CONWAY — Frustrated by the limited details in their employment contracts, some Horry County Schools teachers plan to put off signing their annual agreements until the last possible moment.
The “signing day” movement is part of a statewide campaign to encourage local and state officials to address educators’ concerns about the contracts, which don’t indicate how much teachers will be paid or spell out specific duties.
“Right now, there is a teacher shortage, and our contracts are not attracting and retaining teachers,” said Cori Porter, a child development teacher at Kingston Elementary School and president of the Horry County Education Association. “They’re so vague. … We’re not getting clear expectations.”
The S.C. Education Association, an education advocacy group, is asking teachers to wait until May 10 to sign their contracts. That’s the state’s deadline to make the commitment for the upcoming school year.
“In many states, educators and school staff look to their contract to determine which rights are protected for themselves and their coworkers,” the SCEA’s website states. “However, contracts for educators and school staff in South Carolina often offer no benefit or protection while allowing significant leeway for districts and administrators. This one-sided relationship in employee contracts with school districts must end.”
HCS, South Carolina’s third-largest school district, employs more than 3,000 teachers. It’s unclear how many of them plan to participate in “signing day.”
Porter emphasized that this isn’t a negotiation tactic or a push for raises. She said it’s about making officials aware of the need for a more transparent process. For example, she said HCS contracts specify that teachers must “perform all assigned duties” without listing what those duties are.
“That one statement is so broad,” Porter said. “Right now, it’s so open to interpretation. … It burdens us with more things than a lot of us can handle.”
The contracts also include language about when teachers’ salaries might be reduced.
“Loss or reduction in any amount of anticipated or appropriated state, local or federal funding may, at the discretion of the District, require a pro-rata reduction of salary,” an HCS contract states.
“Any decline in student enrollment, elimination or change in course programming, financial emergency or temporary closing of school or district operations because of emergency circumstances may require a pro-rata reduction in salary. ... Recommendations to reduce salary or to terminate contracts will be made only after other remedies have been considered.”
In discussions between the local education association and HCS officials, Porter said they have been told a teacher’s salary can’t be listed in a contract because the school district is waiting on state lawmakers to make their funding commitment before the school board can finalize its budget.
She understands that challenge, though she said teachers hope to at least see the local contracts offer better defined expectations. That, she said, would help with retention.
“We need quality teachers, and we need quality teachers to stay,” she said.
Statewide, the number of teacher vacancies in public schools has continued to climb from already record-high numbers, according to a report last year from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement.
Those 1,613 vacant positions were nearly three times higher than in the 2019-20 school year, according to the Winthrop University-based center’s annual Educator Supply and Demand Report.
When asked about the “signing day” effort, HCS spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said the district “will abide by the laws set forth by the SCDE regarding the issuance of educator contracts.”
State law requires that school districts notify all teachers of their employment status before May 1, but districts have until Aug. 15 to provide teachers with their tentative assignments.
Porter said the “signing day” campaign is not intended to cause chaos for district officials.
“We are not asking teachers to not sign their contract,” she said. “We’re asking teachers to wait.”
District looks to raise pay
The “signing day” campaign comes as the Horry County Board of Education considers raising teacher pay.
On April 15, the board’s Joint Finance/Human Resources Committee discussed compensation scenarios, including raising the minimum salary for teachers to $50,000.
Staff said any raises need to be decided by May in order to include them in the next budget.
Horry County Schools already pays a base salary of $46,269 for teachers with a bachelor’s degree.
John Gardner, the district’s chief finance officer, told school board members it is too early to provide a recommendation about teacher raises because school districts are waiting for state lawmakers to allocate funding.
“We might want to have another meeting in the next couple weeks on this,” Gardner said, regarding the proposals for raises.
Earlier this year, the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee proposed increasing the state’s base teacher pay to $47,000. This would be $4,500 over the current statewide minimum.
Increasing the HCS base salary to $50,000 would cost the district $17.6 million. Gardner called this option a “hot ticket item,” saying staff have seemed interested in it.
Board member Debbie Edmonds, who represents Myrtle Beach and Carolina Forest, has suggested a performance bonus, though that is not among the proposals being considered.
There are multiple school districts across the state that pay higher base salaries than Horry County. They include Beaufort ($48,566), Charleston ($48,146), Anderson 4 ($47,813) and Greenville ($47,738).
Meanwhile, Horry County Schools pays more than neighboring Georgetown ($45,103) and Marion 10 ($43,350), according to HCS records.
