SPRINGFIELD — The District 4 Effingham County Board of Education seat is no longer vacant.

Prior to the start of Thursday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, Ben Johnson was sworn in by Probate Judge Beth Mosley to fill the seat formerly held by Beth Helmly. Helmly resigned July 16 so that her daughter, Katy Whitten, could become an assistant principal at Effingham County High School. 

A state law enacted in 2009 prohibits school board members and superintendents from having immediate family members in high-ranking positions in the districts they serve.

During the meeting, Krystle Shuman took center stage. She was recently named the 2019-20 Georgia Teacher of the Year for the Georgia Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences.

“Krystle, we are very proud of you. Thank you for what you do,” Superintendent Dr. Randy Shearouse said while presenting a certificate of recognition to Shuman.

Shearouse lauded Shuman for her willingness to assist the board.

“I feel like everybody knows Krystle because she has helped us out many, many times at (Effingham College & Career Academy)  with the different events that we’ve had there,” he said. “We really appreciate the job that she does and, not only do we appreciate it, she has been recognized by others as well. I always hear community partners talk about how well they are treated and how well they appreciate your students and what they do.”

A sizeable chunk of the meeting was devoted to enrollment numbers in the Effingham County School District. It had 12.256 students in grades K-12 on the fifth day of the current year, slightly under its projection of 12,408.

Incl;uding pre-K students, the district has 12,861 students, an increase of 276 over 2018-19.

“It’s always interesting, I think, to look at the start of school and try to predict how many students are going to show up,” Shearouse said. “We all know that there is a lot of growth occurring in Effingham County but exactly what that means in terms of students is always somewhat of a mystery even though we can conditionally, at least the last several years, expect 300-400 students.”

Shearouse said that the district’s elementary schools are in “pretty good” shape in regards to their student-teacher ratios and ability to absorb growth in the immediate future. He said most of the county’s growth is occurring at the south end and schools in the north have more room.

The superintendent mentioned that it is a goal for the next school year to return pre-K students to South Elementary School. Its pre-K students were moved to Rincon Elementary School this year because of a lack of space.

On the fifth day of the current year, South Effingham Elementary School had 849 students attend.

“I think about how wise it is for the board to make a decision to build 12 classrooms on to South Effingham Elementary School,” Shearouse said. “We have hired a construction manager and plans are being made now for that facility.”

The board is expected to vote soon to shift a kindergarten teacher at Rincon Elementary to help with its large second grade.

“That will help conditions there without having to add a teacher,” Shearouse said.

In another kindergarten switch, a Blandford teacher is set to move to South Effingham to maintain an acceptable student-teacher ratio of less than 25:1.

Shearouse recommended the addition of an office assistant at Rincon Elementary School and special education teachers at South Effingham High School and Ebenezer Middle School.

The board approved the hirings.

“I think we have taken care of areas of need,” Shearouse said.

Shearouse noted that students in grades 6-8 are evenly spread among the county’s three middle schools. Ebenezer, Effingham County and South Effingham have 1,004, 1,008 and 1,019, respectively.