At its regular monthly meeting on June 20, the Columbia School Board discussed ongoing renovations at Columbia High School, approved a final amended budget for the 2023-24 academic year and bid farewell to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Alyssa Smith.

In her final assistant superintendent’s report in the district, Smith spoke about Columbia’s presence at the recent Illinois State FFA Convention, praising Lucas Schneider for receiving his State FFA Degree.

She also touched on progress being made with the district’s curriculum as well as several topics for summer, particularly noting that parents should look out for an email after July 1 as the registration process is moved to the district’s new student management system.

Closing her report, Smith expressed her thanks to the board and the many other members of the district she’s worked with during her tenure.

“I just want to say thank you to all of you guys but really this district as a whole,” Smith said. “You took me in three years ago. I’ve absolutely loved my time here. I keep telling people I’m not saying goodbye, I’m just saying see you later for now. But thank you to everybody, parents, students, teachers, staff, school board, just everybody. I can’t say that enough.”

In his report, Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode voiced his gratitude for Smith, noting how her work and meetings with faculty have continued even as the date of her departure has drawn closer and closer.

“I want to say thanks to Alyssa as she goes off to Bethalto,” Grode said. “We all wish her well. She came in three years ago and hit the ground running and did a lot of things. And since she accepted the job at Bethalto, she hasn’t stopped running. You can tell more about someone by the way they leave than when they enter, and we’ve appreciated it.”

Several members of the board similarly expressed fond sentiments toward Smith, including Columbia School Board President Greg Meyer, who commended her at the end of the meeting.

“You’ve done just a fantastic job,” Meyer said. “Mr. Grode is exactly right. It’s so unusual when somebody is leaving to go out as strong as you did. It’s amazing. It speaks volumes to your character. Thank you for everything you’ve done. You’ve made the district a better place.”

With the recent groundbreaking at the high school, the building’s substantial renovations were once again a big topic of conversation for the board.

Grode said a page would soon be added to the district’s website to provide regular updates on the project, also noting how pictures of the dirt moving and other prep work have been posted regularly on the district’s social media.

He also spoke to some of the particulars of the ongoing work, with the blacktop pulled up and plans to keep the topsoil that’s been dug up so far.

“There has been a lot of stuff going on at the high school,” Grode said. “The front of it doesn’t look like the front of it anymore with the stuff coming down, the dirt work’s happening. And they’re getting prepped for phase one, and we’re excited about that.”

Grode also mentioned that a representative of STIFEL would be present at the July board meeting to discuss the district’s bonds, reiterating the goal of getting the project done while keeping the district tax rate flat.

Meyer also gave a general assessment of the current state of the project.

“Our homework is paying off on this,” Meyer said. “It’s really neat to see when the project starts the coordination between our owner’s rep, Mr. Grode, the contractor, everybody is really in-line with everything. And we have checks and balances… Everybody’s being held accountable, so everything’s running exactly as it should.”

A budget hearing took place at the start of the meeting, with Grode pointing out deficits in the district’s education and capital projects funds.

He ultimately summarized the budget and the district’s financial position positively.

“We are financially sound. We are doing well,” Grode said. “There is no need for a deficit reduction plan based on our fund balances.”

Regarding action items presented to the board, the amended budget was approved, as was the second reading of stipend job descriptions. This item was tabled last month as the board questioned the inclusion of certain physical requirements, though these requirements were ultimately deemed worth inclusion with some changes.

The new student handbook for the district was approved, seeing two notable changes focusing on training on cell phones — Grode said cell phones are one of the most dangerous things students can bring to school given trouble they can get into using them — as well as language about the high school’s main entry as it will not have a “front entrance” this coming year due to construction.

Bids for both a maintenance truck and bus were also approved by the board while a bid for a passenger van primarily meant to be used to transport a student in St. Louis rather than a bus died due to lack of a motion.

The board also approved changes to the K-5 English language arts curriculum and Columbia Middle School health curriculum as well as the first reading of a collection of press policies.