Horry County Schools spending millions trying to help students in reading, math

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Since the pandemic, Horry County Schools hired dozens of new teachers solely focused on getting students back on track. Now, the district is bringing in almost 30 more.

The school district approved spending more than a million dollars to hire 27 new reading and math interventionists.

These teachers will work specifically with students struggling with reading and math.

The district will place one additional interventionist at each of its elementary schools. So, each school will now have a total of two who can pull students into smaller groups if they need extra help.

These positions were originally hired after COVID-19 to help with learning loss. The district is still trying to bounce back from the pandemic.

The state report card shows students are surpassing pre-pandemic levels when it comes to English language arts but are not at the same level for math as seen in 2019.

RELATED: Horry County touts ‘significant gains’ in state report cards

The district plans to spend $1.3 million hiring interventionists for next semester and around $2.6 million for the next school year.

Interventionists and other positions were originally paid for by ESSER funds received during the pandemic.

However, those ESSER funds end next September.

So, the board also approved to keep funding those positions by adding them into next year’s budget.

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