001I call this May 4th work session order. First of all, I need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> Mr. Tool. >> Second. >> Mr. Hammock, all in favor? Passes 5-0. Superintendent's report. >> Good evening, board members. It's hard to believe, but we have just 14 days of school left. I know no one's counting, but that back corner back there may be aware of of that count. Um we are looking forward to finishing strong and celebrating our graduates um of the class of 2026 with Northdale County High School graduating on May 22nd and Oconee County High School graduating on May 23rd, both at our high school stadiums. This is such a special time of recognition across our district. Both high schools recently celebrated their top 5% seniors. And we have additional honors
002nights, awards programs, and end-of-year celebrations planned on all of our K-12 campuses in the next few weeks. Earlier today, we had the privilege of honoring 28 retiring educators who have given a combined 539 years of service to Oconee County schools. Their impact on generations of students and families is truly immeasurable. The legacy they leave in our classrooms, our schools, our community will continue long after this year. And we thank them um we thank you, board members, for being here to recognize them today and their important work in our school system. I also want to congratulate three new leadership hires that we have announced recently, Nicole Elkins, Kristen Harrison, and Callan Moore. Nicole will serve as our executive director of special education. Kristen will serve as director of secondary education, and Callan will serve as executive
003director of communications. We're excited for each of these and the leadership that they will bring to our district. This week is a very important week, and we are grateful to celebrate um um Teacher Appreciation Week. May gives us many opportunities to recognize people who make a difference in our schools including our principals, our nurses, our school communicators and speech and language pathologists. However, we want to pause um and certainly recognize our teachers this week. Their care, dedication, and daily investment in students makes a lasting difference not only in the school year, but in the lives of the students they serve. So, thank you to all of our teachers. And as we close out the year, I'm deep deeply grateful for the dedication, care, and commitment of our entire OCS faculty and staff who serve our
004students and families so well each and every day. That concludes my report unless you have questions. >> Thank you, Dr. Beller. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Colquitt. Recognitions? >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good evening, board members and Dr. Beller. We have a couple of recognitions this evening, so if you'll join us up front. First this evening, the board will recognize the 2026 All-State band members from Malcolm Bridge Middle, Ryan Higginbotham, Sam Price, Embry York, and Allison Zhong. Their director is West York. >> Next the board will recognize 2026 All-State Chorus member from Malcolm Bridge Middle, Olivia Yu. Her director is Jordan Richie. And that concludes recognitions. Next we have presentations and discussions, teaching and learning, Ms. Whitaker. >> Good evening, Dr. Butler and board. The May 2026 teaching and learning report contains three items of
005information and one action item. Each of these items included in this report represents our strategic plan in action. Whether celebrating student and school achievement, developing future educators, or expanding real-world learning through community partnerships, these efforts reflect our commitment to excellence, growth, and opportunity for every student. The first item of information is the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, or GOSA, single statewide accountability award. Oconee County Schools received one of the highest numbers of awards in the state across both categories. In total, nine schools earned recognition for either greatest gains and or highest performing. For the 2025 awards, CCRPI data from the three most recent school years were used to identify recipients in two categories, greatest gains and highest performing. Each category includes four tiers, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. You will see on the attached list
006the specific awards and school designations. This recognition is well deserved and reflects the strong instructional practices and unwavering commitment to excellence evident in our schools every day. Congrat- Congratulations to these schools. The second item of information is our annual future educator signing day. It was an eventful day. If you remember, uh this event was held on Tuesday, April 21st at the Civic Center where 20 students from our high schools participated in signing letters of commitment to pursue careers in education. I would like to personally thank Christie Glaze of Oconee County High School and Katie Avery of North Oconee for their leadership, supportive students, and coordination of this meaningful event. This celebration not only honors students' accomplishments and future aspirations, but also elevates and promotes the teaching profession. The third item of information is the work-based
007learning mentor appreciation banquet, which was held Thursday, April 29th at the Civic Center. This event brought together businesses and community partners who play a vital role in supporting our students and provided an opportunity to recognize and thank the mentors who invest their time, expertise, and guidance to help students gain real-world experience and critical workforce skills. This year, we were proud to recognize OCHS Student of the Year Hampton Skinner, North Oconee High School Student of the Year Abby Smith, the Legacy Service Award recipient Brayden Shelton, and our employer employer of the year Evergreen Nursery and Piedmont Oconee Health Campus. Their commitment to mentoring strengthens our work-based learning program and creates meaningful connections between our schools and the local community. We are incredibly grateful to these mentors, businesses, and community partners who invest in our students and
008help prepare them for success beyond the classroom. This year, the program was supported by 105 businesses employing 131 students who collectively worked more than 40,000 hours and earned over $430,000. The first action item for the May 11th Board of Education meeting is the CTAE local plan and grant. Each year, OCS CTAE Department has the opportunity to apply for federal funding through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and several state grants to improve our CTAE programs. Grant funds must be spent on local programs in compliance with the Perkins Act, the state plan, state rules, and local plan guidelines. These grants support the continuation and improvement of CTAE activities, initiatives, and programs in our schools. The CTAE director uses the local improvement plan and input from CTAE teachers and advisory committees and the Perkins
009requirements to complete the application and determine the activities to be funded each year. To receive federal and state grant funding, the board must take action. The superintendent's recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve the FY27 CTAE local plan at the May 11th, 2026 Board of Education meeting. That concludes the Teaching and Learning Report unless there are questions. >> Any questions? Thank you, Ms. Whitaker. Student Services, Dot Yancey. Good evening, Dr. Butler and board members. The May 2026 Student Services Report contains two items of information and four action items. The first item of information is a reminder of our upcoming graduation ceremonies. As Dr. Butler mentioned, North Oconee's graduation will be held Friday, May 22nd at 7:30 and Oconee County High School on Saturday at 7:30, May 23rd. Both ceremonies will be hosted in
010their stadiums. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our class of 2026 graduates. We continue to be inspired by all they have accomplished in their time with us, and we look forward to the many successes that they will achieve in the future. In addition, I would like to thank our graduation teams at both high schools for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to planning and preparing these special ceremonies. The second item of information is an update on our LED digital scoreboard project. I am pleased to report that both digital scoreboards have been installed and are installed and are fully operational for spring activities. Our goal was to complete this project in time for the conclusion of spring sports and graduation and we are proud to have met that milestone. Both high schools are
011now working on content creation and graphic uh development to ensure full implementation by graduation. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. White, Mr. Rickson, Mr. Carter, Mr. Stevens, Dr. Miller, and Dr. Holly for their outstanding efforts in bringing this project to completion. Their work involved countless hours, site visits, planning meetings, and collaboration with numerous vendors. In addition, I want to thank you board members for your continued commitment to improving our facilities and for creating opportunities to showcase and celebrate our schools, staff, students, and our programs. Student services have four action items for the May 11th board meeting. The first action item is an out-of-state field trip for the Oconee County High School girls basketball program to travel to Wofford College to compete in a basketball camp in June. The remaining three action items
012are for the FBLA programs at Oconee County High School, Oconee County Middle School, and Dove Creek Middle School to travel to San Antonio, Texas to attend the FBLA National Convention. The superintendent recommends approving the field trips as presented. This concludes the student services report unless there are any questions. Any questions? >> Thank you, Dr. Yancey. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have operations, Dr. White. >> Yes, sir. Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. Operations has one informational item and two action items for this evening. Our first informational item is an operations update. The district scissor lift reached end of life at 26 years young and required replacement. Based on the usage and volume of requests, maintenance has procured two new to us scissor lifts that come with brand new battery packs. These will be
013used throughout the school system and can be requested by schools in our flow path reservation system. On April 16th, the Georgia DOT hosted a public information open house for a proposed bypass of Watkinsville. While no decision on a route has been made, operations is monitoring the proposals closely. Specifically, we're evaluating option one due to its close proximity to Colham Ferry Elementary School. Georgia law and state board rules require proposed school sites, as well as additions to existing school facilities, to be reviewed under Georgia DOE facility standards. If this process identifies a potential site hazard at at Colham Ferry Elementary School, we will be required to implement risk reduction measures. Our first action item is for Rocky Branch Elementary water heater replacements. One of the two of our water heaters at the school has failed. Both
014are original to the school and are functioning as a pair. The superintendent's recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve Ferguson Enterprises for this project with a proposal cost of $27,300. This project will be paid for using e-SPLOST and general fund dollars. Our section Excuse me. Our second action item is for a new bus GPS system. Our current system provides access to parents via the Here Comes the Bus app, but this new system allows for instant changes to GPS devices, better reliability, integrates with our routing software, new time and attendance features for our drivers, and a Where's the Bus app for parents. Transportation has been road testing these devices on 10 months for the last 2 months and received great feedback. The superintendent's recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve Pathwise for
015this project with a proposal cost of $64,921.50. This project will be paid for using general fund dollars. This concludes the operations report unless there are any questions. >> I have a question. I know it's a little premature to talk about, but since it is a hot topic, if the bypass were to be Route 1, what could risk reduction measures look like when you consider those? >> Absolutely. So, if we add onto the footprint of that building, uh we'd have to collaborate with the DOE through a facilities process. If they identify hazards, they would give us recommendations of what those would be. So, it could be uh you know, ballistic glass. It could be uh berms in the area. There's different strategies based what those hazards would be. >> Awesome. With no funding, I'm sure. >>
016Uh it would be locally funded, yes, sir. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any questions? Thank you. Not all right. Operations and Facilities, Mr. Ricketson. >> Good evening. The Oconee County Schools Operations and Facilities April 13th Board of Education report contains one item of information and no action items. First item of information is a construction update. Oconee Excuse me. I printed my wrong sheet. Uh is the Oconee County Transportation Building. Uh as you can see from the pictures we've talked about previously, they have uh installed the septic system, installed the well, and uh in the past over spring break they installed the the concrete slab. We're expecting the building to arrive uh Uh, later this week and installation will begin next week. The North Oconee gym, auxiliary gym, uh, we continue to receive, uh, feed drawings
017and feedback from the, uh, architect and and the and the, uh, team members involved in in reviewing the plans and I continue to work towards a, uh, a completion of design for later this year. Oconee High School athletic fields, uh, we are, uh, the engineer's working to design a full-size practice field to the left of the current stadium so that the team has at an actual full-size regulation field to practice on. Oconee County, uh, el- elementary school activity area improvements, uh, as you know, they did a good bit of work over spring break. Um, we are currently, uh, gearing up and getting ready for school to be out for summer break. Once that happens, we'll get we'll get inside, do work inside the gymnasium, put a new roof on it, new siding, uh, and continue
018to do the updates, uh, there. Uh, Oconee Primary, Oconee Middle HVAC and fire alarm improvements, we did replace the HVAC system in the primary school over spring break. Where we and, uh, we've begun installing fire alarm system in Oconee Middle. Uh, work continues at nights and weekends on the fire alarm system in Oconee Middle. And once summer break begins, we'll start with the HVAC replacement at Oconee Middle. Uh, also, Butler Butler's Crossing power redundancy, you may have seen, uh, Walton EMC over there on installing power poles, doing work on power poles, and also doing directional boring around the schools. Basically, what they're doing is putting in a redundant power, uh, line so that we had we can feed power to the schools and one of either direction. So basically to increase our reliability for these
019three schools. And that concludes the operations facilities report unless there are any questions. >> Any questions? Thank you, Fred. >> Thank you. >> Human Resources, Mr. Cooper. >> Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. Human Resources report this evening contains one item of information and no action items. Just a few hours ago we hosted our annual educator retirement reception recognizing 28 exceptional educators for their dedicated service to Oconee County Schools. As you've already heard, collectively these educators have contributed nearly 539 years to our students, school, and community. Throughout their careers, these educators have made a lasting impact both inside and outside of the classroom serving as mentors, leaders, and trusted adults while helping to shape the culture of excellence that defines our school district. We are deeply grateful for their commitment and legacy that they
020leave behind and we wish each and every one of them a well-deserved retirement free of alarm clocks. And that concludes the HR report unless there are any questions. >> Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Communications, Mr. Caldwell. >> Thank you, Mr. Ransom. Good Good evening, board members and Dr. Butler. Communications report this evening contains two items of information. The first is April social media. Oconee County Schools had 32 social media posts in April with an average of 33,000 551 views. Now, those April numbers are somewhat higher than normal due to the April 3rd and April 21st April 21st incidents. But that does not minimize the importance of those posts. I gave April 3rd information to the board at our last session. I'd like to share April 21st at this time. On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
021or X, 67,000 accounts had 147,000 views and 305 shares for the information posts that were time stamped at 10:53 a.m., 11:34 a.m., and 11:58 a.m. That's quite a lot of traffic in a 1-hour span of time. Dr. Belcher's follow-up message to the community at 5:15 p.m. was seen 73,000 times by 33,400 accounts. In addition, email and text updates throughout the day were successfully delivered to an average of 9,550 OCS parents and 1,050 OCS staffers. These numbers show that our communication systems are not only far-reaching, but deliver timely and reliable information. This ensures our students, staff, and families stay informed, reassured, and connected when it matters most. Board members, as you'll see shortly in the highlights video, April was another jam-packed month for the district with academic success, leadership appointments, the county's state of the schools,
022recognition of Assistant Principals Week, and several athletic events taking center stage. For the month, 23 posts were viewed more than 10,000 times, including one at 147,000, two at 80,000, two at 70,000, one at 60,000, one at 50,000, and three at 30,000. OCS gained 404 followers in April, including 173 alone on April 21st, giving the district 25,199 followers. April marked the first time in district history that we had 25,000 followers on social media. In addition, the district newsletter distributed on April 30th was opened 9,020 times. We are appreciative of the parents, students, community members, businesses, and media outlets that follow and engage with the OCS social media accounts. Finally, this evening we have the April highlights video. And that concludes communications. Let me know if you have any questions. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Crockett. We
023do have a need to enter executive session. I need a motion to do so. I'd like to make a motion for the board to adjourn to executive session to discuss or deliberate matters as described in the affidavit to be attached to the minutes. Thank you, Mr. Hamrick. >> Second. >> Mr. Hamrick, all in favor? Passes 5-0. We're adjourned.