Dr. Jason L. Branch began his first day with Oconee County Schools on June 1, 2012. He brings a variety of experiences to the superintendent's position.

 

Dr. Branch has worked in five Georgia school systems as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, athletic director, principal, and superintendent. He sits on the Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA) Board of Directors, is a 2017 graduate of the prestigious Leadership Georgia program, and is beginning his third term on the Board of Trustees for Teachers Retirement System of Georgia (TRS) after first being appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018. He received the prestigious Bill Barr Leadership Award from the Georgia School Superintendents Association in 2019; and in 2020 was named Chair of the Governor’s Superintendent Advisory Council, a group of 15 superintendents from around Georgia that provides educational policy guidance to Gov. Brian Kemp. Dr. Branch was named a 2021-22 finalist for Georgia Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Branch was named the practitioner recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award by the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education and GSSA recipient of the 2024 Jim Puckett Outstanding Educator Award by the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders.

 

Dr. Branch has presented at the state, local, and national levels in the areas of leadership development, technology, and curriculum. He holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree, both in English education, from the University of Georgia, as well as specialist and doctoral degrees in educational leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi.

 

Dr. Branch and his wife, Catherine, are the proud parents of two children, Abby and Jake.