School Board Candidates Offer Written Response To Forum Questions

Laura Ormes joined two of the three other candidates for Board of Education Posts 4 and 5 in calling for a mask mandate at Oconee County Schools.

Only incumbent Post 4 Board Member Tim Burgess, Ormes’ opponent in the Nov. 3 election, opposes the mandate. Mask wearing is encouraged but not required under current school policy.

Ormes also said Board members should respond to citizens who write to them, something Parker also said, but neither Burgess nor Ransom did.

Friction between the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners is something that needs to be addressed, Ormes said, as did Ransom and Parker. Burgess said the two Boards have a good working relationship.

Ormes agreed with the other three candidates in saying that Oconee County Schools should charge the county Parks and Recreation Department for use of school sports facilities, but Ormes said she wasn’t “positive that the amount they are being asked to pay is fair and proportionate.”

Ormes was responding in writing to the questions posed by citizens in the virtual candidate forum for the four Board of Education candidates on Sept. 17. Ormes withdrew from the forum on the day of the event because of the sudden death of her sister.

Ormes and Parker also responded to questions submitted by participants in the forum that candidates did not have a chance to address because of time constraints.

In those responses both were very critical of the distance learning platforms that Oconee County Schools currently is using for students and parents who opted for distance rather than in-person instruction.

Ormes and Parker are the Democratic Party nominees for Post 4 and Post 5 respectively, while Burgess and Ransom are the Republican Party nominees for those two posts, respectively.

For more on the story, with links to the written responses of Ormes and Parker, please go to Oconee County Observations.