Columbia School District Trustees say they are pleased with the work of new Superintendent Jason Harris.
The Board completed an evaluation of Harris before the Jan. 11 meeting and talked about Harris and the projects that he has begun since taking the helm on July 1, 2017.
“We had a very positive evaluation,” Board President Marie Shepard said. “We are so pleased to have him in our district. He is a man of vision. He has a lot of ideas, and he knows how to get things done. He not only has the ideas, he knows how to accomplish them. He’s really made a lot of progress in a short period of time. We are excited about where our district is headed.”
Harris thanked the Board and later spoke about projects currently going on within the district.
“Hopefully by March, we will be completed with the bond issue projects,” Harris said. “We are finishing up the auditorium. It will be state-of-the-art, and we had some training on the sound and light systems. It looked to be a little overwhelming. But it is coming together.”
Harris said contractors would be focusing their attention to items that need to be resolved as the projects all reach completion.
“There are some things to finish in the band hall and a few things in the kitchens,” he said. “I know they are addressing those. Most are just small things. In my discussions with Chris Albritton Construction, they will probably be here through the remainder of the month, but hopefully pretty well finished by the end of January and beginning of February.”
Harris also spoke about the project to add a parking lot on Mary Street, across from Columbia Elementary School.
“I got the report about looking at the houses and the progress,” he said. “I know we need to complete the removal and start the parking lot. I think within a month, we can get the process started. It’s dragged on too long. We got our asbestos report and are studying it. We know the bids have come back to remove the houses. We’re very close to having those removed and we’re very close to having those removed and starting the parking lot.”
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbia School District Board of Trustees has been moved to Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m., with the dedication of the renovations to the Crystelle Ford Auditorium and the new Wildcat statue at 4:30 p.m. The Board meeting will occur in the Columbia High School multipurpose room.
Pictured Above: Columbia Superintendent Jason Harris speaks at a recent meeting. School Board President Marie Shepard said Harris received a “very positive” six-month evaluation. | Photo by Mark Rogers
