Oconee County reports ACT gains, REACH scholars and updates school-choice, SROs and field trips

Miss Whitaker reported the district's teaching and learning update, saying Oconee County Schools achieved a 24.2 ACT composite score for the Class of 2025 with 187 test takers and a top-10 statewide ranking (fourth overall); the district was noted as the only county system in Northeast Georgia to make the top 10. She also announced four eighth-grade students who signed on as REACH Georgia scholars; each student will receive $10,000 in scholarship money upon graduating from high school and completing college requirements under the REACH contract.

The student services report set the school-choice application window for the 2026-27 year: applications open Friday at 4 p.m. and close Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 at 4 p.m.; families will receive decision letters the following Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. The report also summarized the district's participation in the Georgia Department of Education school climate survey (family survey Dec. 1–Mar. 31; staff and student survey windows described) and recapped behavior threat assessment/management (BTAM) training conducted with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

Student services announced additions to the district's school resource officer program: three deputies assigned to elementary schools—Deputy Humphreys to Dove Creek Elementary, Deputy Cherry to Rocky Branch Elementary and Deputy Gentry to Malcolm Bridge Elementary—bringing the SRO total to 11; the district's goal remains placement of an SRO at each of 12 schools. The board approved two out-of-state band trips to Carowinds, NC (recommended for March and May) in a combined vote.

These items were presented as informational or routine action items and drew no recorded opposition. The reports included specific application dates and named student recipients for the REACH scholarships.