On Tuesday evening, May 23, the Columbia County Board of Education began their meeting by celebrating over 130 students and staff for excelling in artistic, academic and athletic competitions.
Awards and recognitions included winners of the Cyber Patriots National Youth Cyber Defense competition, the Girls State Soccer Championship, a youth poetry competition by the Garden Club of Georgia, state musical competitions for band, orchestra and chorus, the Georgia Future Problem Solvers State Bowl and many more.
“I love hearing about all these state championships whether it’s academic, arts or on the playing field, so congratulations to everybody tonight,” said board member and District 4 representative Lee Ann Meyer.
Along with recognizing outstanding students and faculty, the board also announced an official partnership with Augusta University for an expanded dual enrollment program that will offer students access to complete college courses within their own high schools.
“We recognize that accessibility can often be a barrier for education, and transportation can be a challenge for some students – especially those who live far away from our campuses,” said Augusta University President Brooks Keel. “That’s why we’re proud to say with this partnership we’re bringing Augusta University faculty right to the students. Core curriculum classes will be offered each semester, taught by our faculty, at all five high schools in the Columbia County School District; these courses are easily transferable to colleges, regardless of where the student chooses to attend after high school.”
Following Keel’s remarks, Superintendent Steven Flynt recommended four staff members for promotion within the district, and the board unanimously approved all. These promotions included: Michael Carraway to become the new principal at Evans Middle School, Dr. Jeana Aycock to serve as Director of Assessment, Dr. Ashley Horton to become an assistant principal at Greenbrier Elementary School and Erin Kwon as an assistant principal at Evans Middle School.
“I want to congratulate those that were recognized to new positions tonight – I challenge you to start first thing tonight when you get home,” said Chairman David Dekle.
After various students and faculty were congratulated once again by Dekle, the meeting moved on to discuss end of the year assessments and continued work on the district’s 5-year plan for systematic improvement.
To boost academic success and learning objectives, Associate Superintendent Dr. Kelly Bosch highlighted intent to increase AP and dual enrollment classes, as well as faculty support to improve students’ rate of achieving higher scores on final exams. Further student opportunities will also include the development of a new process for credit recovery within schools – this is part of the district’s goal to “maximize student achievement and success for each student.”
Bosch also mentioned the district’s plan to provide more career, technical, and agricultural education (CTAE) internships, and future work to secure additional partnerships to expand these pathways by hiring more work-based learning coordinators.
“We have also increased the number of CTAE internship opportunities we offer by more than 100%,” said Bosch. “In 2021-22, we had 127 students participating in work-based learning; this year, the number of participants increased to 230 students, and next year we are already expecting more than 400 students to participate in work-based learning.”
Assistant Superintendents Dr. Kristen Carroll and Steve Cummings then spoke on the district’s plan to continually improve the state’s implemented positive behavioral interventions and supports system (PBIS) in order to encourage more productive student conduct. Currently, according to Cummings, teachers and faculty give students incentives to behave by offering small prizes and privileges which must be earned with positive school practices.
During Cummings and Caroll’s presentation, board member Meyer shared parent concern for equally rewarding students who display consistent good behavior, as well as those who show behavioral improvement.
“While we need to encourage our students who have challenges to do better, we also need to recognize students who are already consistently doing well,” she said. “We don’t want to come across as ‘well you got to do bad, and then get better to get recognized.’ We also want to recognize those who are already doing a good job … while we are also encouraging those students who aren’t there but are making strides.”
As a result of some facilities only having the PBIS system in place for a year or two, Cummings said he believed this is most likely only a current problem in schools where staff are still learning how to properly execute the PBIS rewards. Schools who have only recently incorporated the PBIS system include: Lakeside and Greenbrier High School, as well as Stallings Island, Greenbrier and Riverside Middle School.
“They really haven’t fully developed their PBIS expectations schoolwide, so it’s really just about getting those teachers trained on how to effectively give those tokens, and do those things that the other schools are doing,” he said. “Those teachers just have to be trained on how to be consistent with that … or finding ways to support students who are doing the right thing.”
To improve talent optimization, Chief Human Resources Officer Tony Wright said his department is analyzing data, which will determine where their district’s best and brightest employees are hailing from in order to pursue more star quality teachers and educators.
By offering scholarships and other opportunities for participating students, Wright also said the district’s current work to increase interest in the CTAE teacher education pathway for high schoolers will also prove effective to hiring quality staff who are already familiar with Columbia County.
Wright reported that there are currently 71 job vacancies across schools, mostly in areas of the special needs department, but that he is confident they will be able to fill those roles soon.
Current jobs looking to be hired include: bus drivers, paraprofessionals, ASL specialists, school psychologists, custodians and more. To apply, visit: https://www.ccboe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1197245&type=d&pREC_ID=2427589
Flynt then concluded the meeting by reminding board members of this week’s upcoming high school graduations, and the final walkthrough tradition for seniors which is meant to inspire younger students to look forward to graduation.
“I’m looking forward to continuing the work. We’ve made a lot of progress this year, and we’re really proud of the student achievement that we’ve earned,” said Flynt. “We’re proud of the operational achievement we’ve put in place, and we’ve got a 5-year strategic plan that we’ve just finished the first year of – so, it’s time to set some lofty goals for next year.”
The next Columbia County Board of Education meeting will take place on June 13 at 5:30 p.m. at 4781 Hereford Farm Road in Evans, Ga.
