Baker joins school board
A new Columbia County school board member officially took her seat Tuesday.
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Kristi Baker was sworn in during a board meeting as the new District 2 representative.
Baker, a physical therapist at a nursing home, defeated attorney Carl Schluter in November to take over the seat held by longtime school trustee Mickie Blackburn.
Baker thanked those who supported her during the campaign and said she looks forward to serving during the next four years.
Incumbent board member Mike Sleeper also was sworn in Tuesday. He ran unopposed for re-election.
Also at the meeting, a former Columbia County Teacher of the Year was named the principal of a new school on Baker Place Road. Leeann Fleischauer was picked to lead the school, which will open in August.
"I've been a part of the Grovetown community for many years," said Fleischauer, who was Teacher of the Year in 2005. "I look forward to that challenge and working with the parents, teachers and students at the new school."
Fleischauer was the assistant principal of Cedar Ridge Elementary School and once taught at Euchee Creek Elementary -- two schools in Grovetown that were greatly affected by the December rezoning for the new school. Also affected was Lewiston Elementary.
Fleischauer was chosen from among four candidates interviewed by a panel of three parents, one each from Cedar Ridge, Euchee Creek and Lewiston elementary schools, and two school system principals.
One of her first tasks will be to devise a name and mascot for the school and submit them to the board for approval.
At the start of the meeting, the board changed the times for board meetings back to the previous schedule. Last year, the board met on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. and the fourth Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. The board now will meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. at the school system's central office on Hereford Farm Road.
The second meeting had been switched from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning to coincide with a monthly meeting of principals at the board office. The new schedule moves it back to the evening of the fourth Tuesday.