A few weeks after cutting teacher and paraprofessional positions to balance the school budget, higher than projected enrollment is forcing the Columbia County School Board to reopen some of those positions.

School Superintendent Charles Nagle told board members Tuesday that enrollment for the year is up by more than 600 students compared to the end of the 2011-12 term.

“When you’re talking about 612 students, that’s a school,” he said.

The Columbia County Board of Elections will meet the day after the primary election to prepare for a referendum on the next election.

The meeting, set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, will be held at the Board of Elections office in Evans, said Registration Coordinator Nancy Gay.

The board is to accept the call for a special referendum election in response to legislation allowing voters to decide whether to impose a two-term limit on Columbia County commissioners, Gay said.

A motorcyclist was killed Thursday evening in a crash on Columbia Road.

John Paul Heilig, 52, of Jasper, Ga., was killed when his motorcycle collided with an SUV driven by Spencer Hughes, 50, of Appling, said Columbia County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris in an email.

Heilig was driving his 2001 Kawasaki motorcycle east on Columbia Road just after 6 p.m. when he turned left onto William Few Parkway in front of Hughes’ westbound 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe, Morris said.

When students return to the Lakeside school complex on Aug. 9, they’ll hear construction machinery running as work begins on a new athletic complex.

Columbia County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $3.1 million bid to Garnto and Gearig Bros. Construction of Evans for site preparation for the new park, which will be built on 70 acres near the school’s baseball field.

“This is about $1.7 million less than we had budgeted,” said Columbia County Construction and Maintenance Director Matt Schlachter. “We got some really good bids there.”