Supporters of a small, private school in Columbia County got an extra two weeks to come up with a way to save hundreds of thousands of dollars.
On Tuesday night, Columbia County Commissioners were expected to tell supporters of the Savannah River Academy that they would have to pay for two turn lanes on Old Belair Road if they wanted to add more buildings to school, which has 115 students.
The school’s principal, Mary Beth Burns, said the turn lanes would cost between $200,000 and $400,000. An engineer hired by the school said one of the lanes would require buying property and moving utilities in addition to the usual paving.
“If we had $400,000, we would spend every cent on our students,” Burns said.
About 25% of the students have dyslexia, and the school is the only facility within 100 miles that provides intensive learning to help those students overcome their disability, according to Burns and other supporters who spoke during the county commission meeting.
Columbia County government engineers had recommended the left and right turn lanes be installed at the school’s entrance at 213 South Old Belair Road near Grovetown in order to prevent traffic accidents when parents drop off and pick up their children.
[adrotate banner=”51″]
And commissioners told Burns and the other 30 supporters that they weren’t going to vote to punish the school but to prevent accidents.
Then Deputy County Manager Matt Schlachter, latching onto something Burns had told the commissioners during her time at the podium, said the county engineers could re-evaluate the school expansion if Burns agreed to prevent left-hand turns into the school’s parking lot.
“That might solve the problem,” Schlachter said.
Commissioners seemed relieved and voted to table the issue for two weeks and give the school and the county staffers time to come up with an alternative solution.
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
