach and Assistant Athletics Director Eric Rollings and LaSalle-Peru (Ill.) Athletics Director D’Wayne Bates.

Bates took another position, Rollings withdrew from the search altogether and Elliott was informed he would not be selected.

There was an on-the-surface comparison to the St. James football search in 2014, where all three finalists publicly withdrew.

“When situations arise that are out of your control, you take precautions to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Brown said. “There were reasons for St. James, as there were reasons for Conway. There isn’t a one size fits all. Can I say it won’t occur again? No. Situations arise.”

Shaw’s hire is further proof that the district believes it had a solid contingency plan.

The 64-year-old Shaw has served as a district and school administrator. In addition to his interim status at Carolina Forest this school year, he returned to Aynor to coach the wrestling team.

At Conway, he’ll keep his “at-will” status, a term for those who aren’t teaching. Shaw technically retired in 2010.

“I told them when I left, if they ever needed me to call me,” he said. “This is another one of those opportunities. … I want to work until I’m 85 years old. That’s always been my goal. I don’t play golf. I hunt a little bit. I fish a little bit. But that’s it.”

Approximately 40 years after he started with the district, Shaw is already looking forward to his next position. He’ll start July 1, although many of his duties won’t be spelled out until the school hires a principal to replace Fitch. (That posting closes on May 12.)

Brown said the district intends to have the full-time Conway athletics director job re-posted by December and start interviews in January.

In the meantime, Shaw will be in charge of the Tigers’ sports programs.

“I don’t want to call it status quo,” Shaw said. “I don’t want people to think I’m sitting around for a year. I could go to McDonald’s in a drive-up. But I don’t plan to go in and make wholesale changes.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Shaw pegged to be Conway interim athletic director."