Oconee County School Board Chair Said Retirement Of School Superintendent Jason Branch Not A Surprise

***Branch Listed As “Separation” On Personnel Report***

Oconee County Schools sent out a news release nine minutes after the School Board ended its session on Monday night announcing that Superintendent Jason Branch had told the Board that he is retiring on June 30.

School Board Chair Michael Ransom said on Tuesday evening that Branch informed the Board of his decision to retire as part of his personnel recommendations to the Board presented at the executive session at the end of the Board’s regular meeting.

Branch is listed as the ninth of 12 “separations” on the two-page of Personnel Recommendations approved by the Board during the closed session on Monday.

Neither the Board nor Branch made an announcement of Branch’s retirement when they returned to public session, according to reporter Nathalee Simoneau, who was covering the meeting for The Oconee Enterprise.

Ransom said in his email message on Wednesday that Branch’s decision was not a surprise because “We knew that Dr. Branch was nearing eligibility for retirement.”

Under the terms of the contract Branch signed with the Board on Aug. 5 of last year, the contract can be terminated by “retirement of the superintendent.” The contract runs through June 30 of 2027.

Ransom said the Board will “begin the search process by posting the open position and soliciting applications.” He said no hiring date has been determined.

In the executive session on Monday, the Board also approved Jennifer Whitaker as the new Chief Academic Officer for Oconee County Schools and Sara Bailey as the next Principal of High Shoals Elementary School.

Also at the meeting on Monday, the Board was told it will be asked to approve at its regular meeting on Monday $722,315 for intercom and audio equipment upgrades at two of its middle schools and that a request for proposals has been issued for expanding the parking lot at Oconee County High School so it is the same size as the parking lot at North Oconee High School.

Branch Retirement

Branch, who was born in 1974, will become Deputy Director of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) on July 1, according to the announcement made by Oconee County Schools at 7:19 p.m. on Monday.

Branch 4/14/2025

Branch is a member of the Board of Trustees of TRS, having been appointed to that position in 2018 by then Gov. Nathan Deal and reappointed to that position by Gov. Brian Kemp. His term expires in 2027.

The TRS web site lists L.C. (Buster) Evans as the as the executive director of the retirement system, the top position on the leadership team for the retirement system.

It does not lists any deputy director, the position Branch will fill, according to the Monday evening announcement by Oconee County Schools. (See note below.)

Branch assumed the position of superintendent at Oconee County Schools on June 1, 2012.

Branch had been principal at South Forsyth High School from July of 2008 to June of 2012, principal of Chapel Hill High School in Douglas County from June of 2006 to July of 2008, Assistant Principal at McEachern High School in Cobb County from July of 2001 to June of 2006, and English teacher at Glynn Academy High School from August of 1997 to July of 2001, according to his Linkedin listing.

Branch earned a Ph.D. and an Ed.S. at the University of Southern Mississippi and his MEd. And BSEd. at the University of Georgia.

The contract approved by the Board on Aug. 5 of last year listed six reasons for termination, including mutual agreement of the Board and the superintendent, and retirement, disability, or death of the superintendent.

The Board could discharge the superintendent unilaterally, in which case the Board would have to pay a “settlement sum,” based on when the decision was made.

The Board also could termination a contract for cause.

Compensation

The contract for the current school year provided Branch a base salary of $267,039, up $13,968, or 5.5 percent, from his salary of $253,071 last year.

Ransom 4/14/2025

In addition to the base salary, the contract includes a long list of other benefits, including dues and membership fees, a $1,000 monthly travel allowance, a cell phone, and his employee share of premiums (family plan) for health insurance, for dental insurance, and for vision insurance.

The total compensation for Branch included in the current budget is $301,663.

The base salary of $267,039 makes Branch the highest paid public employee in the county by a large amount.

The next best paid public employee is Oconee County Administrator Justin Kirouac, whose budgeted salary for this fiscal year is $153,700.

Branch’s salary ranked 30th among school districts in the state in 2024, based on the Open Georgia Transparency in Government web site. Branch’s salary was listed at $290,591 for the 2024 calendar year.

That ranking jumps to 21 if school districts with more than one superintendent salary are eliminated.

This data submitted to the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts are unaudited.

The listed 2024 salary in the state Open Georgia database for Evans, the executive director of TRS, is $277,842.

Cabinet

Branch’s announcement gives the Board of Education little time to find someone to take over at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, when a new budget has to be in place.

At present, no school administrator carries the title of assistant or associate superintendent.

Dallas LeDuff held the title of associate superintendent when he stepped down at the end of last year to become superintendent at Barrow County Schools.

Kevin Yancey assumed some of the responsibilities of LeDuff, but his title is Director of Student Services.

Other large portfolios are held by Chief Academic Officer Susan Stancil and Chief Operations Officer Ryan White.

Stancil is leaving Oconee County Schools at the end of the year to take over as superintendent of the Morgan County Charter Schools, to be replaced by Whitaker, currently Director of Elementary Education.

Bailey, who will become principal at High Shoals Elementary School, currently is an Assistant Principal at Malcom Bridge Middle School. Current High Shoals Principal Tamara Goforth is departing the system at the end of the school year.

Middle School Bids

Tony McCullers, Chief Technology Officer, told the Board at its meeting on Monday that the intercom systems at Malcom Bridge Middle School and at Oconee County Middle School “are at the end of their service life.”

McCullers, Back To Camera, Ransom, 
Adam Hammond 4/14/2025

Audio Enhancements submitted replacement bids of $360,305 for Malcom Bridge Middle School and $362,010 for Oconee County Middle School, he reported.

Audio Enhancements already is providing intercom systems at the system's K-5 classroom and at Dove Creek Middle School, according to McCullers.

Funding for the upgrade will come from the Educational Local Option Sales Tax and from the General Fund, he said.

The Board will be asked to approve the expenditures as action items on Monday.

Fred Ricketson, Director of Facilities, told the Board on Monday that the lights have been ordered for the practice field at Oconee County High School, delivery is expected in late May, and installation should be in June.

That project, also funded by ELOST and the General Fund, will bring the practice field light up to game lighting standard.

Ricketson told the Board that the Request for Proposals for the addition of 194 parking spaces at Oconee County High School has been issued.

“This is to standardize the number of spaces between the two high schools,” he said.

Video

The video below is on the YouTube Channel of Oconee County Schools.

I attended the meeting on Monday and recorded my own video. The still images above are from that video.

I left the meeting after the Board went into executive session, but Simoneau from the Enterprise remained until the Board returned from executive session.

According to the minutes of the meeting, the Board went into executive session at 6:29 p.m. and returned at 7:09 p.m. It adjourned the meeting at 7:10 p.m.

The news release at 7:19 p.m. includes quotes from Branch and from Ransom and a long list of accomplishments of Branch during his tenure at Oconee County Schools.

Note 8:44 p.m. on 4/18/25: A news release dated 4/17/2025 on the TRS web site says Branch will become chief operating officer/deputy executive director on July 1, 2025. I did not see this when I posted this story and appreciate the comment below bringing this to my attention.