The Columbia County Board of Education gave tentative approval to the district’s proposed budget for 2022-2023 during its meeting on Tuesday, in the second public presentation of the budget.
The total estimated revenue for the school district’s general fund in the coming school year is more than $293 million, rising above the approximately $273 million in the final budget last year, and roughly $248 million the year before that.
Columbia County Schools estimates having over $58 million of that left by the end of the school year in 2023. Final approval of the budget is scheduled for the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, May 28.
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More than $27 million is estimated for the coming school term’s building fund. School Superintendent Steven Flynt gave updates on several building projects, including a new roof and HVAC units installed at Harlem High School, an exterior ramp and stairs at Grovetown High School and progress on classroom additions at Euchee Creek Elementary.
Flynt did note that renovation of the athletic field at Evans High School is progressing but delayed.
“I know this has been a slow-moving project,” said Flynt about the Evans High field. “From the detention ponds all the way to the drainage and some of the challenges we’ve had with underground springs as we dug some of that stuff up, but it’s coming along.”
That portion of the meeting concluded with the board approving a $493,074 contract to Sports Turf to resurface the track at Lakeside High School.
Flynt also addressed proposed updates to the policy regulating media programs, including a “four-pronged selection criteria” from procedure Board Procedure IFAA, which is the process for selecting learning resources.
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Flynt noted a current procedure in place that allows parents to opt out of the traditional book checkout system in which if a parent opts out, a flag is placed on the student’s record and each time the child wants to check out a book, the parents are contacted for permission.
“We’ve been working with our vendors over the past few months to design a feature that would allow parents to opt in if they would like to receive an email each time their child checks out a book,” Flynt said. “That will allow parents to exercise their right to restrict or allow certain reading material in addition to the processes we already have in place, which are pretty solid.”
Flynt also noted that this option would not be available for parents once a student reaches the age of 18, unless the student provided authorization.
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.
