On Saturday, Nov. 5, Columbia County School District will host the Annual Special Education Parent Resource Expo at Evans High School.
According to a press release from the Columbia County School District, the event aims to provide the community with knowledge and information about specialized local businesses and support services.
“Many parents do not realize that resources like these may be available,” said Jennifer Zills, director of Special Services. “This event features local resources that go beyond the services we already provide, and we always look forward to this opportunity for parents to learn more about resources available to them and their children.”
In an August work session for Columbia County’s Board of Education, Zills highlighted a major growth in the community’s needs for special services following a high increase of disabled students.
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The school district has experienced a high rate of transfers from nearby counties – especially in students with Autism.
Zills said not many counties have a wide coverage for young students with autism. Columbia County is one of the few that offers a Kindergarten program which most likely accounts for the hundreds of in and out of state transfers.
“From 2017 to 2022, we’ve had a 46% growth over time in the number of students coming in,” Zills said.
To accommodate the increasing need, Zills is working to hire more speech language pathologists as this is the most popular need statewide.
Zills said Columbia County prioritizes special needs programs and correctly trained staff because the demands for disabled children can greatly vary and should be equally addressed.
Even during Columbia County’s Digital Learning Day at the end of August, Zills said her staff was very diligent in providing individualized lessons to better fit each child’s learning needs. For some this meant recorded lessons and packets and for others it involved specialized devices.
For high school students, Zills said the program coordinates a variety of activities such as field trips, buddy programs, special olympics and even job training with a coach.
“They go out into the community and work in different places, like we’ve worked with Marshalls just to name a few,” she said.
In the past the program’s job training has partnered with DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and even the school district’s transportation department; Zills said she believes job training is very important to families because it prepares students for life beyond the classroom.
While seeking to hire more staff and expand the job training program, Zills is also planning on inputting suggestions for the district’s ongoing 10-year building program to try and meet the spatial needs for different programs.
For Zills and many of her staff, they love being a part of the program to help parents further their student’s learning while alleviating educational worries.
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Although she loves the program’s Special Olympics event in the springtime, Zills said her favorite part is graduation and seeing high schoolers complete the program at the end of their journey.
“I’ve been in the district for 22 years and to watch the students walk across that stage at the end of the year is just amazing,” she said. “Because I remember when they were little kids and now they’re adults going out into the world – it’s a great feeling.”
With the upcoming Annual Special Education Parent Resource Expo at Evans High School, Zills and her staff are looking forward to spreading more information and connecting parents with resources for the new year and spring semester.
Find a complete list of businesses participating in the Special Needs Expo online at www.ccboe.net.
Located at 4550 Cox Rd. in Evans and open to the public, the event will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with information on various community resources for families who have students with special education needs.
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com
