黑料社入口

Editor鈥檚 note: Welcome to the first story in our new series, BOOM at the Beach. We are exploring a range of topics and how the area鈥檚 growth is impacting everyday life, from education to development to tourism. Be sure to look out for the next story in the series about how growth is taking a toll on the county鈥檚 landfill.

As Horry County grows, so does the need for local schools to accommodate more students.

Over the past decade and a half, the county鈥檚 growth has been substantial. While areas by the beach have exploded in terms of population, the boom is starting to now be felt in the western part of the county.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Horry County experienced the 10th highest level of net migration in the nation in 2023 with 15,061 new residents. Over the past 15 academic years, HCS has added more than 10,000 new students 鈥� this does not include the students in private and charter schools.

With that population boom, local schools are steadily seeing more students move into the area.

Horry County Board of Education member Darrell Ricketts, who is also a former HCS educator of 38 years, has seen the growth surge right before his eyes.

鈥淚 remember I was working as an administrator when we opened Carolina Forest Elementary,鈥� Ricketts said, 鈥渨hen International Paper had owned all of that land between Conway and Myrtle Beach, and it was all forest. 鈥� I don鈥檛 think we had any grasp that that area would ever be taken up by homes the way it has now.

鈥淲hen we first built Carolina Forest High School, that was a middle/high facility. Half of it was the middle school, and half of it was the high school. We thought that it would be sufficient for that area. Well, as you can tell, we were wrong in that.鈥�

Six Horry County high schools are already at or above capacity. Especially at the high school level, there is simply not enough room for students growing up in Horry County.

This upcoming year, the district will open two new elementary schools in the Carolina Forest area 鈥� meaning the area will be home to seven elementary schools in that attendance zone.

Four existing elementary schools in that zone are over 110% capacity. The two new elementary schools will help for the short term, but the question remains: Where will all of these students attend high school, with just one at-capacity Carolina Forest-area high school currently existing?

While new developments in places closer to the coast have been significant, that growth is quickly branching out around Conway and Aynor, and near the Green Sea and Longs areas.

Since 2010, Horry County Schools has attempted to keep up with the hundreds of new students piling into the county every year. The district has adapted, and spent millions of dollars to build new structures.

As growth seems to be showing no signs of slowing down, plenty of growth-related questions and data points have emerged for the local school district.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests, MyHorry黑料社入口 collected data to see just how much growth area schools have seen over the years. Here's what was found.

Steady surge in student enrollment

School officials lean into student enrollment data to help plan ahead.

In the 2009-10 school year, the 45-day average daily membership (ADM) number for K-12th grade 鈥� used to summarize enrollment data 鈥� was 37,594. In every year since (other than the 2020-21 COVID-19 year), enrollment has risen.

That number reached 47,800 during the 2024-25 year.

The growth is rapid and steady 鈥� with new developments and families flocking to the beach, the trend that has emerged is one that seems to be sticking. As Horry County continues to be one of the most desirable and fastest-growing destinations in the nation, Horry County Schools is seeing a steady climb in enrollment across the board.

(ADM numbers do not include students in certain special education classes and students attending various academic programs such as Academy for Arts, Science & Technology, Academy for Technology & Academics or the Therapeutic Learning Center. (Questions regarding specific numbers for those programs should be directed to Horry County Schools.)

Building space for students to learn

New classrooms and learning spaces have been needed to facilitate learning as more students fill classrooms.

Since 2010, HCS has built 12 new schools. This includes the two new Carolina Forest area elementary schools 鈥� Ten Oaks Elementary and Pine Island Elementary 鈥� which will be ready in time for the 2025-26 school year, alleviating capacity strain on existing elementary schools in that area.

Over that time period, HCS has spent almost half a billion dollars 鈥� $485.8 million 鈥� in new-building construction. River Oaks Elementary was the first school built in that period (2011), while others like Ten Oaks Middle (2017), Myrtle Beach Middle (2018) and Whittemore Park Middle (2024) have followed.

The two new Carolina Forest area elementary schools, Ten Oaks Elementary ($62.3 million) and Pine Island Elementary ($65.7 million) were the two most costly.

To put the two most recent building costs into perspective, River Oaks Elementary was built in 2011 for $22.9 million.

New teachers leading classrooms

As student numbers across Horry County have risen, so too has the total number of teachers across the district.

In 2010-11, there were just over 2,500 teachers employed by HCS. In 2024-25, that number was up to just over 3,400, nearly a 900-teacher increase since 2010.

Like overall student enrollment, teacher numbers have risen rapidly.

As of this year, seven schools in the district have more than 90 teachers employed: Carolina Forest High (180), St. James High (110), Conway High (105), Socastee High (104), Myrtle Beach High (96), North Myrtle Beach High (96) and River Oaks Elementary (96).

Functional capacity, sky-high ADM numbers

As growth continues, one of the most talked-about issues is HCS鈥� functional capacity numbers.

The district uses this data to reflect actual space constraints a school may be experiencing. The numbers help in planning for individual facility needs, such as additional support spaces.

Functional capacity is used to help designate Category 1 (Red Zone) schools, which are schools that have reached 95% capacity and can't accept new students.

As of the latest 2024-25 ADM data, 23 of the 49 schools listed were designated as Red Zone schools. This means that nearly half of the schools in the district have reached their 95% capacity threshold, and no transfers can be accepted into these schools.

The building of the two new Carolina Forest elementary schools will ease the issue in that area, as schools like River Oaks Elementary (166%), Ocean Bay Elementary (144%) and Carolina Forest Elementary (136%) are significantly over capacity.

Also of note are the high school numbers, particularly by the beach. Carolina Forest High (127%), St. James High (110%), Myrtle Beach High (106%), North Myrtle Beach High (102%) and Socastee High (96%) are all red-zoned.

Every school in the North Myrtle Beach attendance area is over capacity, according to these numbers. Four of the six schools in the St. James area are red-zoned, while three elementary schools in the Aynor/Conway area are over 95% capacity.

Build or redraw?

Growth is here, and it is advancing at a rapid pace. How the district will respond and continue to adapt with HCS Superintendent Clifford Jones 鈥� who took over the post in February 鈥� is yet to be seen.

However, with no end in sight to the growth, decisions on the district鈥檚 future goals and plans are being made by the day, and different stakeholders have different answers on how that growth can be managed.

As of now, two distinct options exist for the district to manage population expansion: new building construction and redrawing of attendance lines.

Some HCS Board of Education members say both are options to alleviate strain on existing schools.

Ricketts, the newest member of the board, serves District 11, which consists of Aynor, parts of Conway and Green Sea Floyds.

Ricketts says that he feels the growth 鈥� while it has its benefits, like the rise of diversity and new opportunities 鈥� caught many in the area by surprise.

鈥淚 think the biggest thing that gets me sometimes is that our infrastructure really has not caught up, for the school district or for the county. I go down country roads now that are just as busy as some of the roads down toward the beach,鈥� Ricketts said.

鈥淚 do worry about the effect that all of that has on our schools and our abilities to keep up with it. That鈥檚 the issue 鈥� keep up.鈥�

HCS Board Member Debbie Edmonds, whose district includes Carolina Forest and Myrtle Beach, says she feels the two new Carolina Forest elementary schools will 鈥渞elieve pressure points鈥� in that area, but there are other areas that will need to be reviewed.

When asked about the best ways for the district to address rapid growth, Edmonds said attendance line redrawing was a strategy that can be considered.

鈥淭o think you have to build more schools to address overflow in some areas is not the case,鈥� she wrote in a response to a question regarding growth management measures. 鈥淲e have schools that have capacity for students to shift to other schools in order to utilize our buildings to their best efficiencies and not have to build more schools. Redrawing attendance lines is another strategy that can be considered as we address school age population growth.鈥�

黑料社入口

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Edmonds also noted Carolina Forest High School鈥檚 capacity as a concern, and that she believes a 鈥渃ombination of approaches鈥� can contribute to help alleviate overcrowding.

"There is no doubt that a high school of 3,000+ is not ideal for students and their academic growth,鈥� she said. 鈥淢r. Jones has recognized this and the need to use a combination of strategies to address this reality. I believe it will require a combination of approaches to help alleviate the overcrowding to include a building and a redrawing of attendance lines to utilize all resources to their best benefit to the community for the immediate and long-term future.鈥�

Ricketts says he believes a combination of 鈥渁 few鈥� new facilities/buildings and a redrawing of attendance lines could be beneficial as the district looks to address capacity concerns.

鈥淚 have been through several times when we have redrawn attendance lines,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen we opened Carolina Forest High School, that tremendously reduced the size of Conway High School because of redrawing of those attendance lines there. Also, when we redrew the lines between Aynor and Conway. We added students at Aynor High School when we did that. I have been through several of those.

鈥淵es, people don鈥檛 like it. But, as a school district, I think we have to make sure we utilize our facilities. One thing I will tell you about redrawing lines though, is that you need to look out five to ten years. Because the worst thing you can do is to redraw a line this year and then find out that you don鈥檛 have the capacity to do that now鈥� You need to have a five to ten-year plan when you redraw these attendance lines.鈥�

Regardless of what exact measures are taken, it is clear that those in leadership across the district must address the continued growth with forward-thinking measures.

Other attendance areas, like North Myrtle Beach and St. James, are experiencing similar concerns and will be needing to address facility concerns in the near future.

Since 2010, thousands of new students and hundreds of new teachers have joined the system. With population increases happening all over the county, there is no reason to believe that more growth 鈥� and more need for Horry County鈥檚 students 鈥� isn鈥檛 on the way.