The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday voted to spend $4.6 million from the current Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) for HVAC renovation at Oconee County Primary School and Oconee County Middle School and for a replacement of its Transportation Office.
The Board on Monday also received an update from Kevin Yancey, Director of Student Services, on acquiring digital video scoreboards for the stadiums at North Oconee High School and at Oconee County High School.
Yancey said he will return to the Board in February with cost estimates for the project and ask the Board to approve spending to have the scoreboard in place for graduation at the end of this school year.
Yancey did not identify the planned funding, but the Board had proposed upgrading the scoreboards at both stadiums as part of the ESPLOST approved by voters in November. The new tax is not projected to go into effect until the end of this calendar year.
Chief Financial Office Peter Adams told the Board as part of his monthly reports that the ESPLOST collections for November of 2025 were $1.19 million, up 5.4 percent from the $1.12 collected in November of last year. Adams is expected to report on December collections in February.
Adams reported to the Board that collections on the current ESPLOST now stand at $36.9 million, or just $1 million less than was projected when the tax was approved by voters in 2021, and that collections have exceeded $1 million for the last nine months and for 14 of the last 16 months.
As of the end of December, the ESPLOST Fund Balance was $16.4 million, up from $15.4 million at the end of November and up from $13.0 million at the end of December of 2024, according to the reports from Adams.
Adams also reported that the General Fund Balance was $85.5 million at the end of December, up from $53.0 million at the end of November and up from $77.9 million at the end of December of 2024.
ESPLOST Projects
Neither of the two ESPLOST projects approved for funding by the Board on Monday were on the project list for the current ESPLOST when it was approved by voters in March of 2021.
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| Transportation Office To Be Replaced (OCS Photo) |
When voters approved the new ESPLOST in November, however, they agreed to cover the bond indebtedness from the current ESPLOST in the new one, freeing up unanticipated revenue from the current ESPLOST.
Oconee County Schools will begin collecting on the new ESPLOST when the cap of $48 million for the current tax is reached, probably in December.
Adams listed the $16.4 million in the Fund Balance in his ESPLOST report as “Funding Available as of 12/31/2025.”
The Board must make a bond payment of $5.9 million from that amount during the 2026 calendar year, and Adams listed spending on technology, school buses, storm water repair system at North Oconee High School as still “in progress.”
Fred Ricketson, Director of Facilities for Oconee County Schools, told the Board that the HVAC Renovation at Oconee County Primary School and at Oconee County Middle School will cost $2.8 million, which includes $2.4 for the low bid by Frazier Services for the units and installation and the additional monies for engineering and professional services.
Ricketson said the new Transportation Office, technically being labeled an addition, will cost $1.8 million, including the $1.5 million for the low bidder, Smith and Co., for construction, and additional monies for furniture, technology, and related costs.
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| Driveway To Be Widened (OCS Photo) |
Ryan White, Chief Operations Officer, said after the meeting on Monday that the current Transportation Office will be removed from the site. The Office is part of the transportation facilities at 1421 Rays Church Road.
Director of Communications Steven Colquitt said late on Wednesday that the addition will be 2,730 square feet in size. The existing mechanic’s office also will be upgraded, lighting in the mechanic’s shop will be changed, and external lighting will be improved, he said.
At its December meeting, the Board agreed to spend $55,400 in ESPLOST and General Funds for widening of the driveway to Oconee County Primary School, and Ricketson informed the Board on Monday that work on that project will take place over Spring Break.
Interactive Panels And Score Boards
Tony McCullers, Chief Technology Officer, updated the Board on Monday on the pilot project evaluating the use of interactive panels in K through 2 instruction. The panels are a replacement for existing smartboards.
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| Yancey (Left), White Before Board 1/12/2026 |
McCullers said the pilot has been very successful, and he said he will recommend in February that the Board spend $260,370 for 108 interactive panels for use in “kindergarten, first grade, second grade classrooms, as well as elementary, art, music, PE, STEM, media center, and special education spaces.” `
The panels will be paid for using SPLOST and General Fund monies, he said.
Yancey asked White to join him in the presentation on scoreboards, and White said “With graduation moving back to the stadiums, we are excited to prioritize video scoreboards in each of the high school stadiums.”
“This project will involve not only procurement of the video scoreboards,” he said, “but also the supporting infrastructure, to include fiber optic cable from the field houses, to the press boxes, to the video scoreboards, and new electrical lines to support the energy requirements of the boards.”
Yancey said “By incorporating digital scoreboards into our stadiums, we open new opportunities for our students, teachers, coaches, and programs to engage with this technology, both within athletics and beyond.”
“Our project time line includes the removal of the current fixed digital scoreboards and installation of the new digital boards before graduation with the potential for the project completion before the end of spring sports at both high schools,” Yancey said.
Butler Report
“It's been a strong start to the new semester, and it's been great to have our students, teachers, and leaders back on our campuses,” Superintendent Melissa Butler said in her report to the Board on Monday.
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| Butler 1/12/2026 |
Butler said she would release a report later in the week summarizing what she has learned from surveys, school and classroom visits, and conversations with staff, family, students and community leaders over the first 90 days of her tenure as superintendent.
“There is so much to celebrate in this extraordinary school system, and that has been built through years of hard work and doing what is best for students,” she said.
“A few opportunities to strengthen our work as we move forward together also emerged from the feedback,” she said.
As an outgrowth of that assessment, she said, “a team of high school representatives from Oconee County Schools will be visiting several college and career academies over the next few weeks to explore ways to expand CTAE (Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education) opportunities for our students.”
She said the first visit will be to Newton County.
“We are excited to observe some innovative workforce readiness ideas while simultaneously continuing our strong tradition of excellence in academics here in Oconee County,” Butler said.
(Butler released her report late on Wednesday as I was finishing up this post. I will summarize Butler’s report in a separate post.)
Other Action On Monday
At the beginning of the meeting on Monday, the Board elected Michael Ransom to continue to serve as board chair for the coming year, Ryan Hammock as vice chair, and Adam Hammond as legislative liaison.
The Board voted to retain Hall, Booth, Smith PC of Atlanta and Pereira, Kirby, Kinsinger and Nguyen of Gainesville and Lawrenceville as legal counsel representatives for 2026.
The Board also approved the 2027-2028 Academic Calendar, with the school year beginning on Aug. 2 and ending on May 23. Fall Break is Oct. 11 to Oct. 15, and Spring Break is April 3 to 7.
The Board recognized Chelsea Palmer, High Shoals Elementary Assistant Principal, as the January Pursuit of Excellence Award Winner/Leadership Employees and the Malcolm Bridge Middle School Band as the 2025 Exemplary Performance Awardee.
The Board also recognized the Malcom Bridge Middle School FFA as the 2025 Georgia National Fair--FFA Horticulture Superior Chapter Champion Award recipient and as the 2025 Three-Star National FFA Chapter Award recipient.
Finally, the Board recognized North Oconee High School flag football team as the 2025 Georgia High School Association Division III Flag Football State Champions.
Video
The video below from the Jan. 12 meeting is on the Oconee County Schools YouTube Channel.
Superintendent Butler made her report at 16:29 in the video.
Yancey made his report to the Board at 19:36 in the video.
McCullers addressed the Board at 24:49 in the video.
A short video showing how students and teachers are using the new panels begins at 28:07 in the video.
Adams began his reports at 33:29 in the video.
Ricketson began his report at 37:08 in the video.
I attended the meeting and recorded my own video from the rear of the room, as prescribed.
The picture of Butler is a frame from my video.
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