Oak Ridge Today

In first vote this month, Council rejects schools request for tax increase

Posted at
By 7 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council Budget Meeting

The Oak Ridge City Council rejected the school system’s request for a 37-cent tax rate increase on Monday, instead voting in the first of two votes this month to keep the tax rate steady for the seventh year in a row.

Note: This story was last updated at 9:55 a.m. June 10.

In the first of two votes this month, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday rejected a request from school officials for a 37-cent tax rate increase that would, among other things, help fund a technology initiative meant to eventually provide an electronic learning device or tablet to all students.

Council member Charlie Hensley said the tax increase would be the largest in the city’s history, and it came in late in the budget process.

The property tax rate is now $2.39 per $100 of assessed value. The increase would push it to $2.76, and it could cost the owner of a $200,000 home another $15 per month.

“I was looking to support a tax increase, but the one that we got asked for is really, really high,” Hensley said.

There was a two-part vote on the budget on Monday. The first reduced the amount transferred to the schools to roughly $14.6 million, which was about $3.3 million less than the school board had requested, and it kept the tax rate steady for the seventh year in a row. The vote on that amendment was 5-2, with Hensley and Council member Chuck Hope voting no. [Read more…]

Council has special meeting today on high school debt, school budget

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education

A proposal to resolve a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt had majority support during a non-voting joint work session of Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education on Friday.

The school board approved it unanimously on Monday, but a few City Council members have questions about a proposed resolution of a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt so they have called a special meeting for this evening (Thursday evening).

At issue is a proposed resolution of the dispute over certain Anderson County sales tax revenues and debt payments for the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School.

Before it was approved by the school board on a voice vote Monday, the resolution was discussed in a joint work session with the council on Friday. A majority of city and school officials expressed support for the resolution during the non-voting work session.

It is next scheduled to be considered by the City Council on Monday, March, 3.

Tonight’s special non-voting meeting has been called by City Council members Trina Baughn and Anne Garcia Garland. [Read more…]

City, school officials endorse resolution of sales tax, high school debt dispute

Posted at
By 12 Comments

Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education

A proposal to resolve a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt had majority support during a non-voting joint work session of Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education on Friday.

Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m.

It hasn’t been approved yet, but a majority of city and school officials on Friday said they support a proposal that would resolve a long-running dispute over whether to use some sales tax revenues collected in Anderson County to help pay for renovations of Oak Ridge High School.

The dispute has centered on how to use a portion of new sales tax revenues collected in Anderson County outside of Oak Ridge under a May 2006 referendum. School officials had argued they could keep that portion of the revenues, but municipal leaders had said the money should be used to help pay down the debt on the $66 million renovation of the high school.

The amount of money in question is in the range of $250,000 to $300,000 annually, although the total varies from year to year. [Read more…]

School board approves demolition of visitor bleachers at Blankenship

Posted at
By 15 Comments

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday will consider whether to demolish the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday approved the demolition of the deteriorated visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

The city’s school board on Monday unanimously agreed to demolish the deteriorated visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

Inspections have determined that the bleachers are no longer safe for fans, would cost too much to repair, and should be demolished immediately, a school official said this month.

“There is a very, very significant issue that we need to get on with,” said Bob Eby, Oak Ridge Board of Education vice chair, before the 5-0 voice vote on Monday.

The board hasn’t approved a replacement plan yet, but Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said the goal is to have new bleachers by the start of the next football season this fall. The school system is looking at all options in case the bleachers aren’t available by then, Borchers said. [Read more…]

USEC donates to Emory Valley Center campaign

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

USEC Donates to Emory Valley Center

Pictured above from left to right are Robin Biloski, Emory Valley Center development director; Dottie Thompson and Gene Caldwell, co-chairs of the EVC Capital Campaign; and Bob Eby of USEC Inc. (Submitted photo)

Emory Valley Center recently received a donation from USEC for its capital campaign to build a new facility on Emory Valley Road, a press release said.

“Emory Valley Center has always been such a vital part of our community in helping so many adults and children in our region,” said Bob Eby, director of Centrifuge Technology and Process Engineering of USEC in Oak Ridge. “All of us at USEC are so happy to play a part in providing a new center for the many who receive their services.” [Read more…]

Federal spending cuts affect special education program in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Federal funds to Oak Ridge Schools could be cut five percent starting July 1 under the so-called sequester, and that’s led to staff reductions in the special education program.

Four positions would be cut at Oak Ridge High School and three elementary schools—Glenwood, Linden, and Willow Brook—under a budget approved by school board members on second and final reading Thursday. Two of the reductions would result in job losses. One is a teaching assistant position at Linden, and the other is a teaching assistant job at Oak Ridge High School.

Parents with children in the program have said they are concerned about how the students might struggle if they don’t continue to get the one-on-one help they need. [Read more…]

School board approves one-time bonus, SRO funding, hears pleas to save jobs

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Oak Ridge Board of Education Budget

Oak Ridge High School students Miranda Lands, left, Michele Lands, and Matthew Stansberry present a student petition asking the Oak Ridge Board of Education to spare physics teacher Katherine Goepfert from budget-cutting layoffs.

The teaching jobs should be saved, students and parents told the Oak Ridge Board of Education during a special budget meeting Tuesday.

One of the teachers who could lose her job, Oak Ridge High School physics teacher Katherine Goepfert, or “Ms. G.,” has motivated students who have been in danger of dropping out, they said, and 109 students have signed a petition asking for her position to be saved.

“She’s just a good teacher,” ORHS senior Miranda Lands said. “She’s ‘busting her butt’ every day for our education.”

A few parents pleaded for the board to preserve a special education teaching assistant position at Linden Elementary School. They said their children require one-on-one attention, and they are concerned the students might struggle without that help. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge school board approves new superintendent contract

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Bob and Carol Smallridge and Bruce Borchers

The Oak Ridge Board of Education has approved a four-year contract with new school superintendent Bruce Borchers, right. Above Borchers speaks to Carol Smallridge, left, and interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge, second from right. Also pictured is Borchers’ son Jack.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education unanimously approved a four-year contract with new superintendent Bruce Borchers in a short special meeting Monday.

Borchers will be paid $178,000 per year, and he starts June 18, said Bob Eby, school board vice chair.

“We’ve got a top-notch superintendent that can take us to the next level,” Eby said. He led the contract negotiations on behalf of the board with the help of Oak Ridge Schools Human Resources Director Christine Lee and school attorney Larry Giordano. [Read more…]

School board offers superintendent contract to Borchers

Posted at
By 15 Comments

Bob and Carol Smallridge and Bruce Borchers

Before the school board offered him the Oak Ridge Schools superintendent job on Monday, Bruce Borchers, right, speaks to Carol Smallridge, left, and interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge, second from right. Also pictured is Borchers’ son Jack.

The Oak Ridge school board has offered the superintendent’s job to Bruce Borchers, who is now superintendent of the Rockwood School District in Eureka, Mo.

The position, which has a salary range of about $175,000, is still subject to contract negotiations.

Board members approved the offer in a 5-0 vote during a short special meeting on Monday at Riverside Grille in Oak Ridge.  [Read more…]