The Oglethorpe County Board of Education unanimously approved the budget for the 2026 fiscal year at its meeting on Tuesday. The total revenue is projected at $30.8 million and the total expenses at $33.7 million, resulting in a nearly $3 million deficit.
“The revenues are projected to be less than our expenses,” BOE Chair Becky Soto previously said. “We were OK with that because we are able to use our fund balance to cover the difference this year.”
The board agreed to move forward with a Nov. 4, 2025 election date to renew the county’s Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, as proposed by Superintendent Beverley Levine, who attended the meeting via Zoom while visiting family in South Africa.
The 1-cent tax must be renewed every five years. It is used for new construction and maintenance, debt repayment and more.
The original election date for the ESPLOST renewal was May 2026, however if it were to fail, the board would have to wait until November 2027 to put it back on the ballot, during which time the current funds would run out.
This is because if an ESPLOST vote fails, the board must wait a year before putting it back on the ballot and there is no election in May 2027.
Holding the election this year gives the board time to try again in November 2026 if it fails.
Soto expressed concern that the ESPLOST could be confused with the Floating Local Option Sales Tax that the Board of Commissioners plans to put on the ballot in November after opting into HB 581.
“People are really upset about the Board of Commissioners adding on that additional 1-cent sales tax,” Soto said. “What I don’t want to happen is them to vote ‘no’ across the board and vote ours down, too.”
Levine also informed the board that Oglethorpe County High School will return to its pre-COVID-19 policy on senior final exam exemptions. Since the pandemic, all students with good behavior could exempt final exams, but this will return as a senior-only privilege.
The board didn’t vote on this, as it will be decided on and implemented by the OCHS administration.
“You could have a student who does very well in their classes and does not have to face an exam — a pressure situation like that — all throughout high school; they go on to college and they feel like they’re not prepared,” Levine said. “We certainly don’t want to put our students in that position, so the high school leadership team has been discussing this.”
Levine also said the schools are nearly fully staffed, with the high school missing a counselor and the elementary school having three openings. Levine announced four resignations from bus drivers, but assured the board that applicants are on the way.
The meeting concluded with an executive session to discuss personnel.
In other news, the BOE unanimously:
- Approved a $25,000 remodel of bathrooms at Patriot Stadium.
- Approved an $18,702 fencing project at the elementary school.
- Approved a nearly $6,000 leak repair at the middle school.
- Approved an application for Exemplary Board status with GSBA.