What You Need to Know

Open house

- Middle schools: 6-8 p.m., Tuesday

- High schools: 7-9 p.m., Tuesday

- Elementary schools: 6-7 p.m. for parents with last name beginning with A-L, 7-8 p.m. for parents with last name beginning with M-Z, Aug. 3

Important dates

- Aug. 4: School starts

- Sept. 4: Labor Day holiday

- Sept. 6: Progress reports

- Sept. 14: Early release/parent conferences

- Oct. 6: End first nine weeks

- Oct. 13: Report cards

- Oct. 20: Student holiday

- Oct. 23-25: Fall break

- Nov. 14: Progress reports

- Nov. 22-24: Thanksgiving holidays

- Dec. 15-19: Semester exams

- Dec. 19: End first semester

- Dec. 20-Jan. 1: Christmas break

- Jan. 2: Student holiday

- Jan. 3: Second semester starts

- Jan. 8: Report cards

- Jan. 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday

- Feb. 2: Progress reports

- Feb. 8: Early release/parent conferences

- Feb. 16: Teacher professional learning day

- Feb. 19: Presidents Day holiday

- March 12: End third nine weeks

- March 16: Report cards

- April 2-6: Spring break

- April 18: Progress reports

- May 16-18: Semester exams

- May 18: End second semester

Graduation

Saturday, May 19, Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center; times to be announced

Meal prices

- Regular student meals: Breakfast 75 cents, lunch $1.75 in elementary schools and $2 in middle and high schools

- Adult meals: Breakfast $1, lunch $3

Important numbers

- Transportation: (706) 541-0657

- School Nutrition: (706) 541-0257

- Central Office: (706) 541-0650

- School Safety Tip Hot line: (706) 541-3600

High schools

- Evans: (706) 863-1198

- Greenbrier: (706) 650-6040

- Harlem: (706) 556-5980

- Lakeside (706) 863-0027

Middle schools

- Columbia: (706) 541-1252

- Evans: (706) 863-2275*

- Greenbrier: (706) 650-6080

- Grovetown: (706) 855-2514

- Harlem: (706) 556-5990

- Lakeside: (706) 855-6900

- Riverside: (706) 868-3712

* Number subject to change

Elementary schools

- Bel Air: (706) 863-8724

- Blue Ridge: (706) 868-0894

- Brookwood: (706) 855-7538

- Euchee Creek: (706) 556-4000

- Evans: (706) 863-1202

- Greenbrier: (706) 650-6060

- Grovetown: (706) 863-0800

- Lewiston: (706) 650-6064

- Martinez: (706) 863-8308

- North Columbia: (706) 541-1158

- North Harlem: (706) 556-5995

- River Ridge: (706) 447-1016

- Riverside: (706) 868-3736

- South Columbia: (706) 863-3220

- Stevens Creek: (706) 868-3705

- Westmont: (706) 863-0992

Special school

The Columbia County Board of Education Alternative School: (706) 868-5715

What's new

- In January 2007, school districts in Columbia County shift from five to four. To compensate for the lost district, the chairman of the board will be determined by popular vote and represent the entire school system. The first election for the at-large school board chairman takes place Nov. 7. In the past, school board members chose their own chairman at the beginning of each year. District 2 board member Wayne Bridges will represent District 1. Board member Mike Sleeper will represent District 3, which will be a combination of current districts 1 and 5.

Roxanne Whitaker, the representative of District 3, will represent District 4. Depending on the outcome of the November general election, District 2, currently District 4, will be represented by either Mildred Blackburn or Sissy Hobbs.

- A new Evans Middle School will open on Hereford Farm Road. It replaces the old Evans Middle on the corner of Belair and Washington roads. The old school site was sold in 2004 to a group of developers, who plan to demolish the school and turn the property into a shopping center. Construction on the new Evans Middle will still be ongoing once the school opens Aug. 4. Work on the gymnasium could continue into September.

- Construction will soon begin on a new middle school on Blackstone Camp Road in Martinez and a new elementary school in Grovetown. Site work on both properties is already underway. The elementary school is scheduled to open in the 2007-08 school year; the middle school has been delayed and might not open until the 2008-09 school year.

- School officials will more strictly enforce a tougher absenteeism policy enacted last year. The new guidelines limit the reasons for excused absences, which do not include family vacations or church-related outings. This past school year, officials showed leniency to parents to acclimate them to the new restrictions. That leniency will no longer be granted.

Columbia County Board of Education school board meetings:

When: 6 p.m., the second and fourth Tuesday of each month

Where: The school board office at 4781 Hereford Farm Road in Evans.

To participate: Meetings are open. Those wishing to speak are required to register. Speakers are limited to three minutes and groups are asked to designate a spokesperson.

More information: www.ccboe.net or (706) 541-0650

Call your Columbia County BOE member

District 1

Regina Buccafusco,

(706) 863-3579

jbuccafusco@comcast.net

511 Waterford Drive

Evans, GA 30809

District 2

Wayne Bridges

Chairman

(706) 855-5726

bridgescpa@knology.net

3646 Foxfire Place

Martinez, GA 30907

District 3

Roxanne Whitaker

vice chairwoman

(706) 556-3832

fr120@aol.com

P.O. Box 1012

Harlem, GA 30814

District 4

Mildred Blackburn

(706) 863-6521 (fax only)

234 Maywood Drive

Martinez, GA 30907

District 5

Mike Sleeper

(706) 860-6151

mike@sleeper.org

327 Barnsley Drive

Evans, GA 30809