Katie Allen ready to take on new role on Columbia County School Board

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) – The Columbia County School Board welcomes a new member.

Katie Allen defeated incumbent Lee Ann Meyer for the District 4 seat with nearly 53% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary election.

As a mother whose children are students in the district, Allen said she knows firsthand what’s happening in the county’s schools and is ready to take on the role of making them better.

She holds several university degrees in subjects such as business management and law. Combined with her military experience, she believes this will make her an asset to the board.

She will succeed Lee Ann Meyer, who held the District 4 seat for eight years.

“I think it’s just part of the natural progression,” Allen said. “We are grateful to those who have served the community before us, but we are ready to step up and try to replace them and bring a new perspective.”

This new perspective is part of his “Back to Basics” campaign slogan, which voters seem to be aligning with.

“I’m just thinking about this: What can we do at all levels to address so many of the problems we’re seeing in these young kids?” Allen said. “And I feel like a strong academic background is a good place to start.”

While Allen hopes to address a range of concerns within the school system and his district, his platform is as simple as ABC – Academics always, balanced budget, community engagement.

“It’s not easy, but it’s simple,” she said. “It’s the academics and the budget and the concerns and I think the starting point is to take that message that has touched so many people and brought us all together in all walks of life and put that message into action, and that’s is where we are going. from here.”

Allen is committed to remaining accessible to voters.

“I hope the community feels they can reach out to me and I will continue to monitor and respond to them,” she said.

She will be sworn in in January.