Oconee County Schools has collected 99 percent of its projected revenue from ad valorem taxes and from title taxes, two-thirds of its funding from the state Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, and 28 times the budgeted amount for investment income.
Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams made that report to School Board on Monday, saying that, in the eighth month of the school year “we are on target for the period, maintaining a well balanced financial position.”
Education Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) Revenue was down for January, he said, reflecting the normal cycle of collections, but collections were up 2.6 percent from January of last year.
The General Fund Cash Balance stood at $73.5 million at the end of February, down from $74.9 million a month earlier, but the final QBE payments are still to come.
Adams noted that Federal Funds reimbursements always lag, and “It just gets a little slower on the response there.” He did not tie this to the turmoil at the U.S. Department of Education, which is experiencing deep cuts to staffing and funding.
At the end of February, Oconee County Schools had spent 57.6 percent of its Federal Funds budget but received 46.1 percent of its budgeted revenue. At this time a year ago, Oconee County Schools had spent 77.0 percent of its budgeted federal funds and received 63.9 percent of its budgeted reimbursement.
On Wednesday afternoon, Oconee County Sheriff James Hale reported that a student at Malcom Bridge Elementary School on Tuesday had made “potential threats of school violence.”
Hale said on Wednesday “the juvenile was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice,” bringing to at least six the number of Oconee County Schools students he has charged with making terroristic threats since the Sept. 4 mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
Financial Reports
The Financial reports that Adams gives to the Board each month are not uploaded to the system’s web site until the morning after the meeting.
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| Ransom, Board Member Adam Hammond Adams (Back To Camera) 3/10/2025 |
I could not write about them in my post about the meeting early on Tuesday morning. That report focused on passage of the Five Year Facilities Plan and on comments made by the two citizens who addressed the Board.
According to the documents available on Tuesday and referenced by Adams on Monday night, Oconee County Schools has budgeted for $49.2 million in ad valorem taxes for the current Fiscal Year and received $48.4 million as of the end of February.
It had budgeted $2 million from Title Taxes and received just less than that amount.
The budget lists $50,000 as expected revenue from investment income, but the system already has received $1.4 million.
Total QBE Funding is budgeted at $67.2 million, with $44.8 million received.
ELOST collections for January, received in February, were just less than $1 million ($0.98 million) , the first time since April of last year the collections had fallen below $1 million. Collections were up from January of last year ($0.96 million).
Adams reported that he has not yet closed out ELOST spending on Dove Creek Middle School, the classroom addition at Malcom Bridge Elementary School, the Instructional Support Center, or systemwide technology upgrades, but no new spending was reported from last month.
Adams reported that Oconee County Schools has received $3.4 million of the $7.4 million in Federal Funds budgeted for this school year and has spent $4.3 million of the budgeted amount of $7.4 million.
Pay Package
Adams also presented the Board with a Compensation and Benefits Summary for a teacher in the system.
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| Adams Following Meeting 3/10/2025 |
In response to a question from Board Chair Michael Ransom, Adams said what was presented was for a teacher at the T-5 classification. By the state-defined classification, that is a teacher with a master’s degree.
Adams had picked a T-5 teacher with 11 or 12 years of experience for the example. The salary is $67,675.
In addition to that salary, Oconee County Schools contributes $39,801 in other benefits, such as medical insurance, contributions to the State Teachers Retirement System, a local 403(b) retirement plan, and Medicare, according to the presentation.
That brings the total contribution of Oconee County Schools to $107,476.
“This total benefit statement is a summary of the value added compensation provided by the Board for the employee's various benefits through December of 2024,” Adams said.
Personnel Report
The personnel report posted by Oconee County Schools on Tuesday shows that, in the executive session at the end of the meeting on Monday, the Board approved the separation of Chief Academic Officer Susan Stancil effective May 30, 2025.
Stancil has been selected as the superintendent of the Morgan County School District.
Superintendent Jason Branch has had success in recent years in seeing his top employees move on to higher appointments in neighboring school systems.
At the end of the 2021-2022 school year, North Oconee High School Principal Philip Brown became superintendent in the Jackson County School System (11,160 enrollment in October of 2024).
Dallas LeDuff, Associate Superintendent of Oconee County Schools, became Superintendent of Barrow County Schools (15,313 enrollment) at the end of last year.
The Morgan County system, with 3,562 students, is considerably smaller than Oconee County, with 8,474 enrollment in October of last year. (March enrollment figures have not yet been released.)
Stancil, who has a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy, came to Oconee County Schools from Barrow County Schools to serve as assistant principal at Malcom Bridge Middle School and subsequently was principal at Dove Creek Elementary School and Malcom Bridge Elementary School.
She became Chief Academic Officer in June of 2021.
Other Action
In other action on Monday, The Board voted 5 to 0 to approve a bid from Akins Ford of $266,851 for the purchase of five vehicles, three for maintenance technicians, one for the mechanics supervisor, and one is for the technology staff.
The Board voted 5 to 0 to approve Musco Sports Lighting with a bid of $135,290 for an upgrade of the Oconee County High School Practice Field Lighting.
Fred Ricketson, Director of Facilities, told the Board at its March 3 meeting that the upgrade is from recreational lighting to competition level lighting.
Both of these projects will be paid for using ELOST and General Fund dollars, but the amount from each has not been specified. Neither appears on the ELOST spending report released by Adams on Monday.
The Board also voted, 5 to 0, to place the Advanced Placement Psychology curriculum on the table for public review and comment until the next Board meeting.
Also at the meeting on Monday, the Board recognized the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-State Chorus awardees from North Oconee High School and Malcom Bridge Middle School.
It also recognized the GMEA All-State Band awardees from Malcom Bridge Middle School, North Oconee High School, and Oconee County High School.
Also recognized were the Beta Club State awardee from Malcom Bridge Middle School.
Georgia High School Association successful athletes in diving and swimming from North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School also received recognition.
Student Charged
Sheriff Hale reported on Facebook on Wednesday (March 12) that “around 1:06 p.m. (on March 11) the Oconee County Sheriff’s School Resource Officer was alerted by Malcom Bridge Elementary School administrators regarding a student making potential threats of school violence.”
“The Sheriff’s Office immediately launched an investigation into the incident and determined there was no immediate danger to students or staff,” the report continued.
“On March 12th, the juvenile was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice,” the report stated. “To further insure the safety of all parties, the Sheriff’s Office will continue to work with the offender and the offender’s parents to assist them in receiving necessary services to ensure this remains an isolated incident.”
“We encourage parents to take some time to discuss the seriousness of this matter with your children,” the Sheriff’s report stated. “Let them know that their words carry weight, and that keeping our schools safe is something we all play a role in.”
“With your help, we can continue to make our schools places where everyone can thrive, knowing they are supported and protected,” according to the report. “Again, we will not tolerate any misconduct and will continue to thoroughly investigate all threats of school violence.”
Oconee County Schools also issued a release on Facebook repeating at the top some of what was included in the report from the Sheriff’s Office.
“Parents, please reinforce to students that spoken or written words may lead to significant consequences,” the OCS statement reads.
“This incident was due to a student’s words, not actions,” it continued.
“Oconee County Schools is grateful for the Sheriff’s Office and its dedication to maintaining the safety and well-being of our campuses,” according to the statement.
Video
I uploaded the video below early on Tuesday morning to accompany my earlier report on the meeting of the Board of Education on Monday.
Adams began his financial reports at 23:22 in the video.
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