The Oconee County Boards of Education on Monday agreed to spend $917,178 for improvements at Oconee County Elementary school, including replacement of the gym roof, metal siding, and floor activity area and replacement of the floors in the outside classroom pod.
The Board also approved spending $899,748 for new digital scoreboards for the North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School stadiums.
The Board accepted a bid of $260,370 for the purchase and installation of 108 interactive panels in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classrooms and in selected educational spaces elsewhere in the elementary schools.
Finally, the Board approved purchase of robotic sweepers and scrubbers for Malcom Bridge Middle and for Oconee County High School for $117,260.
Almost all of the $2.2 million in spending approved by the Board on Monday will come from the current Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) and follows spending of $4.6 million from that tax in January.
Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams reported on Monday that the most recent ESPLOST collections--for December of last year--were $1.4 million, the largest amount ever collected from the tax and 2.9 percent more than was collected in December of 2024.
Adams also reported that the ESPLOST Fund Balance on Jan. 31 was $17.3 million.
The digital score boards, interactive panels, and some of the improvements at Oconee County Elementary School were on the project list for ESPLOST VII, approved by voters in November to go into effect as soon as the current ESPLOST VI expires, probably in December of this year.
Oconee County Elementary School
The Board approved a low bid of $788,850 from Amacher Brothers Construction from Atlanta for the work at Oconee County Elementary School.
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| White Before Board 2/9/2026 |
Ryan White, Chief Operations Officer, told the Board that the project will include replacements of the gym roof and metal siding and improvements to drainage externally.
Work inside the gym includes replacement of the floor, insulating the upper ceiling and walls, upgraded lighting, the addition of windows, and enclosing the mechanical equipment in the mezzanine.
“On the back playground,” White said, “we are proposing to remove the original cross ties and regrade the play area, sod the play area, remove the sick tree, and plant new trees, new teacher benches, and repave the play court.”
Amacher Brothers also will replace floors in the educational pod that is separated from the main Elementary School Building.
Parents had complained about what they believed to be mold in at least one of those classrooms and in the gym, but White reminded the Board that “To be clear, independent environmental testing confirmed no environmental issues exist.”
“However, in full transparency and to provide additional assurance,” he said, “we will also replace the floor in the back left pod as part of this renovation project.”
Total cost of the project will be $917,178, White said.
Scoreboards
The Board also approved a contract bid of $774,589 from Digital Scoreboards of Venice, Fla., for the new scoreboards for the system’s two high schools.
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| Hammock 2/9/2026 |
Kevin Yancey, Director of Student Services, said the scoreboards “will not only enhance engagement during our athletic events, but also create meaningful instructional opportunities for students, teachers, coaches, and our co-curricular programs.”
In response to a question from Board Member Ryan Hammock, Yancey said “one of the boards is still usable and we're going to move it down to Oconee County Middle School and that is part of the project cost that we have outlined.”
The campaign for passage of ESPLOST last fall highlighted improvements to both North Oconee High School and Oconee County High School, and a digital scoreboard was included on the project list for both schools.
Revenue from ESPLOST VII approved by voters in November won’t be collected until the current ESPLOST VI expires, meaning funding for the scoreboards has been moved forward to the current ESPLOST, which is generating more revenue that originally projected.
Funding for resurfacing of the activity court at Oconee County Elementary School as well as addressing water and weather problems at the gym also were on that ESPLOST VII list, as were interactive panels for K-2 classrooms.
Superintendent Melissa Butler told the Board as it was approving the contract with Digital Scoreboards for the stadium on Monday that the scoreboards will be functioning in time for graduation on May 22 at North Oconee High School and May 23 at Oconee County High School.
Interactive Panels
The Board accepted the state contract bid of $260,370 by Howard Industries, Inc. from Ellisville, Miss., for purchase and installation of 108 interactive panels.
Tony McCullers, Chief Technology Officer, told the Board that the smartboards in use are 25 years old or older and that the 108 Newline 75-inch panels available through the state contract will be used in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classrooms, as well as in art, music, PE, STEM, media center, and special education spaces in the elementary schools.
“This replacement directly supports the district's strategic plan performance objective to improve student engagement, achievement, and growth by providing teachers and students with modern interactive instructional tools that enhance lesson delivery and student participation.”
The contract with Howard includes the interactive panels and removal of the existing smartboards, installation of the new panels, and recycling of the outdated equipment.
Purchasing Robots
The Board agreed to purchase a robotic sweeper and a robotic scrubber for both Malcom Bridge Middle School and for Oconee County High School from Athens Janitorial for a total cost of $117,260.
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| Butler 2/9/2026 |
This purchase will be made using General Fund dollars.
Fred Ricketson, Director of Facilities, told the Board that “Last year, we piloted a sweeper and scrubber at Malcolm Bridge Middle School for 30 days.”
“In that time,” he continued, “we learned that we could scrub the floors daily instead of weekly with the same labor costs. This contributed to a more attractive and well-maintained environment for our students and staff.”
We have been monitoring custodial vacancies for the best time to implement a longer term test of these machines,” he said, “and we have opportunities for this at Malcolm Bridge Middle and Oconee County High School.”
“It's important to note that this purchase will not replace positions,” he added, “but robots don't call in sick. We don't have to pay insurance or benefits for them. Also, just an important note, is they do come with a three-year warranty.”
New Communication Platform
McCullers also told the Board he wanted “to take a few minutes to discuss the upcoming transition in our district's communication tools, specifically our move from Remind to ParentSquare. Remind has been purchased by ParentSquare, which has announced that this platform will sunset in September of 2026.”
“While that date is still some time away,” he said, “we felt it was important to be proactive rather than reactive.”
McCullers said he collaborated with Communications Director Steven Colquitt on an audit of communications activities of Oconee County Schools.
“This audit looked at how we currently communicate with family, staff, and the community, which tools are being used, where there is overlap, and where there are gaps. One of the key findings is that we are using multiple platforms for similar purposes, which can be confusing for families and inefficient for staff."
“A major goal that emerged was the consolidation of our communication tools,” he said.
“After much analysis, the ParentSquare platform emerged as the best option for Oconee County Schools moving,” he said.
The new system will “reduce redundancy, simplify communications for families, and create a more efficient process for staff. This means fewer logins, clearer messaging, and a more streamlined experience,” McCullers said.
“Additionally, ParentSquare will provide us with an efficient way to distribute our annual report in a digital format,” he said. “Moving this process online will reduce printing and postage cost while ensuring families have timely and easy access to district information.”
McCullers said the “target for full implementation is July 2026.”
“In summary, this transition is not simply about replacing before it sunsets,” McCullers said. “It's about improving clarity, consistency, and efficiency in how we communicate across the district while also providing our teachers with tools that better support their work.”
Financial Reports
Chief Financial Officer Adams said the General Fund Balance was $83.5 million, as of Jan. 31, down from $85.5 million on Dec. 31, 2025.
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| Adams, Zoe Gattie, Executive Assistant To Superintendent, Whitaker 2/9/2026 |
The ESPLOST Fund Balance of $17.3 million is an increase from $16.4 million at the end of December.
The Board voted in January to spend $4.6 million for HVAC renovation at Oconee County Primary School and Oconee County Middle School and for a replacement of the system’s Transportation Office.
The ESPLOST VI report for Jan. 31 that Adams presented does not yet show the expenses for those projects. Total project payments to date are listed as $74.4 million.
ESPLOST collections have been more than $1 over 14 of the last 16 months and are averaging $1.1 million per month over that period.
Adams reported that Oconee County Schools has now collected $48.9 million in property taxes, or 95.8 percent of the budgeted amount of just less than $51 million.
The budget lists $55.7million in expected state funding through the Quality Basic Education formula, with $32.5 million received to date, or 58.3 percent.
Other Reports
Chief Operations Officer White told the Board that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has told him that the planned detour of Jimmy Daniell Road at the SR 316 interchange will take place this summer, and bus routes for the coming school year have been modified to reflect the closure.
Access to SR 316 from Jimmy Daniell Road will be closed for approximately six months, GDOT has said.
White also told the Board that Oconee County Schools is anticipating a roughly $500,000 shortfall of its Nutrition Enterprise Fund for Fiscal Year 2027 and has started supplementing what is designed as a self-funding activity from the General Fund.
Jennifer Whitaker, Chief Academic Officer for Oconee County Schools, said that the evaluation of current Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) offerings” is continuing with the goal of “aligning offerings to workforce demands.”
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| Detour Map Jimmy Daniell Road And SR 316 |
The change added a section stating that Oconee County Schools policy includes a “Prohibitions against students accessing social media platforms through the use of computer equipment, communications services, or internet access that is operated, owned, leased, and made available to students by the School District.”
The Board also adopted a statement of Norms and Protocols that includes agreement on the role of the Board and the role of the Superintendent.
Including is an agreement that “The Board will facilitate appropriate public participation in accordance with policy and law.”
“The Superintendent’s office and the Communications Officer will coordinate all news media and social media communications through official channels and centralize messaging to ensure clear, concise and accessible information,” according to the protocol.
The Personnel Report approved by the Board in Executive Session indicates that Communications Director Colquitt will retire on June 30.
No citizen spoke during the public comment section of the meeting on Monday.
Video
The video below is on the YouTube Channel of Oconee County Schools.
Yancey began his report at 29:25 in the video.
McCullers began his report at 32:00 in the video.
Adams began his report at 39:19 in the video.
White began speaking at 41:34 in the video.
Ricketson began his report at 50:38 in the video.
I also recorded a video of the meeting from the rear of the room, where I am allowed to set up my tripod. The images above are frames from that video.
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