While the holiday bonus details need to be sorted out and voted on by the full Horry County Board of Education, the three different bonus scenarios to be considered could bring full-time employees between $1,000 and $1,500, while part-time and positive pay employees could see between $500 and $750.
Mark Wolfe, the former executive director of facilities for the district, filed suit in 2020 against Superintendent Rick Maxey, Chief of Support Services Daryl Brown, FirstFloor Energy Positive, Firstfloor contractor Metcon and Metcon CEO Aaron Thomas, with a claim of defamation that Wolfe said led to his termination.
With new state-mandated bus routing software and 85 bus driver vacancies, the first day of school in Horry County presented a few more challenges than the usual first day hiccups.
For more than two years, Horry County Schools fought against giving school builder Firstfloor Energy Positive and its contractors tax breaks worth nearly $1.5 million.
But the dispute quietly came to an end this year when Horry County Board of Education Chairman Ken Richardson signed off on the tax deal â shortly before the district gutted the part of its facilities department funded by capital dollars.
Emails obtained through a public records request show how Firstfloor officials pursued the tax breaks, even refusing to sign off on a road project for a Carolina Forest school as an objection to being denied a benefit the firm insisted it was due. Those emails also show how school district officials steadfastly opposed approving the builderâs request until suddenly changing course this year.