CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Researchers at the University of South Carolina say it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace a high school principal, so Horry County Schools tries to avoid that by keeping the principals it has. 

There are 14 high schools in Horry County and HCS says it hasn’t had trouble finding principals for those campuses.

“We try to grow within our own organization and we’ve been very successful at doing that,” said HCS spokesperson Lisa Bourcier. “We have almost 6,000 employees and over half of them are teachers.”

The USC study says hiring and training a new high school principal can be costly. The researchers say the statewide average is $23,974 to replace one.

The study looked at six school districts in South Carolina. The highest reported replacement cost was $51,659, with the lowest cost at $10,413.

Horry County’s school district says incentives like competitive salaries and promotion opportunities help retain principals.

“We are the third-largest school district in South Carolina,” said Bourcier. “So we are able to provide some things that a lot of the smaller, more rural districts cannot provide.”

High school principals in the district make between $70,000 and $118,000, with an average salary of more than $90,000.

HCS says there are other incentives too.

“We look at technology support and we’re very fortunate here to have a very robust technology program within our school system,” Bourcier said. “We also look at other types of instructional coaches.”

With several new buildings in recent years, the district says the main focus has been staffing schools for younger students.

“Most of our new schools that have been built for growth has really hit the elementary and middle school levels, and not the high school levels at this point,” said Bourcier. “Any time you open up a brand new facility, those are additional employees that you’ll have to hire to be in those schools.”

Two Horry County high schools will have new principals when classes start later in August.

Myrtle Beach High School’s assistant principal Zachary McQuigg will be the next principal of MBHS.

Loris High School hired Richard Crumley, who was a principal in northern Georgia.