The Columbia County School Board approved changing the tax millage rate to 18.1 % from 18.3% in a hearing July 27.
The rolled back millage rate is based upon the assessment made by the county tax assessor of all the value of all properties in the county for the year. The assessed value of a property is 40%. The calculation of the assessed value of all the properties is the tax digest. The county budget is then divided by the tax digest to arrive at the millage rate.
This was the third public hearing as required by law.
In presenting a proposal to change the millage rate, Steven Flynt, school superintendent, noted projected budget challenges including inflation and textbook replacements.
Harlem resident Katie Allen spoke before the board again once the public was invited to participate. Allen spoke before the board on June 8 and July 13 regarding access to certain books in Columbia County libraries.
Allen started a petition to urge the board to either remove items from media centers and libraries containing certain material or add a statement in its policy informing parents of certain content.
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Allen acknowledged in her presentation an opt-out system proposed by Flynt in a letter responding to a previous presentation.
“However, I still feel like we’re avoiding transparency requests to let parents know what they may want to opt out of in their libraries,” she said.
Allen also responded to opposition to claims of censorship and to comments made by Ayman Fadel on July 13.
“I’ve also been accused of censoring what children in schools read,” she said. “It’s really interesting though, because these same parents that are accusing me of censorship are the ones who removed Dr. Seuss and ‘Little House’ books for racism. Not to mention parents used to like TV show and videogame ratings, so they could decide what’s best for their children.”
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She concluded her presenting further urging transparency from the board regarding the content of books allowed in county media centers.
“When school boards start exempting things from parental purview, and our own state laws allow it, the sky becomes the limit for what we can expect to find in our schools,” Allen said.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
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