Congratulating several students, acknowledging major achievements and announcing the completion of the county’s new Discovery Center, Columbia County’s Board of Education met for regular session on Tuesday evening, Jan. 9.
To begin the meeting, Board of Education Vice Chairman Judy Teasley nominated District 1 Representative David Alalof to serve as the new Vice Chairman for 2024, which members of the board approved.
Immediately following, Board of Education Chairman David Dekle then nominated Dave Fletcher to serve as the district’s 2024 board attorney, which the board unanimously agreed on.
The session continued with Superintendent Steven Flynt and Assistant Superintendent Kristen Carroll congratulating several students from Blue Ridge Elementary, Stevens Creek Elementary School and Lakeside Middle School for winning awards in the State of Georgia Junior Beta Club Competition largely based on excellent academic success and character traits.
From Greenbrier High School, 20 female students, only three of which were seniors, were recognized for winning the Georgia High School Association’s Division II Flag Football State Championship game in mid-December of 2023 at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“Their first game of the year was against Southeast Bulloch, who was the number one ranked team in the country. They lost the game, but went on to win 19 games in a row,” said Carroll. “However, in the playoffs, it was their defense that helped seal the deal – never allowing more than one score in any game … the season ended with the team not only winning a state championship in the largest division with 91 teams, but also being nationally ranked number two by MaxPreps.”
The team consisted of 17 juniors and three seniors. Dekle said he is confident the school district will do just as well next year.
“Girls, you are the first in the county to win a flag football championship,” said board member and District 4 Representative Lee Ann Meyer. “You all have made history in Columbia County, so congratulations on that.”
Following applause for the flag football team, the district also announced mother Julie Sabina new position on the Georgia Department of Education’s State Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council.
“We are blessed,” said Teasley. “We just have so much to be thankful for in Columbia County … it’s awesome y’all – keep up the great work.”
Moving on to building updates within the county, Flynt briefly summarized ongoing progress at multiple elementary and high schools, including roof installation at Westmont Elementary and underground electrical work at North Columbia Elementary School.
Flynt said construction is on track to open Westmont in August of this year, while North Columbia will be completed in time for August of 2025.
However, after researching and analyzing reviews, Flynt’s administration recommended a significant shift in the building plan to North Columbia and Westmont that would cost close to $1 million.
“We’d like to upgrade the flooring to a product called Texas Granite at not only each of these schools, but also any of our flooring replacements in the future,” said Flynt. “We have installed them at the additions for Grovetown and Harlem. It works really well and it greatly reduces the amount of work that goes into that – not only on the daily cleanup, but also over the summer.”
At a price tag of $466,234 per school, the district will pay a total of $932,468 to purchase Texas Granite for both North Columbia and Westmont Elementary. Although the payout looks hefty, the school district’s Director of Facilities Maintenance and Operations Cliff Sanders said the different tiles are worth the expenses.
Comparing the project to the district’s now profitable turf fields, which involved a large initial cost, Sanders said switching the flooring tiles utilized in previous decades makes sense for the long term.
Having to restrip and reseal several coats of wax on every school’s floor each year, throughout summertime to prepare classrooms, Sanders said installing Texas Granite would allow the district over the years to save on maintenance and manpower over the break.
“It takes us seven weeks during the summer to do this entire process, and that’s almost the entirety of our summer schedule,” he said.
By calculating with conservative numbers, Sanders said the district would be saving $29,000 to $35,000 per year, which is “on the low side.”
“Even what I told them was a conservative number, we’ll actually save much more than that by making this change,” he said.
After asking questions regarding the changes and the variety of tile coloring, the board unanimously approved the switch in flooring.
After receiving an approximate $3 million grant from Gov. Brian Kemp, who recently awarded several schools within Georgia funding for a retention supplement of $1,000 for every teacher and state employee meeting the requirements, Flynt suggested the board approve a $1.1 million cost in supplying more employees with the supplement.
“Our total budget is about 60% state funded and 40% locally funded, and through that funding [Kemp] projected benefits for 2,707 eligible employees,” said Flynt. “Well we have more employees than that. What we have to do is now estimate the cost to give that to all employees who meet the requirements.”
Happening across the state, Flynt said many boards and school districts are having to consider funding a retention supplement for additional employees that fit into Kemp’s criteria.
“With that, we’re recommending that we use the district’s ESSER funds,” he said. “If this is approved, the supplement will be paid on Jan. 12 of next year for all eligible employees who are actively employed and meet the criteria as of today – the day it was approved.”
Following Alalof’s passionate agreement for the movement, the board unanimously approved the approximate $1 million cost.
As a result of ongoing inflation and changeless state salaries, Flynt said he felt the retention supplement and relief would prevent more educators from quitting the field in search of higher paying jobs.
“We know we’re having challenges in a number of areas for hiring across the education sector – not only teachers, but also support personnel,” he said. “We’re very fortunate in Columbia County because we haven’t had the level of challenges some others have, but we’re still continuing to hire every week … as pay rates are rising in other areas, we’re seeing people move out of education.”
Thanking Kemp for his support in efforts aimed to retain educators, Flynt said he felt the governor’s grant would greatly help the state and county’s mission to maintain needed teachers and other staff members.
Flynt then announced the completion of the long awaited Junior Achievement Discovery Center, and invited the public to attend the grand opening ceremony on Thursday evening, Jan. 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. in Evans at 4395 River Watch Parkway, located in Unit 6.
The center, created with the help of several business partnerships, will host 13,000 to 15,000 middle school students every year, and teach them real life skills such as personal finances.
Junior Achievement of Georgia President and Chief Executive Officer John Hancock said he largely attributes the initiation and success of creating the new center to Flynt’s dedication and passion.
“I give a lot of credit to Dr. Flynt for his vision,” he said. “We just couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Hancock ended his brief speech by stating how the Discovery Center is crucial to the furtherment of education as it gives students the sense of choice and control over their individual future.
“This is not your average field trip that kids experience when they come to the Discovery Center,” he said. “We call it a blended experience, where there is in-class curriculum that preps students for a four and a half hour simulation experience.”
Hancock also said Columbia County students, who have spent the past few days experiencing various simulations within the new building, have shown exemplary behavior, excitement and knowledge for the Discovery Center, which has shown him the amazing efforts of the School District and its staff.
“Just the decorum … call it structure, call it culture, call it behavior – it’s been quite remarkable,” he said. “I work with school districts across the state of Georgia, and this is a very, very fine and welcoming school district.”
Following executive session, the board ended the meeting by approving Flynt’s recommendation of transferring Angie Young, the current principal of Martinez Elementary, to principal of Westmont Elementary, and Whitney Smith, the current principal of South Columbia Elementary, to assume Young’s previous principal position at Martinez Elementary.
Important upcoming dates for the school district include Rising Freshmen Night for Students and Parents on Jan. 10, hosted at all zoned high schools, at 6 p.m., and the district spelling bee on Jan. 16 at 4:30 p.m. at Lakeside Middle School, located at 527 Blue Ridge Drive in Evans.
The Columbia County’s Board of Education will meet next for a work session on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m. at 4781 Hereford Farm Road, in Evans.
For more information about future district events or the Board of Education, visit: https://www.ccboe.net/.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education, lifestyle and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
