BOE responds to claims from anonymous group
A website has been launched and advertised locally through billboards and print media calling for “educational excellence for all” in Greene County, although, to date, no one has taken responsibility for it.
A two-year-long lawsuit regarding student funding and enrollment caps, allegations of misappropriation of funds, and the lengthy charter renewal underway are fueling a fire that continues to smolder between Lake Oconee Academy (LOA) and the Greene County Board of Education (BOE).
The Greene County School System serves a rural community of roughly 2,500 children but appears to have the chaos and noise of larger school districts. LOA is supported by local tax dollars and is funded through the BOE.
The new website, greeneunited.org, advertises that education here may be in danger and makes several statements regarding the ongoing mistrust of the BOE. The BOE asserts the allegations are false and intended to support a false narrative. Both Dr. Otho Tucker, former CEO of LOA, and LOA Board of Governors Chairman Michael Tompkins deny any involvement.
Tucker recently announced his campaign for BOE chairman to challenge Dr. Lee Perry.
Recently it was reported to Lake Oconee News, from someone close to the BOE, that Tucker has enlisted the support of County Commissioner Dee Lindsey of Union Point as part of an effort to not close the existing Union Point Elementary and rebrand it as Union Point North.
Lindsey has been a vocal dissenter of the BOE plan. Interestingly, Lindsey successfully sued the county commissioners in the Georgia Supreme Court over attempts to push a bond referendum to expand the school after the local BOE denied its request.
In a phone call with Tucker, he acknowledged that he and Lindsey have spoken many times in support of his run but no conversation of this type ever occurred.
He asserts that Lindsey has acknowledged Tucker’s positive role in education and feels he would be a good fit. Tucker said he believes that Union Point Elementary can be utilized and supports not closing the facility. Calls placed to Lindsey were not returned.
The BOE has prepared a response to claims made on the website:
Claim: Keeping the primary school in Union Point “open” is dependent upon LOA’s charter renewal.
Answer: These two things are not connected.
A new county elementary school is needed because the county does not currently have a building large enough to house all of the SWSS schools’ elementary students. The new school is currently being built in Greensboro and will be completed and opened next year, regardless of LOA’s charter status. LOA has applied to renew its charter for another five years, and that process is underway, nearing local approval and submission to the GaDOE. At present, GCSS is waiting for LOA to submit a revised petition.
Claim: The proposed head count for the new school appears to include both the LOA and Union Point elementary student populations.
Answer: No, the county’s Pre-K-5th grade elementary student population at the SWSS schools alone totals 700-plus, and LOAs are several hundred more, making the county’s total elementary enrollment much larger than the projected enrollment for the new school building at 900. The 900 projected enrollment figure for the new school accounts for the SWSS schools’ current elementary enrollment plus projected increases brought by the housing developments planned for the neighborhoods surrounding the new school.
Claim: The board voted to “waste” tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on an “unnecessary” school.
Answer: The new school is indeed necessary. The county needs a building large enough to house the elementary population currently split between the Pre-K program at the board office in Greensboro, the K-4 primary school in Union Point, and the fifth-grade wing at the middle school.
Additional Note Regarding Funding: Whether spent on constructing a new building or renovating the Union Point school, “tens of millions” would be spent either way. If the money was spent to renovate the Union Point building, as some have suggested, that school would still be an old, outdated building with a facelift, and the underlying problems with the building’s lack of enough space to accommodate the SWSS elementary student population, insufficient electrical systems to support the technology associated with 21st-century education, old plumbing, leaky foundations, and other issues would still exist.
Claim: The BOE plans to “waste money bussing students across the county.”
Answer: No, it will actually be more efficient to transport the county’s PK-5th grade students to the new school building, because the
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The new school will be more centrally located to the entire county. It will be within the city limits of Greensboro, where the majority ( 62%) of the SWSS schools’ elementary population lives. Only 28% of the SWSS elementary population lives in Union Point, and at least 60% of the students in grades K-4 who are currently being bussed out to GCPS from Greensboro and unincorporated areas of the county can expect to have a shorter bus ride to the new, more centrally located school building next year.
Claim: The board gains tax revenue year over year to account for failed projections.
Answer: The board passed a rollback millage rate this year for the fifth consecutive year.
Additionally, the county’s tax revenue often comes in above projections. The school district maintains and operates with a balanced budget and has received the GDAA Excellence in Financial Reporting Award for six consecutive years.
Claim: There is a plan to merge LOA with Greene County Schools.
Answer: While many community members have broached the idea of a common high school and called for a unified school system at the GCSS strategic planning community involvement sessions during Fall 2022, there is currently no plan to dissolve LOA or merge LOA with Greene County Schools. LOA has applied for another 5-year charter, and the Board of Education and Board of Governors are working to finalize the details of that charter agreement.