On Tuesday evening, Sept. 12, the Columbia County Board of Education began their meeting by officially congratulating this year’s five finalists for Teacher of the Year.
Finalists were comprised from various grade levels in the county and included: Crystal McDowell from Greenbrier High, Cassandra Rodriguez from Evans High, Brooks Andrews from Stallings Island Middle School, Allison Dixon from Greenbrier Elementary and Jennifer Roper from River Ridge Elementary.
“You’ve got five genuine stars and how you just pick one is mind boggling to me. Ladies, congratulations to each and every one of you. Kudos for a job well done,” said David Alalof, board member and District 1 representative. “I think we’re going to have a great year.”
Referencing how the county recently remembered the nationwide tragedy of 9/11 and thanking first responders for their dedication in helping others during a traumatic time, board member and District 4 representative Lee Ann Meyer said she believes teachers had an influential hand in creating such selfless citizens, and should therefore remember the kind of influence each can have in the lives of children.
The winner of Teacher of Year will be announced at the district’s annual Teacher of the Year banquet on Oct. 4.
After congratulating each finalist with a smile and a firm handshake, Superintendent Steven Flynt continued the meeting by giving the board an update on ongoing construction and design progress for the school district’s 10-year plan.
While some progress has been affected by inclement weather, Flynt said the building plan is still successfully on track and notable differences can already be seen in some schools.
“We’re on schedule, but rain can easily set us back, so we’ll be watching that carefully,” said Flynt.
In addition to design and architectural plans for Evans High being discussed and scheduled, such as adding a media center, gymnasium and a multipurpose room, Brookwood and Euchee Creek Elementary are also receiving developments on detention ponds, but have seen some minor delays from heavy rain.
At Westmont Elementary’s replacement school, Flynt said walls are continuing to be erected along with installation work, plumbing, structural steel and detention pond foundational work. Meanwhile, North Columbia is arranging underground systems and storm drains to be established, and is expected to invite students back about a year after Westmont’s opening for the 2024-25 school year.
“We’re really excited about what that’s going to look like in those areas,” he said. “I think [Westmont] is going to be a very good looking school, and it’s a good looking site.”
Flynt also presented updates on the Columbia and Richmond County Junior Achievement Discovery Center, which, with the help of several business partners, will host 13,000 to 15,000 middle school students every year. According to Flynt, the facility’s construction is on track for completion and will be fully operational for students in January of 2024.
“As an update for the [partnered] storefronts, 15 out 18 storefronts have been sold, and there’s an additional one that’s nearing completion,” he said. “So, possibly just around two left.”
Hoping to secure businesses with a focus in housing, investment, insurance or internet and cable, Flynt said both counties are trying to take into account many different areas to meet various interests and community needs for students.
Moving on to bid results, Flynt said re-roofing contracts were opened and announced the results to board members, including: a Cedar Ridge Elementary settlement for $422,000 and a Blue Ridge Elementary contract for $718,900 – both from Dusty Greer Roofing Inc.
“As you can see there’s a good bit of more work for that roof, which is why there is an increase in price from the previous one,” he said.
Other contracts entailed the purchasing of nine new 66-passenger school buses from Rush Truck Center at $131,000 per vehicle, for a total cost of about $1.2 million.
“Due to the long wait times, we propose placing an order this month, which would set delivery in late summer of 2024,” he said. “We will use about $792,000 of safe funds, which will brings our net cost to $386,010, which is a good price for us … and we’ll utilize E-SPLOST funding for the net cost portion to the district.”
The final contracts listed off the need for new interactive projectors for $190,400 for 100 sets, which would be an ongoing agreement until 2027.
“Speaking of all the building, the district earns capital outlay funding from the state of Georgia to offset the local costs of construction and renovation projects,” he said. “We then apply for use of those funds for eligible projects.”
With three district projects meeting the standards for capital outlay eligibility, Flynt recommended that the board approve using the funds, which totals to over $15 million, for the outlined projects.
Following the approval of all bids and contracts by the board, Flynt ended the meeting by reviewing how the district is currently celebrating speech pathologists throughout the current week to showcase countywide employee appreciation.
“These extraordinary educators specialize in diagnosing and treating speech language and swallowing disorders and serve more than 1,919 students across our district,” he said. “We want to say thank you to these dedicated teachers, whose important work opens doors of communication for our students, so they can connect with their teachers, family and friends for an overall better education and better quality of life.”
Flynt also reviewed how schools throughout Columbia County dedicated a moment of silence to remember those that were lost during 9/11, and how many students and faculty honored the day with special music and wearing t-shirts sporting the words “never forget.”
With no public participation, the meeting was then adjourned for private executive session.
The Columbia County Board of Education will meet again for a work session on Sept. 26 at 4781 Hereford Farm Road in Evans, Ga.
