Columbia County school leaders give update on 10-year building program

EVANS, Ga. (WJBF)- Schools around Columbia County are getting ready to see some major upgrades–changes that school leaders say are much needed.

“We really heard from the community back in 2021, when we went out with the strategic plan. We heard from the community the need to go out and refurbish older schools—so that’s what we’ve already started, and that now leads into where we are today,” said Superintendent Dr. Stephen Flynt.

The district started discussions about the 10-year plan more than two years ago , officially starting this past January.

Last month, school leaders celebrated the grand opening of Westmont Elementary School, and now the focus is the work that continues at area high schools.

“Lakeside and Evans High School are also under major renovations. So, what you could anticipate looking at what’s happening–and the renderings for Evans and Lakeside–is basically what’s going to happen minus some classroom additions for all of our other high schools,” Flynt said.

The school district also closed South Columbia Elementary School this year–Flynt says the replacement school will open in the next year.

“Next year, we’re looking to open North Columbia Elementary School, which is significantly larger than the older school,” said Flynt. “That will open next August and have a capacity of 900 students.”

Student safety continues to be a talking point for the school board as well.

The school district just finished installing security vestibules in each school countywide, and Flynt says they want to do more.

“With the future SPLOST coming on, we’re looking at emergency notification systems, as well as door entry access across all schools–among a number of other things. But as we talked to the board tonight, we’re looking at doing those over the next year,” he added.

An extension of the one cent sales tax will be on the ballot for voters in November–the superintendent says it’s served the school district well since it was put into effect in 1997.

“It’s really allowed us to do a lot of the capital infrastructure needs, and the building of the new buildings–as well as technology, upgrades with roofs, and many of our other infrastructure needs. So, taking this out for another five years will allow us to continue to do that, with the one cent sales tax that’s been in place,” Flynt said.

The first of five public meetings on the building program starts tomorrow night, and will continue through October at the following locations:

• September 25, 2024 at 5:30 PM: Grovetown High School Auditorium
• September 26, 2024 at 5:30 PM: Greenbrier High School Auditorium
• September 30, 2024 at 5:30 PM: Evans High School Auditorium
• October 7, 2024 at 5:30 PM: Harlem High School Auditorium
• October 15, 2024 at 5:30 PM: Lakeside High School Auditorium

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