Oconee County Schools collected less than $1 million from its Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) in February, the first time collections dropped below the $1 million benchmark since February of last year and the first time collections have fallen below those from the same month a year earlier since December of 2023.
In January, collections had been up by 6.2 percent from January of 2025, and collections had been up by more than 2 percent over the month a year earlier every month since November of 2024.
The drop in collections in actual dollars was relatively small–only $6,630–and Oconee County Schools Financial Officer Peter Adams reported to the Board of Education last week that the system has now collected $40.2 million from the 1 percent sales tax, or $2.3 million more than projected when voters approved the tax back in March of 2021.
Adams also told the Board that $13.2 million is in the ESPLOST Cash Balance Account, with spending continuing in 10 areas, including for technology, school buses, scoreboards for the system’s two high schools, and an addition to the system’s Transportation Office.
At the present rate, collection of the current ESPLOST VI will cap out at the end of December, but voters in November approved a new tax, ESPLOST VII, to begin as soon as that cap is reached.
Adams also reported at the Board’s regular meeting last week that the General Fund Cash Balance as of March 31 was $78.9 million, down from $81.1 million at the end of February of this year but up from $70.7 million on March 31 of 2025.
Adams also told the Board that Oconee County Schools earned a 5 star Financial Efficiency Star Rating (FESR) from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) for 2025, the second year in a row that Oconee County Schools obtained the perfect score on the Star Rating system.
Both in 2024 and in 2025, Oconee County Schools was the only system in the state that earned a perfect score on the FESR index, which compares spending per student with overall academic performance. Oconee County Schools has had a 5 star rating six of the seven years they have been issued.
FESR Ratings
Adams presented the Board with the FESR ratings for 12 public school systems surrounding Oconee County Schools. Jefferson City Schools and Walton County Schools each had a 4.5 star rating.
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| Report From Adams On Oconee, Neighboring Districts (Click To Enlarge) |
Greene County and Clarke County were at the bottom of the list with ratings of 2.
The goal of the FESR is to provide a comparison of district spending per student with overall academic performance, as measured by the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). The CCRPI includes tests scores on Content Mastery, Progress, Closing Gaps, and Readiness, and High School Graduation Rate.
The score is based on a three-year average of spending and performance.
The Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) and GOSA did not calculate FESR scores for the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school years due to incomplete CCRPI data during the COVID pandemic.
Oconee County Schools achieved a 4 star rating in the first year of calculation of the FESR in 2015 and a 5 star rating in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, and 2025.
Oconee County was alone in receiving a 5 start rating in the last two years and was joined by Jefferson City Schools and Forsyth County Schools with that rating in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Oconee and Forsyth were the only two systems with a 5 star rating in 2016.
Oconee County Schools had Per Pupil Expenditure average for the last three years of $11,772 and a three-year District College and Career Ready Performance Index Single Score Average of 92.4 on a 100 point scale.
GADOE and GOSA also have released FESR scores for each of the 12 schools in the Oconee County Schools system, though Adams did not reference those last week.
Both of the system’s high schools had a score of 5, as did Malcom Bridge Middle School. Data for three years are not available for Dove Creek Middle School.
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| Scores For Individual Oconee County Schools (Click To Enlarge) |
The only elementary school with a 5 star rating was Rocky Branch Elementary School.
Scores were stable from 2024 at each of the Oconee County schools, except for Oconee County Middle School, where the score dropped from 5 to 4.5.
Additional Financial Reports
Adams last Monday (April 20) also presented the Board with a Cash Compensation and Benefits Summary for a teacher with an advanced degree, typically a specialist, beyond a master’s degree and 15 years of experience.
The total compensation package for such a teacher is $113,670, with a base salary of $58,827, a supplemental annual pay of $9,197, and Annual Leave Pay of 3,600, for a total salary of $71,624.
Employer paid benefits, including insurance, retirement, and payroll taxes, total $42,045.
Adams had used a similarly credentialed teacher in his report last year, but with 11 or 12 years of experience, rather than the 15 years used this year. That total compensation package was $107,476.
Adams said in his report on ESPLOST Collections last week that the $991,966 received in March for collections in February compared with the $1,040,783 received in February for January collections and the $998,597 received in March of 2025 for February of 2025 collections.
Adams said Oconee County Schools had spent $75.4 million in ESPLOST VI projects by the end of March, an increase of $131,886 from the amount he reported in March having been spent on Feb. 28 of this year.
The Board is due to make a payment of $517,925 by the end of the calendar year against the $42.97 million in bonds the Board sold in 2021 to finance ESPLOST VI projects before the system began collecting revenue from the tax.
Personnel Report
Superintendent Melissa Butler recommended to the Board in its executive session last Monday that it hire Callen Moore as Executive Director of Communications effective July 1 to replace Steven Colquitt, who is retiring.
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| Butler 4/20/2026 |
The Board approved the recommendation when it returned into open session.
Moore currently serves as the Public Relations Officer for Foothills Regional High School, an accredited evening high school for students who have not completed high school, based in Athens-Clarke County.
Moore served for nearly eight years as the Director of Communications for the Walton County School District.
She began her career as a Public Relations Assistant with the Clarke County School District, according to the news release.
Recognitions
During its recognitions section of the meeting, the Board acknowledged Colin Nesbit for earning the Class AAA state literary title in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and JJ Stillion Southard for placing second in International Extemporaneous Speaking.
The Board also recognized Caiden Fowler, Riley Phillips, and Anna Grace Rodriguez State Literary Trio Third Place and Literary Soloist Lia Dunford for placing third. The runner-up state Literary Competition Team of Cashton Isaac, Dunford, Fowler, Nesbit, Phillips, Stillion Southard, and advisor Katie Williams was also cited.
All of these students are at Oconee County High School.
The Board recognized the Georgia Regional Academic Bowl state championship team from North Oconee High School: Emerson Baggett, Mahum Bashir, Maura Bendle, Katherine Campbell, Reid Chen, Parker Durham, Rache Elarbee, Christian Flick, Lily Goins, Yashvant Kantamneni, Michael Kroll, Taylor Leatherwood, Ming Lian, Audrey Lieu, Walker McGoldrick, Reeva Shah, Kriti Sonal, Rayne Sullivan, Allison Zhou, and advisor Melissa Akins.
Whit Bynum at North Oconee High School was honored for placing third in Humorous Interpretation in the Class AAAA state literary competition. His advisor is Renee Jackson.
The Board honored Cooper Hammock from Dove Creek Elementary School for earning third place in Video Production at the Georgia Student Technology Competition. He was joined by Principal Dr. Grace Staniszewski.
Video
The video below is on the Oconee County Schools YouTube channel.
Adams begins his report at 17:41 in the video.
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