Schools report few complaints
Columbia County school officials say they had few complaints about the first day of school on Monday.
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Superintendent Charles Nagle said at Tuesday's school board meeting that the school system has had to add and eliminate some classes to adapt to enrollment. He also said some of the buses were late Monday morning and afternoon, particularly since some kindergartners and first graders are riding the bus for the first time.
In other business, school officials said construction of the Grovetown High School building is on schedule. However, they said some of the site work and grass seeding is about three months behind schedule.
School officials also said some of the track and field facilities cannot be built at the high school on Chamblin Road until the grassing is established.
The board meeting also was a night of recognition for the 2008-09 teachers of the year, and the five finalists who will vie for teacher of the year honors.
The finalists are Michele Rigsby, a fourth-grade teacher at Bel Air Elementary School; Patty Barrett, a second-grade teacher at Cedar Ridge Elementary School; Christi Thigpen, a sixth-grade math teacher at Greenbrier Middle School; Toni Cliatt, who teaches eighth grade and gifted math at Grovetown Middle School; and Emily King, a seventh-grade science teacher at Riverside Middle School.
Faculty members at each of the county's 29 schools selected teachers for the honor.
The finalists were chosen by a panel of three outside judges. Another team of educators will interview and observe the five teachers to select the winner, who will be announced Oct. 2.
Columbia County's top teacher will represent the system in the state teacher of the year contest.
Cedar Ridge's Jane Roupe was named the 2008-09 media specialist of the year.
The board also recognized Evans Middle School media specialist Anna Olliff, who received the Georgia Library Media Association Media Specialist of the Year for the East District award. She will represent the East District in the state competition in October.
Olliff was Columbia County's Media Specialist of the Year for 2007-08.