Note: as of 3:52 p.m., this article has been updated in order to clarify or correct certain information regarding the Columbia County School Superintendent’s remarks about the school district’s budget.
The Columbia County Board of Education started its work session meeting Tuesday by honoring a former student who played in this year’s Super Bowl.
“It feels good to receive recognition, and it feels good to be home,” said D’Ante Smith, a Grovetown High School grad who plays offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals. “I saw a lot of people, and I’ve received a lot of love. This is a great experience.”
The monthly work session meetings differ from regular sessions in that they are designated for administrative staff to update the board regarding various issues in the district. Even the public participation portion is excised in favor of staff presentations and reports from Superintendent Steven Flynt.
This time, however, the board made time for a special recognition of Smith, who played as an offensive left tackle for the Grovetown High School football team for three years and was on the wrestling team for four, before graduating in 2016. Smith played college football for East Carolina University, where he majored in economics and minored in business administration.
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He was selected as the 139th pick in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, playing with the Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI. Flynt noted that Smith is the first student in the history of Columbia County School District to play in the NFL and in the Super Bowl in his first year as a professional football player.
“Not only did D’Ante represent the Bengals, he represented Grovetown High School and the entire CSRA very well,” said Flynt when presenting Smith.
After honoring Smith, which included acknowledging his mother Samantha Russell and his Grovetown football coach Rodney Holder, and the board voting in instructional specialist Marisa Forney to be the new assistant principal of Grovetown Middle School, the meeting was business as usual.
Flynt, along with district chief financial officer Alex Casado, gave a public presentation of the district’s budget for 2023. Highlights included observations that the cost to educate each student in the district is $8,598 per student, not including federal funds. Flynt said to the board that this amount was second to least among the 2021 fiscal year budgets of comparable Georgia school districts.
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“You can see we actually are the lowest cost to educate our students, totaling at $9,069,” said Flynt, referring the cost per student adding federal dollars.
He also noted that last year, and the year before, the average teacher salary in the county was $63,391, and that the average salary for new teachers had dipped this year from $51,800 to $50,750, due to many newer, less experienced teachers starting work in the county this school year.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
