Oconee County, GA Politics

There has been a lot of anger and acrimony at North Oconee High School this year, and it is not because the football team did not win the State Title. The Oconee Enterprise newspaper reported it quite poorly this evening, somehow equating the five deaths of fathers of students and a recent suicde as fueling the controversy. Guess what? Dads die every day. It does not make the heads of school turn in their resignations. However the death of a student certainly does not make one want to stick around. What does make administrators decide they no longer want to work at a school? The lack of cooperation and respect of the teachers and employees. The parents taking their kids out of the newest school in the county. The students not wanting to say hello to the Principal when they walk down the hallway. I have not been inside North Oconee during the school day to accurately gauge, yet alone trace the reasons for, the anger and hostility toward Mr. Lollis. I have heard from the parents and...

According to the Oconee Enterprise newspaper, Barry K. Lollis was named the new principal of North Oconee High School by the Oconee County Board of Education, replacing interim principal Luis Varela. This is a photo of Lollis from his former school Windsor Forest in Savannah, where he was also a football coach. The following is from his bio at the Windsor Forest website: Mr. Barry K. Lollis, the 5th Principal appointed to WFHS since its opening in 1967, is beginning his third year at that post. His prior SCCPS appointments include serving an Assistant Principal at L.T. Shuman Middle School and most recently as an Assistant Principal at H.V. Jenkins High School. Prior to serving in administration, Mr. Lollis taught science at Savannah Arts Academy. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biology from Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU), and two graduate degrees; MEd in Broad Field Science (AASU) and MEd in Educational Leadership from Georgia Southern University. Mr. Lollis i...