Horry County Schools requested a compensation and classification study of all District positions to provide the foundation for an appropriate classification and compensation system and pay plan based on current compensation levels for similar public sector employers such as school districts, counties, municipalities, and local market competitors.

Management Advisory Group

The study methodology included:

• collection of current personnel, human resources, and organizational background information;
• development, distribution, collection and evaluation of Job Analysis Questionnaires©;
• identification and selection of comparable organizations for the market salary survey;
• identification of classification benchmarks;
• an analysis with recommendations concerning the relative ranking of District positions to develop a classification plan that will ensure internal equity; and
• development of compensation plans that will ensure market

Greenville County School District
Charleston County School District
Berkeley County School District
Richland County School District Two
Dorchester County School District Two
Lexington County School District One
Aiken County Public Schools
Richland County School District One
Beaufort County School District
York County School District Three
Georgetown County School District
City of Myrtle Beach
City of North Myrtle Beach
City of Conway
Charleston County
Georgetown County
Horry County Santee Cooper
O*NET On-Line (Private Sector Data Source)

All employees will receive a compensation increase either through the impact of the study, the application of the STEP increase, and/or the $1,000 increase in teacher salaries as mandated by the State.

Salary schedules are developed by utilizing “bands” that denote minimum, middle, and maximum compensation rates for a particular job classification. A STEP is the incremental increase within the salary schedule. On average, a STEP is a 2% increase.

Not necessarily. When the new pay plan structures were developed for support, administrative, and managerial positions, the minimum salary for each of these respective groups was benchmarked to the market survey results. After the salary tables were created, an initial calculation was done to identify those employees that were below the minimum of their respective proposed pay grade. A formula was then applied that calculated a target salary for each employee based on the total days of service in his/her proposed job class. Each employee's STEP was appraised based on his/her placement and pay grade from the current salary schedule, and then the employee was placed on the new compensation schedule relative to his/her experience and job classification.

However, due to the fact that South Carolina has a defined minimum salary schedule for teachers, the STEP for teachers will reflect the number of years of service indicated on their certificate.

A pay grade is a collection of job classifications with similar levels of complexity, responsibility, and knowledge. The following is an example of pay grade 103:

When the 2020-21 comprehensive budget was reviewed by the Board, there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding State funding with the non-passage of the 2020-21 State budget due to the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to these factors, the implementation of the study was postponed for 2020-21.

The comprehensive salary study did not review substitute rates of pay. However, the District has presented a proposal to the Board that will increase the rates of pay for substitutes in 2021-22.

Teachers, speech therapists, occupational/physical therapists, orientation/mobility instructors, audiologists, psychologists, and school nurses.

It is our understanding that the $1,000 proposed by the legislature can only be used to increase salaries for the employees listed above.

The District has proposed the complete implementation of the comprehensive employee compensation study. This will be in addition to any state mandates.

Teachers will receive credit and retroactive payment for the suspended STEP on June 15, 2021.

The increase will be applied to the new teacher salary schedule. Payment will be reflected in each teacher’s bi-monthly paycheck.

The new teacher salary schedule has 30 STEPS. The new non-instructional salary schedules have 28 STEPS.

No. The Board will vote on the 2021-22 Superintendent’s Comprehensive Budget on June 7, 2021.

No. If approved, the District will completely implement the comprehensive employee compensation study in 2021-22; as well as, the mandated $1,000 increase for other designated positions, and any applicable STEP increase.

If approved, Human Resources will send out a salary letter prior to June 30, 2021, indicating your:
• New salary scale grade
• New salary scale step
• New pay rate
• New work calendar