School System Ends Year With Budget Surplus, School Board Told

Oconee County Schools ended the 2018-2019 Fiscal Year with a budget surplus of just more than $2 million, Saranna Charping, school system chief financial officer, told the Board of Education last Monday.

Part of the savings came from the state declared “holiday” on the system’s contribution to the employer match for employee health care benefits, Charping said in response to a question from Board Member Tim Burgess.

The remainder came from careful monitoring of expenses, Charping said, as the system “operated within the adopted budget.”

Charping’s report was part of the regular meeting of the Board. Charping also provided an update on expenditures and revenue from the Education Local Option Sales Tax.

Tax collections were up just under 1 percent for July compared with a year ago, following four months during which tax revenue was below those of the 2018.

During the meeting, the Oconee County High Schools Alumni Association presented $1,000 grants to Dove Creek Elementary School, High Shoals Elementary School, and Rocky Branch Elementary School to aid in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at the schools.

For more on this story, with a video of the meeting, please go to Oconee County Observations.