Storm damages school in Grovetown

A Grovetown elementary school sustained damage after strong storms swept through Columbia County April 10, school officials reported at a Tuesday meeting.

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Pictures were presented at the meeting that showed damage to a flagpole at the Columbia County Alternative School on Ford Avenue and to a bus canopy at Cedar Ridge Elementary on Trudeau Trail.

Damages to Cedar Ridge's rear canopy could cost about $40,000 to repair, said Superintendant Charles Nagle. Some outdoor awnings, which cost about $200 each, might need to be replaced as well, he said.

Some outdoor lighting fixtures also were damaged, Assistant Superintendant Robert Jarrell later said.

The repair costs should be covered by insurance, Jarrell said. Damage from the storm started along Browns Road near Harlem High School Friday evening. The high school was not damaged. The storm also produced an EF-1 tornado near Harlem and in Grovetown.

The storm caused about $300,000 in property damages throughout the county.

Also at the meeting, school officials offered their condolences to the family of Grovetown Middle teacher Ida Scott, who was killed in a single-vehicle wreck Monday in Appling.

"They are mourning their daughter," said school board member Roxanne Whitaker of Scott's parents. "If you had seen the paper last Sunday, her engagement announcement was in the paper."

The 23-year-old died after her Nissan Maxima hit a tree on Ray Owens Road, said Columbia County Deputy Coroner Harriett Garrison. Scott was a seventh-grade special education teacher.

In other news, Special Education Facilitator Barbara Buffkin was named assistant principal at North Harlem Elementary School; Stallings Island Middle School's graduation coach, Sandra Thompson, became assistant principal at the school; and Brian Reeder, who was temporarily assigned as Stallings Island's assistant principal, was selected as a half-time assistant principal for Evans and Lakeside middle schools.