Politics & Government
Oconee Schools Increasing Cost To County For Use Of Sports Fields
School Supt. Jason Branch has informed the county that he wants to terminate a 2010 agreement on shared use of fields.
Oconee County Schools is initiating a new fee schedule on July 1 for use of its athletic facilities by the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department that, according to the county, will increase the costs to the county by about $60,000.
Supt. Jason Branch informed the county in a letter dated June 26, 2019, that the School system plans to terminate a 2010 agreement with the county that covers the use by the county and the school system of county and school system facilities.
Discussions since that time have not resulted in a final new agreement.
Find out what's happening in Oconeefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The new fees and the lack of a new agreement came to light on Tuesday at the Board of Commissioners meeting, where Lisa Davol, director of the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department, asked the Board to increase fees for tackle football by $20 to cover the new fees.
That will increase the costs to parents from $195 to $215 per child.
Find out what's happening in Oconeefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“I think it’s unfortunate that they’re picking on children to target five commissioners,” Commissioner Chuck Horton said during a nearly seven minute discussion that followed Davol’s presentation to the Board. Horton, a former chair of the Board of Education, dominated that exchange.
The Board put off a vote on the proposed fee schedule for tackle football until its next meeting on Tuesday with the expectation that the Board of Education will discuss a new Joint Use Agreement at its meeting on Monday.
In other action Tuesday, the Board received a schedule leading up to a November vote on renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, a draft of a modified Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance, updates on the work of the Tourism and Visitors Bureau and on negotiations for broadband improvements, and an authorization to seek additional information on the lagging sales tax revenue in the county.
For more on this story, with a video of the Board of Commissioners meeting, please go to Oconee County Observations. I did an open records request to gain some background on the conflict between the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education, and the result of that request is in the post as well.
