During a special meeting Tuesday, Oak Ridge municipal officials agreed to give the city school system an extra $250,000 to avoid a potential loss of millions of dollars in state funding and avert a possible Oct. 1 school shutdown. Pictured above are Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, left, and City Manager Mark Watson, who recommended the extra funding on Tuesday. (File photo)
In a short special meeting Tuesday, the Oak Ridge City Council agreed to give the city’s schools $250,000 to allow the system to avoid a potential loss of millions of dollars in state funding and avert a possible Oct. 1 shutdown.
The one-time transfer will come from higher-than-expected sales tax revenues in Roane County.
The vote was 4-1-1. Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller, and Council members Chuck Hope and Charlie Hensley voted in favor of the extra funding, which had been recommended by City Manager Mark Watson.
“The Oak Ridge City Council is not going to do anything to close the Oak Ridge Schools,” Beehan said. “We will allocate this money.”
Council member Trina Baughn voted no, and Council member Anne Garcia Garland abstained. Council member David Mosby was absent.
Baughn said the documentation provided by the Oak Ridge Board of Education did not support claims that the state would allow the board to shut down the schools, or that the state would withhold $1.87 million per month, as education officials have claimed. Baughn called the claims unfounded.
“This was a manufactured crisis,” she said. “We could be setting our taxpayers up for an even greater financial burden next year.”
Garcia Garland said the city manager and City Council should have been notified about the shortfall earlier.
“This situation should have been dealt with over the summer,” she said.
The schools had failed a state maintenance of effort test that requires local revenues to remain at least the same from year to year. School officials had requested the $250,000 from the city to make up the shortfall and meet the two-tier maintenance of effort test.
In a Sept. 11 letter, Maryanne M. Durski, executive director of the Tennessee Department of Education Office of Local Finance, told Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers that the system had to submit a budget by Oct. 1 that passed the maintenance of effort test, as well as a 3 percent fund balance test (the current budget passes that second test).
“If that is not in place by October 1, BEP (Basic Education Program) funds will be withheld until a budget is submitted that passes both tests,†Durski said.
School officials had blamed the $250,000 shortfall on a City Council decision to withhold $766,000 in May 2012 in an ongoing dispute over how to spend new revenues generated in Anderson County, but outside of Oak Ridge, under a 2006 sales tax referendum. City officials say the tax revenues should continue to be used to pay down the debt on the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School. But school officials say the money was forwarded to Oak Ridge under a five-year “gentleman’s agreement” and should now be used for operational expenses.
City officials see it differently, arguing, among other things, that they had to continue making the ORHS debt payments to preserve the city’s credit rating, and saying the $766,000 wasn’t necessarily withheld from the schools since it was still being used for educational expenses.
City and school officials on Monday both said that there is more work to do to resolve the high school debt issue. Hensley advocated for a mediator between the two sides.
“This situation is probably something that we’re not going to agree on,” Hensley said.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education will now consider an amended budget that includes the additional money in two hearings during a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday and again during a regular meeting that starts at 6 p.m. That budget will then be sent to the state by the end of the month.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, who started in June, said he was very happy with the outcome of Tuesday’s vote and was ready to continue collaborating with the city. Borchers expressed optimism that the long-simmering dispute over the high school debt can be resolved.
See this special meeting agenda here.
Note: This story was last updated at 9:10 p.m.
Dave Smith says
Why did councilwoman garcia Garland abstain from voting?
johnhuotari says
Dave,
I asked her that question and included her response in my last update, which you might have missed depending upon when you read the story.
Council member Anne Garcia Garland said city officials should have been notified of the shortfall earlier and the matter resolved during the summer. I believe she characterized this request as last-minute.
Angi Agle says
The schools were notified on July 30; the City Manager was notified on Aug. 8. Apparently, the City Manager didn’t brief all members of Council until Sept. 11… if I were a member of Council, I’d be unhappy too. But that’s a problem that Council can solve — he’s their employee.
Trina Baughn says
Ms. Agle,
I’d ask you kindly to quit perpetuating falsehoods about those things of which you have no knowledge. You are incorrect about our city manager and his communications. He went above and beyond to meet with Dr. Borchers five different times within a few short weeks and he kept council informed very early on.
The communication breakdown occurred between the BOE and council. You see, even though you knew way back in June (when you decided to change your accounting of the sales tax revenues), we did not hear from you all directly and formally until Sept 16th when you finally submitted something to us in writing. Surely you didn’t think council would simply turn over a quarter of a million dollars based on Mr. Fillauer’s publicity stunt? Or did you? That would be like asking a bank to borrow millions of dollars on nothing more than say, a gentlemen’s agreement.
http://trinabaughn.com/2013/09/17/the-peoples-business-91713-oak-ridge-city-council-meeting-summary-moehigh-school-debt/
Dave Smith says
John, thank you for the clarification. It wasn’t immediately apparent to me that the delayed notification was her reason for abstaining from the vote.
In a comment posted below, councilwoman Baughn says that the city manager kept council informed “very early on” regarding the matter of the shortfall. She cites a specific number of meetings the manager had with the schools superintendent. That sounds like good evidence that she was well notified.
BOE member Agle commented that the manager didn’t brief “all members of council until Sept. 11.” So some were briefed (privately?) and some were in the dark?
Whose responsibility is it to brief council on such matters? Is it the BOE’s? Is it the city manager’s? Does the Sunshine Law prevent council members from communicating important, publicly available information?
Angi Agle says
I do think some were given more info than others at varying times, and yes, it was conveyed in private briefings. It’s the City Manager’s job to convey official information to Council members. I would have been optimal to do so all at once in a public meeting, but that’s not the way it was handled.
Trina Baughn says
Watson’s first notification -and- appointment with
Borchers was August 16. He got you your money within 30
days, all while under your threat to close the schools (which Rep Reagan confirmed that you did not have the authority to do anyway.) Why are you still complaining? I thought if council gave you the money, we were supposed to all go back to holding hands around the campfire and resume our song.
Mike Mahathy says
In TN the authority to open and close a system rests with the local board and administration. Lack of funding would be one reason for temporary closure but not only reason.
Trina Baughn says
Site your source, please.
Mike Mahathy says
Well I certainly do not want to get in a drawn out debate and I do respect your opinion. This issue has been resolved, for now. We do not all have to agree but hopefully we can move forward this year.
To answer your question, Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-203 (2013), 49-2-203. (2).
Trina Baughn says
Mike,
The code you have cited states:
(2) Manage and control all public schools established or that may be established under its jurisdiction;
Is this what you are basing your claim on or is there another part of the code to which you are referring?
I think it is important that this part of the issue be clarified for the public given that the threat to close the schools was the leverage used to obtain the funds. As I’ve stated, at least one state representative confirmed that the BOE did not have the authority to close the schools. Here is the text of his email, which was provided to the council:
From: John Ragan
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 3:43 PM
To: Trina Baughn
Subject: RE: ORS Situation
Good afternoon,
The Oak Ridge Board of Education
cannot directly close the schools without authorization from the State of
Tennessee. However, the Oak Ridge Board of Education does control the
scheduling of holidays and days off in regards to the academic calendar so indirectly,
I guess it could be possible.
Regards,
John Ragan
Charlie Jernigan says
John Ragan is absolutely correct. Under the management paragraph in state code that Mike quoted, it would be irresponsible for the schools to operate without the cash flow to meet payroll and other ongoing obligations.
Snow days in September, anyone?
Sam Hopwood says
The school board is laughing all the way to the bank, we socked it to the taxpayers on the high school mortgage and now this. We are on a roll!!
I’d still like to hear David Bradshaw and John Smith tell us that they “shook hands” and allocated several millions of dollars in taxpayor money without publicly disclosing it. How about it Angie?? I’m all ears!!
Mike Mahathy says
Sam, Maybe you can join us at Oak Ridge Raw on Facebook?
Charlie Jernigan says
It is interesting how things happen around here. On May 29, 2012 the issue of electronic signs in town being considered a nuisance was raised at the City Council meeting and the schools explained the concept of Maintenance of Effort to the City Council. the impact of both of these issues became really clear only in the past couple of weeks.
http://www.oakridgetn.gov/images/uploads/Documents/CityClerk/minutes/2012/May%2029%202012%20Minutes.PDF
Skirnir Hamilton says
Thanks for posting the link the to the 2012 Council Minutes. For some of us newcomers to the area, it helps put some of these debates/arguments in perspective.
Helen Standifer says
Oh, thank heavens!!! Tongue inserted firmly in cheek.
Helen Standifer says
I wasn’t going to make another comment but there seems to be so much animosity between some of the members of these boards that I suspect there is some bigtime back-stabbing going on.
Stop it, stop it right now and do your jobs that you were elected to do. Next year your job may be a distant memory. And ladies, you do know you are making all of us look petty and mean.
Johnny Beck says
I agree Helen. Sometimes I feel like I’m reading a middle schooler’s Facebook comments instead of those of “mature adults”. Especially when it comes to those of local officials, elected or otherwise.
Whatever happened to getting the facts from all sides through polite discussion and debate, instead of “I think this, and you’re an idiot if you disagree”, or “I read this somewhere and did no further research, so the sky is falling. Alert the media!”? Some even seem to hate Everyone.
Sad.
Angi Agle says
I apologize if my comments were taken as petty; I was trying to provide information pertinent to the discussion (why Councilwoman Garland abstained, and when the schools provided information to the City). Not that it matters — the important thing is that the problem was resolved. I’m ready to move on.
Johnny Beck says
Angi,
My comment was a general comment based on lots of other comments in this and other articles. I didn’t take your comments on this article as petty at all.
If everyone stepped back and read their comments from the perspective of an outsider before posting, maybe they’d see the negative image they project about themselves and about our town. It’s like listening to the House and Senate sometimes.