NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Some Horry County high school students won’t be going back to class at North Myrtle Beach High School on time this year.
Chief Officer of Support Services Daryl Brown says renovations have been taking place at the high school all summer, but the school will not be open by Wednesday, August 23, the first day of school in Horry County.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Horry County Schools spokesperson Teal Harding announced the school has still not received their certificate of occupancy yet and students will not be going back to school Thursday. Later Wednesday night, school officials released that they had secured the document and staff will be able to return Thursday and students will be allowed to go to school Friday.
“The pressure is on,” said Horry County School Board Chairman, Joe DeFeo. “There’s nowhere to put an entire high school. There’s no alternative plan. It’s either open late or get it done.”
School board members say the repairs were much needed.
“That school is so old and when you see so much new and how awesome those new schools look, and then you’ve got North Myrtle Beach. One of my main concerns in making sure that we got the improvements in that school is that we keep the teachers because why wouldn’t the newer teachers want to teach in the newer schools?,” said Horry County School Board Member Holly Heniford, who represents the North Myrtle Beach area.
According to Brown, the makeup day is October 9 for Wednesday, but no makeup day has been set for Thursday yet.
The following statement was sent to parent earlier in the week:
North Myrtle Beach High School will not be open for students on Wednesday, August 23, due to construction issues that have delayed first-day preparations. North Myrtle Beach High School is expected to open for students Thursday, August 24. Students and parents will receive additional updates should further schedule adjustments be necessary. All other North Myrtle Beach and Horry County schools will open for students on Wednesday as planned
