Steven Colquitt, Open Records Officer for Oconee County School and for the Oconee County Board of Education, said he cannot provide the application letters for the 18 persons not selected to be the new school superintendent because the “District” does not have them.
Even if the “District” did have the records, he added, he would not provide them because the law only requires that he release the application materials for three persons the Board considered to be finalists.
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration voted unanimously on Wednesday to disqualify incumbent Hudson Holder from running for election to Post 3 on the Bishop Town Council.
The Board, after an hour-long hearing, rejected the legal opinion of Bishop City Attorney Joe Reitman, who had concluded in February that Holder was eligible to serve on the Bishop Town Council.
Oconee County Board of Education Chair Michael Ransom got sidetracked on Monday evening as he made the case to the Oconee County Republican Party for the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) referendum that will be on the ballot in November.
Ransom began his presentation by explaining why the Board had decided to put the tax referendum on the ballot even though the existing tax isn’t scheduled to expire for two years. He also identified the projects the new tax will fund and said what will happen if voters turn down the referendum on Nov. 4.
At present, the Georgia Public Service Commission is not adequately representing the interests of the citizens of Georgia, Alicia Johnson, Democratic Party nominee for District 2 on the Commission, told Oconee County Democrats last week.
The current Republican members of the Public Service Commission “see themselves more as an extension of the utility companies rather than a regulatory authority that represents the needs of Georgia families,” she said.
Constructions teams from Archer Western are expected to expand soon their ground clearing activities from the Jimmy Daniell Road intersection with SR 316 eastward to Virgil Langford Road and the Oconee Connector.
Oconee County Director of Public Works Jody Woodall said on Thursday that Archer Western is waiting on approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to move to the second phase of its initial work on the bundle of three SR 316 intersections.
Oconee County Schools ended the 2025 Fiscal Year on June 30 with $7.9 more in revenue than it had budgeted and with spending at $1.6 million less than projected.
The General Fund cash balance for Oconee County Schools on Aug. 31 was $53.8 million, down from $57.5 million a month earlier but up by $9.4 million from the Fund Balance on Aug. 31 of 2024.
The Oconee County Board of Education on Thursday afternoon officially approved a three-year employment contract for Melissa Butler as the new superintendent of Oconee County Schools.
The contract stipulates that Butler will begin as superintendent on Oct. 14 and will be paid an annual base salary of $221,500.
