Oak Ridge Today

With revenues down, Oak Ridge Schools could cut 18 positions, six could lose jobs

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

Revenues could be down about $1 million, and Oak Ridge Schools officials have recommended cutting 18 positions, including roughly eight teaching spots.

Six employees could lose their jobs, Oak Ridge Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said during a special meeting Monday. The rest of the cuts could occur through retirements and employees taking new jobs, among other things.

The 18 reductions could save about $1.1 million, Smallridge said. One special education teaching position would be added. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge superintendent presents budget tonight

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

Oak Ridge Schools Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge will present a budget to the Board of Education during a meeting this evening.

The special meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in Board Room at the School Administration Building, which is at 304 New York Ave.

It’s the first in a series of six meetings between today and May 23. The school system’s budget could be presented to the Oak Ridge City Council on May 28. [Read more…]

Register for ORICL courses, trips by May 15

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ORICL Trip

On an ORICL-sponsored trip to Chattanooga during the winter-spring term, Carolyn Krause, left, Richard Wright, Murray Martin, and Pat DeRoos enjoy the trip along the Tennessee River in a catamaran. (Submitted photo)

Would you like to know how to develop an estate plan, protect your life’s savings from investment mistakes, take better photos with a digital camera, and control the growth of kudzu?

If so, you may want to consider becoming a member of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or registering for summer classes and trips if you already are.

The summer semester of ORICL starts June 10 and ends Aug. 9. The early registration deadline is May 15. [Read more…]

Roane State graduation is Friday, Saturday

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Gaye Jolly

Gaye Jolly

Cuyler A. Dunbar

Cuyler A. Dunbar

Roane State Community College will hold commencement ceremonies on May 10-11.

Both events, to be held in the gym on the Roane County campus in Harriman, will be equal in presentation. [Read more…]

UT names advanced manufacturing expert as Governor’s Chair with ORNL

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Sudarsanam Suresh Babu

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu

Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, an authority in the production, design, and performance of transforming materials into parts, has been named the 11th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair.

Babu will serve as Governor’s Chair for Advanced Manufacturing. He begins on July 1.

Babu, a professor in the Welding Engineering Program in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University, directed a National Science Foundation Industry and University Cooperative Research center focused on materials joining for energy applications. [Read more…]

Public education reforms to be discussed at League meeting Tuesday

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Jerry Winters, retired chief lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, will discuss the challenges facing public schools, with an emphasis on corporate “reforms,” during “Lunch with the League” on Tuesday, a press release said.

Winters will be the featured speaker at the meeting, which starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. His presentation is titled “Surviving the Attacks on Public Education.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Education Foundation donates $81,000 to city schools

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Deirdre Barrett and ORPSEF Foundation

Deirdre Barrett, right, is pictured above with Alice Feldman, Linda Young, Anne Garcia Garland, and Margaret Gottshall. (Submitted photos)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation presented a check for $81,000 to the Oak Ridge Schools at the Foundation’s award ceremony Friday evening. The funds will be used to provide a variety of educational materials in each of the city’s seven public schools.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director and Foundation Chair Thom Mason told an audience of more than 150 attending the event that the gift was part of the Foundation’s “Making a Critical Difference” campaign that provides teachers small grants for teaching tools not available in the city’s education budget. Mason said that, since the program began in 2004, the Foundation has awarded a total of more than $408,000 to dozens of teachers in every grade. [Read more…]

Clinton High dedicates ‘net zero’ classroom

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Information from WYSH Radio

Students, teachers, and school administrators gathered to dedicate a new, so-called “net zero” classroom on the campus of Clinton High School on Tuesday.

The 1,150-square-foot building is powered by solar panels and is independent of the electric grid. The classroom, believed to be the first of its kind in the state, was funded by the school system as well as grants from Tennessee Valley Authority and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as well as other sponsors. [Read more…]

Roane State has open house tonight

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Roane State Community College will host an open house for homeschool students, private school students, and their families from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

The open house will be in the City Room at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. [Read more…]

Hardin Valley Academy senior wins four-year UT-Battelle scholarship

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Meredith Graves UT-Battelle Scholarship

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy and winner of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship, is pictured above with Thom Mason, Oak Ridge National Laboratory director. (Submitted photo)

Meredith Graves, a senior at Hardin Valley Academy, is the recipient of the 2013 UT-Battelle Scholarship to the University of Tennessee.

The four-year, $20,000 scholarship, presented annually to a graduating senior with a parent who works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is awarded annually to an outstanding student who plans to study science, engineering, or mathematics at the University of Tennessee.

Graves, daughter of Van and René Graves of Knoxville, has already been accepted into the University of Tennessee’s Bachelor of Architecture program, where she hopes to apply her interest in STEM-related fields to the design of energy efficient and environmentally friendly structures. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge High School again ranked sixth best in Tennessee

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Oak Ridge High School has been ranked sixth-best in Tennessee in the 2013 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best High Schools.

Oak Ridge was also No. 6 last year. [Read more…]

Roane State hosts open house on April 30

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Roane State Community College will host an open house for homeschool students, private school students, and their families from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 30.

The open house will be in the City Room at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. [Read more…]