Oak Ridge Today

Parents protest expanded 1.5-mile walk zone for students

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Oak Ridge School Buses at the Central Services Complex

Parents are protesting a June 23 decision to expand the walk zone for students to 1.5 miles to help reduce a $1.25 million budget deficit. The expanded walk zones mean that bus service won’t be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 a.m. July 12.

Parents concerned about student safety are protesting a recent decision by Oak Ridge Schools to expand the student walk zone to 1.5 miles.

In the past two days, they’ve started a petition and Facebook group to oppose the June 23 decision, and they’ve organized a protest, rally, and walks through the expanded walk zones at several schools.

“We’re serious about this,” said Daniel Morgan, who has two sons at Linden Elementary School and a daughter who starts at Robertsville Middle School this fall. “The citizens are concerned about the safety of the children.”

The expanded walk zones mean that bus service will no longer be available to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The change could affect 1,800 students. The new bus stops have been posted on the Oak Ridge Schools website. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters has Anderson, Roane candidate forums in July

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The League of Woman Voters of Oak Ridge will have three candidate forums in July, two for Anderson County candidates and one for Roane County candidates.

The first Anderson County candidate forum will be on Tuesday, July 15. It will feature candidates for Anderson County offices and judicial positions. The second forum will be on July 17, and it will feature Oak Ridge candidates for the Anderson County Commission and Anderson County School Board. Both forums will start at 7 p.m., and they will be held in the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater. ORHS is located at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Roane County candidate forum will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, in the Roane State Community College City Room, A111. This forum will feature candidates for Roane County offices and judicial positions and candidates who would represent Oak Ridge districts on the Roane County Commission and School Board. RSCC is located at 701 Briarcliff Ave. in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Goins departs Knox Central

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Jody Goins

Jody Goins

Information from WYSH Radio

Former Oak Ridge High School principal Jody Goins has resigned from the job that lured him away from the Atomic City after just one year to accept another job.

Goins, a Clinton High School graduate, was appointed principal at Knox Central High School last year. His resignation letter to the Knox County School Superintendent did not indicate where he is going.

When he was appointed principal at Oak Ridge in 2009, he was the youngest high school principal in the state. Prior to being named ORHS principal, he served as a social studies teacher, assistant basketball coach, and assistant principal beginning in 2004.

Family, friends remember Brayden Pearson, seek to honor his ‘zest for life’

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Bubbles for Brayden Pearson

Family and friends blow bubbles for Brayden Pearson during a Friday night vigil at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge.

 

He wore No. 14 when he played baseball and basketball for the Boys and Girls Club. Only eight years old and going into fourth grade, he hadn’t really decided on a profession yet, but he thought playing major league baseball “would be awesome,” a family friend said.

So it was fitting that family and friends gathered in the outfield of a baseball field at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge to remember Brayden Pearson on Friday. They described Brayden as a lively boy with thick, curly hair, and a contagious laugh—”the best laugh ever,” said Tracy Stewart, a member of the close-knit sports family at the club. Brayden loved school, family friend Sara VanLandingham said.

Brayden died Monday, two days after he had trouble while snorkeling near a swimming area at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge. He had to be pulled from the lake that Saturday afternoon. Family and friends performed CPR, and 911 was called. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded and continued CPR, and Brayden was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

The family said they wanted to continue Brayden’s zest for life by donating his organs to other children who need them. On Friday, VanLandingham, who has been speaking on behalf of the family, said four organs had been successfully removed for donation. [Read more…]

Candlelight vigil for Brayden Pearson at Boys and Girls Club this evening

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Brayden Keith Pearson

Brayden Pearson, Our Hero, #14 (Submitted photo)

There is a candlelight vigil for Brayden Pearson at 6 p.m. today at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge at 102 S. Jefferson Circle. The public is invited.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, June 29, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Click Funeral Home at 9020 Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville, with the procession to immediately follow. There are bike clubs riding on Sunday in honor of Brayden, including the Knoxville Chapter of Band of Brothers and Christian Motorcycle Club of America.

Brayden would have been a fourth-grade student at Woodland Elementary School this coming year. He died Monday after having trouble while snorkeling at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Alternative Program administrator named principal at Willow Brook

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Willow Brook Elementary

Willow Brook Elementary School is pictured above in May 2012. (File photo)

The administrator of the Alternative Program at Oak Ridge Schools has been named principal of Willow Brook Elementary School, officials said Wednesday.

Sherrie Fairchild-Keyes will become Willow Brook principal effective July 1. The appointment was announced Wednesday morning by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers. Fairchild-Keyes was selected by an interview team made up of Willow Brook teachers and parents and Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak, a press release said.

Fairchild-Keyes will replace the outgoing principal, Lisa Light, who took a position with Knox County Schools as the principal of Gap Creek Elementary. [Read more…]

Our Hero, #14: Brayden a ‘lively boy,’ attended Woodland, organs to be donated

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Brayden Keith Pearson

Brayden Pearson, Our Hero #14 (Submitted photo)

By Sara VanLandingham

On Saturday, June 21, while swimming at Clark Park in Oak Ridge, Brayden Keith Pearson, age 8, began having trouble while snorkeling and was removed from the lake. Family and friends performed CPR, and 911 was called. Oak Ridge Fire and Police Departments responded. The fire department took over life-saving operations and Brayden was flown via UT Life Star to Children’s Hospital. Despite rescue companies’ life-saving efforts, Brayden was pronounced dead at 11:35 a.m. on Monday, June 23, but remained on life support.

Brayden was a lively little boy who attended Woodland Elementary School and played as #14 Boys and Girls Club of America Little League team. The family has decided the best way to continue Brayden’s zest for life is through organ donation to children currently in need. The family asks that anyone wishing to support them please donate to the Brayden Medical Fund at youcaring.com or directly to Children’s Hospital in Brayden’s name.

Due to the enormous outpouring of support, the family will be holding a public memorial service at Click Funeral Home on Middlebrook Pike. Arrangements to be announced or more info can be seen by visiting http://www.clickfuneralhome.com. Anyone planning to participate in the funeral procession is asked to contact Click funeral home directly for time, location, and instructions on lining up. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools walk zone expanded to 1.5 miles, could affect 1,800

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Charlsey Cofer at Oak Ridge School Board Meeting

Oak Ridge Preschool Interim Principal Charlsey Cofer, left, says that cutting preschool transportation could result in fewer students, which would in turn result in less funding.

Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 a.m. June 25.

Starting this fall, bus service will no longer be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The move is expected to save $500,000. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce a $1.25 million deficit.

The expansion of the “parent responsibility zone” for school transportation was the largest change approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday. The 1.5-mile walk zone could affect 1,800 students, said Karen Gagliano, Oak Ridge Schools director of business and support services.

Other budget changes approved Monday include a delay in the purchase of textbooks, a move expected to save about $330,000, and a $123,000 reduction in the number of planned hires of technicians. The school system now expects more than $200,000 in additional revenue from state Basic Education Program funding and sales and property tax revenues.

A technology initiative known as 1:1 is no longer being considered as originally envisioned, and 2 percent pay raises for school staff members are off the table.

But the school board worked to save preschool transportation, a program that costs roughly $74,000 per year. Interim Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer warned that cutting transportation for preschoolers could result in a drop in the number of students, which would in turn affect funding. She said about 170 students used the transportation last year out of more than 200 who were enrolled. [Read more…]

Guest column: Oak Ridge—a city teetering—which way will it go?

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Bob Eby

Bob Eby

By Bob Eby

Friday, June 20

This week, I experienced great joy and significant sadness. The joy was being with my daughter and son-in-law as she birthed our first grandchild and we brought her home from the hospital in California. It was because I was with them during this joyous time that I missed last Monday night’s City Council meeting, but I did watch it live through Internet streaming (technology is great!). It was during that time that I felt sadness and disappointment. I realized that this wonderful community I have known for 50 years now balances on a tipping point, to fall on a downward spiral or gradually move forward with a great and dedicated effort toward prosperity. Why do I say this?

Last year, the Board of Education hired a new superintendent who brought with him much energy and a vision to re-establish the Oak Ridge Schools to its premier status as not only the number one school district in the State of Tennessee but also the premier district in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in the country. The Board fully supported the vision, though we were recommending a three-year roll-out, which we felt was more realistic and would allow opportunity to adjust the implementation as we and the staff worked together to achieve our goals.

With their recent action, the City Council not only chose not to support this vision, but they very likely have failed to provide our teachers and associated staff the recognition they so deserve with any funding for their first raise (2 percent) in four years. City Council does plan to provide city-employeed staff with a raise. I think it is only right that all employees of our community receive a raise. All school staff and city employees are equally deserving of this recognition of their value to Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

DOE advisory board welcomes new student representatives

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Aditya Chourey and Claire Rowcliffe

Aditya Chourey of Oak Ridge High School and Claire Rowcliffe of Hardin Valley Academy, are the new student representatives to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board for Fiscal Year 2014-15. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board welcomed two new student representatives, Aditya Chourey and Claire Rowcliffe, at its May meeting. They will serve on the board through April 2015.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

“We’re very happy to welcome two new student representatives to the board,” said Dave Adler, the board’s DOE alternate deputy designated federal officer, as he introduced the students to the board. “Thank you for coming to work with us for a year. It’s great you’ll be taking the time from your high school schedules to be part of the board.” [Read more…]

School board to consider revised budget proposal on Monday

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Oak Ridge Board of Education

The Oak Ridge Board of Education and school administrators are pictured above during a meeting earlier this year. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge City Council did not want to raise the property tax rate, so the Oak Ridge Board of Education could consider cuts to next year’s school budget during a Monday evening meeting

The school board passed a budget in May that requested a 37-cent property tax rate increase to start rolling out a technology initiative known as 1:1, hire technology personnel and other staff, comply with the reporting requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, and give employees a 2 percent pay raise, among other things.

But in two meetings this month, the Oak Ridge City Council rejected any change to the tax rate, and it will remain unchanged for the seventh year in a row. [Read more…]

Phillips named ORHS orchestra director

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Doug Phillips

Doug Phillips has been named orchestra director at Oak Ridge High School. He replaces Jennifer Van Tol, who has retired. (Submitted photo)

James “Doug” Phillips has been named orchestra director at Oak Ridge High School, Principal David Bryant said Wednesday. Phillips will replace Jennifer Van Tol, who retired at the end of the school year.

Bryant said Phillips has 12 years of experience in music instruction, with the last 11 being in a public school setting. His most recent assignment was with Shelby County Schools in Memphis, where he directed an award-winning strings music program.

Phillips earned his bachelor’s degree in music at Mississippi Valley State University and his master’s degree in music education at Jackson State University, and he is currently working on his doctorate in musical education through Boston University.