The Columbia County Board of Education discussed a range of issues from textbook adoptions to the district’s technology infrastructure at its first work session of the year on Tuesday.
The format of the meeting was a departure from a regular session’s structure. As a work session, the meeting was designed to be a dialogue between the board and district staff, says Superintendent Steven Flynt.
“We’re going to have staff members present some of the good work that’s happening across the district,” said Flynt. “And the board will be able to ask questions in a kind of board oversight workshop type format.”
Flynt presented staff early in the session as they offered a strategic planning overview, explaining the district’s goal areas, such as maximizing student achievement, community engagement and optimizing talent, and their related performing objectives.
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In the section of the session reserved for staff reports, Associate Superintendent Penny Jackson noted that there had been a reduction in offenses related to drugs or electronic smoking devices since August and September of 2021.
“We’re going back to the alternative school for drug offenses,” said Jackson. “A lot of that is the interventions that the alternative school is working on with the counseling team, talking with our students about drug education and making better choices.”
The district’s chief information officer James Van Meter called the school district’s internet connectivity network “probably one of the most robust networks in the CSRA.” Van Meter noted that the schools have special filters set up to prevent accessing inappropriate materials online, provided a student’s device is connected to the school’s Wi-Fi.
After a presentation regarding the adoption of new mathematics textbook from Associate Superintendent Michele Sherman, the board voted unanimously to give tentative approval for new textbook adoptions for all elementary, middle and high schools. The total cost was more than $5 million for adopting the materials over the next six years for all the schools in the district.
Flynt also noted a “dramatic increase” in positive COVID cases, but that the staff expected a decrease soon.
“We’ve sustained that in positive COVID cases for a little bit of time,” said Flynt. “The numbers remain high. But if we follow the trends around the nation, we should begin to see a downward trend over the next few weeks.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
