Parent tells Oconee County board she unenrolled sons over safety, seeks school safety and threat-assessment records

A parent told the Oconee County Board of Education on March 10 that she unenrolled her sons from Rocky Branch Elementary after what she described as repeated disruptive incidents and what she called an absence of clear communication from school and district officials.

"Six months ago, I made the difficult decision to unenroll my boys from Rocky Branch Elementary," said Katie Vickery, who identified herself and gave her address during the public-comment period. She said her son experienced frequent disruptions in class, including threats and objects thrown, and that she learned of those incidents only from her child.

Vickery said she met with the Rocky Branch principal after a separate, widely reported school shooting and asked how threats are assessed, managed and communicated to parents. "Rather than receiving a clear answer, I was dismissed, scolded, and told to trust the system," she said. She told the board she filed emails and an open-records request seeking the parent handbook, behavioral threat-assessment documents and the school-safety plan and received either no records or materials she described as withheld.

"The law does not prohibit you from sharing a redacted version of a school safety plan," Vickery said. "Be bothered that parents are left in the dark. Be bothered that transparency is treated as an inconvenience, not a responsibility."

After Vickery spoke, a board member asked follow-up questions about how threats in classrooms are communicated to parents. An unidentified staff member responding during the meeting said communication depends on the situation and that "every situation is different," and that the availability of information the district can share varies depending on circumstances.

Board members did not announce any immediate policy changes or formal actions in response to the remarks. The public-comment period concluded after two citizens addressed the board that night.

The board meeting agenda included a reminder read aloud by a staff member that policies labeled BCBI restrict auditorium public-comment to Oconee County residents and employees and request respectful, non-disruptive remarks. The district also advised that there generally will be no immediate response from the board to public comments and that comments will be taken under advisement.

Vickery urged the board to investigate discipline practices at Rocky Branch and to provide clearer communication to families; the board did not indicate a timeline for any follow-up.

For items raised during public comment, board policy and staff noted the usual process is to take concerns under advisement and that individual personnel or student matters may be handled under separate procedures.