Investing Where It Matters Most: In our Classrooms

As the School District of Oconee County begins its 2026–27 budget process, we face a defining choice about who we want to be as a community.

More than 85% of our school district budget is our people — our teachers, aides, nurses, bus drivers, and staff who shape every child’s day. That means our budget is not a spreadsheet exercise; it is a moral and practical decision about whether our classrooms will be stable, strong, and student-centered for years to come.

At our recent board meeting, district leaders presented a detailed compensation analysis comparing SDOC salaries to neighboring districts and to the state teacher salary scale. The findings were clear: while we have made progress at the entry level, we are losing ground in a very specific sector — early- and mid-career teachers who lead a large number of our students. These are the educators with five to ten years of experience and can earn more just by crossing a county line. Every time we lose one of them, our students lose continuity and momentum.

Complicating matters, the state has raised, and may raise again, the minimum teacher salary scale. That is good for educators statewide, but it also means our community must decide, do we want to simply stay status quo? I know that answer…. and you do too. Doing nothing is not a neutral choice; it means more vacancies and more mid-year resignations in our highest number of classrooms.

For that reason, our district has proposed a graduated approach to teacher compensation. This, in my humble opinion, is an efficient stewardship of our tax dollars. This means directing more support to the teachers most at risk of leaving, while still allowing every educator, from veteran to newly minted, to advance with experience and honoring the extraordinary work they do for our children every day.

Some may call this “unequal.” I would ask: is it responsible to do what is best for our students? Leadership means that sometimes we have to make hard decisions and direct limited resources where they will do the most good for our students. In this instance, this means retaining strong, experienced teachers in our classrooms rather than losing them.

Others may say, “Just cut somewhere else.” We are committed to efficiency, but can we cut our way to excellence? Again, we know that answer…..not if that means less support for students, weaker instruction, or larger class sizes.

We have shown what good stewardship looks like in practice in years past: maintaining strong, community centered facilities, investing in top-notch security systems for student safety, and managing last year’s budget requests responsibly as a community partner.

As we approach another budget season, our teachers should not be viewed as an expense. They are our greatest asset because our students are our greatest investment.

In the months ahead, our district leadership and the Board of Trustees will work diligently and we are committed to listening to our community on what you want the return on our investment to look like. Our guiding question will remain unwavering:

Does this put our students first?

When we invest wisely in our classrooms, we invest directly in every child in Oconee County — and I believe that is a return our community believes in.