Morale was low and trust in the central office was waning when Beverley Levine took over as superintendent of the Oglethorpe County School System in 2015.
To address these challenges, she launched community listening sessions — an open forum to share concerns, provide input and help shape the district’s future.
Now a decade later, sessions like one held Monday night at Oglethorpe County High School brought together 46 community members, teachers and students.
The big takeaways were a desire for higher expectations and a culture of accountability in academics, athletics and extracurricular activities.
The format was simple.
Participants discussed three key questions, ranked their top concerns, and shared insights with the group, facilitated by Northeast Georgia Regional Service Director Laurie Allison.
“I like somebody to come in and facilitate it so that the school people feel like they can talk freely,” Levine said. “We’re (the administration) not driving the conversation. They can have an honest conversation.”
Concerns were raised about ensuring all students — regardless of their placement in gifted programs — are challenged and prepared for the real world.
Many attendees called for more Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities and relevant pathways to in-demand careers. Others stressed expanding AP course offerings to help students compete for college admissions and scholarships.
Discussions also focused on staff, namely recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, particularly as fewer individuals enter the profession. Participants emphasized the importance of staff morale, competitive salaries and strong community involvement in supporting educators.
“Our system values feedback, they analyze feedback, and they give everybody a fair opportunity to give it,” said Sara Hughes, a work-based learning teacher at OCHS who attended the session.
Another significant issue was student motivation, including the role of AI in education and cell phone use in classrooms. Attendees also highlighted the need for a family service coordinator or social worker to support students facing challenges outside of academics.
Concerns about funding led attendees to stress securing more grants and business partnerships to enhance facilities, technology and educational opportunities so that the school system remains competitive in all aspects, including academics, athletics and infrastructure.
Change has come from previous listening sessions.
The school system has implemented several initiatives directly tied to community input, including improving communication with the launch of Patriot E-News to a district-wide app to bolster school security with controlled entryways and additional SROs.
Other significant developments included the expansion of technology, the creation of an after-school program, the addition of healthcare pathways at OCHS, and the completion of a new primary school in 2025.
“The biggest takeaway to me was just seeing the investment that the community members have in this school district, and while they all are pleased with their children being here, being a part of this, that they were able to look around the corner at the future and see what their hopes and dreams were for the future,” Allison said.
For those who could not attend the listening session, OCSS sent out a survey asking the same four questions, which can be found here.