So far, the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools has increased about 15 times faster this year than last year.
At about this time last year, there were 12 cases of COVID-19 reported in Oak Ridge Schools.
This year, in the same time period, there have been 181 cases reported.
Graphing the two together makes last year’s increase in cases seem relatively flat compared to the large increase in cases this year.
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Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a mask mandate in a 3-1 vote on Monday.
The approval of the mask mandate, which is similar to a mandate at four Anderson County schools, occurred as the school system reported about 180 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members in less than three weeks. COVID cases have now been reported at all schools: the preschool, all four elementary schools, both middle schools, the high school, and Secret City Academy.
The mask mandate approved Monday will require masks indoors in school buildings unless the school system has received a written opt-out notice from a parent or guardian in compliance with an executive order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee last week.
The Oak Ridge school year started Wednesday, July 28, with face masks being optional. However, as cases increased significantly in three schools, masks were required there. Those three schools were Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School.
But when the governor announced his order last week, Oak Ridge Schools said it would no longer require masks. That changed with the mandate approved by the school board on Monday.
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Oak Ridge Schools will not require face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday allowing parents to opt out of mask mandates issued by school or health boards. However, Oak Ridge Schools will continue to strongly recommend students wear masks in schools where there is an increase in confirmed COVID cases or evidence of the virus being transmitted in the building.
Before the governor’s order, Oak Ridge Schools had required masks at three schools: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Now, the use of masks is strongly encouraged in those schools but not required. All three schools have reported more than 20 COVID cases each.
The governor’s order allowed parents and guardians to use a written notification to opt out of mask mandates for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Some parents and government officials supported the order, while others, including doctors and parents, opposed it. School districts in Nashville and Shelby County said they will continue to require masks. That prompted a retort from Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, who said that “the governor and the General Assembly cannot and will not allow lawful orders to be defied.”
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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Sixth Annual Butterfly Festival will be available online beginning Saturday, September 18, a press release said. This year’s Butterfly Festival will again be virtual with outstanding lectures and special video programs for children, the release said.
The festival will go live online at 10 a.m. September 18 and remain available for you to watch at your convenience. You may register to be emailed the links for these free programs at www.utarboretumsociety.org. Registration for this event is required. These programs will be recorded, and closed captioning is available, the press release said.
Co-sponsored by the UT Institute of Agriculture, this event has become one of the most popular events annually with more than 2,000 people attending in 2019. Due to the uncertain nature of COVID-19 precautions, this year’s festival has been filmed in advance to be presented online. “This will be a different festival than in the past as there are no on-site activities, but we are excited to bring the public some great online options,” the press release said.
“To celebrate the spirit of the festival, we invited the public to order and decorate wooden butterflies,” the release said. “These butterflies will be on display throughout the month of September around our Visitors Center. We invite you to enjoy this display whenever you visit the Arboretum during September.”
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday signed an executive order that gives parents the ability to opt their children out of local mask mandates. Parents can opt out of local mask mandates enacted by either school boards or health boards. Some doctors quickly objected to the governor’s order, and legal objections and questions have already been raised.
The governor said districts will make the decisions that they believe are best for their schools, but parents “will have the ultimate decision-making for their individual child’s health and well-being.
“Right now, some of the greatest frustration is occurring in our K-12 schools, especially around the issue of mask mandates,” Lee said in the announcement of his order. “While local decision-making is important, individual decision-making by a parent on issues regarding the health and well-being of their child is the most important.
“No one cares about the health and well-being of a child more than a parent. I am signing an executive order today that allows parents to opt their children out of a school mask mandate if either a school board or health board enacts one over a district.”
Masks are currently required in three Oak Ridge schools where at least 20 COVID-19 cases have been reported: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Masks are optional in the other schools. It wasn’t immediately clear how the governor’s order would affect mask mandates at the three Oak Ridge schools.
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There have been more than 100 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members this school year, with most reporting mild symptoms, and a total of four staff hospitalizations reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oak Ridge Schools said Monday.
There have been no student or staff fatalities since the pandemic began, the school system said.
Monday morning, there were more than 200 students who were restricted from attending school. There were 109 cases of COVID among students and staff members on Monday evening, mostly among students. The largest number of COVID-19 cases is now at Robertsville Middle School. Until Friday, it had been at Willow Brook Elementary School.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said the source of exposure to COVID-19 varies.
“A high percentage of students are unable to identify the source of exposure, while others feel the source was a family member, family gathering, or friend,” Borchers said in a response to questions Monday.
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Face masks will be required at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools starting Monday as they each reported at least seven new COVID-19 cases since Thursday, and 21 new cases were reported in all Oak Ridge schools, including among students and staff members. Eighty-one new cases have been reported in the past 1.5 weeks.
There are now three Oak Ridge schools that require face masks: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Willow Brook, which had the first outbreak of COVID-19 cases, required face masks starting this past Monday.
Willow Brook still has the largest number of cases: 27. Nineteen of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Willow Brook reported four new cases between Thursday and Friday.
Robertsville has the second-largest number of cases: 24. Twenty of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Robertsville reported seven new cases between Thursday and Friday.
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Roane State Community College English instructor Wendy Bennett is the recipient of the college’s annual award for teaching excellence by an adjunct faculty member.
The announcement that Bennett won the Clyde James “Jim” Dunigan Adjunct Faculty Award was made during fall convocation on Wednesday, August 11, a press release said. The event was held on the Roane County campus and streamed live online.
Originally titled the Adjunct Faculty Award, the honor was renamed for Dunigan, who was the first recipient of the accolade. He taught as an adjunct from Spring 1989 to Spring 2016. He died in June 2016.
His widow, Flory Dunigan, an advisory member of the Roane State Foundation, presented Bennett with the award, which includes a plaque and $250. Finalists Martha Trisler, Scott Jamison, and Debby Sexton received $150 checks, also courtesy of the Roane State Foundation.
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ESPN Senior Writer Chris Low will be the featured speaker at a September luncheon to benefit Anderson County Middle College students attending Roane State Community College.
The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Roane State Community College Foundation and Anderson County Schools to host the luncheon. It’s scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, September 15, at The Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, also known as Junior Achievement of East Tennessee, at 2135 North Charles Seivers Boulevard in Clinton. Individual tickets are $30, and tables of 8 are $250, a press release said. Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/RSCCMiddle.
Low has been covering college sports for more than 34 years, a press release said. Before he joined ESPN in 2007, Low worked at The Tennessean in Nashville for 10 years covering University of Tennessee athletics. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Low was born in St. Charles, Missouri, and he grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He lives in Knoxville will his wife Julie, and they have three sons, Josh, Adam, and Sean.
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Sixty-nine cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Oak Ridge Schools this fiscal year. Sixty of those cases have been reported in the past eight days, since Wednesday, August 4. Two dozen cases were reported in the past two days. Students have been back in school about two weeks.
Three schools have had more than 10 cases each, and one, Willow Brook Elementary School, has had more than 20. Willow Brook is the only school where face masks are required.
The largest number of cases is at Willow Brook, where 23 COVID cases have been reported. Some are no longer considered current. Current cases include 16 student infections and two staff member infections.
Robertsville Middle School has had the second-highest number of cases with 17 total. Thirteen are current student cases, and one is a current staff case.
Jefferson Middle School has the third-largest number of cases with 11 total. Ten of those are current student cases.
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The number of COVID-19 cases quintupled in one week in Oak Ridge Schools. There were nine total cases in the schools on Wednesday, August 4. There were five times as many, 45, on Tuesday, August 10. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases.
Almost half of the school system’s total cases, 20, have been at Willow Brook Elementary School. Sixteen of those are considered current cases. Face masks are now required at Willow Brook. That change went into effect on Monday.
The next largest group of cases, 11, has been at Robertsville Middle School. Ten of those are current. No change in the face mask policy has been announced at Robertsville. With the exception of Willow Brook, face masks are optional in Oak Ridge Schools this school year after being required last year.
[Read more…]There is a back-to-school fair this evening (Saturday, August 7). It will include a presentation about the new school block program and tutoring, information booths, a hot dog meal, and a free movie.
The back-to-school fair is hosted by the NAACP Oak Ridge/Anderson County, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, and Oak Ridge Schools. It is scheduled at 6 p.m. Saturday, August 7, at Scarboro Community Center Gymnasium at 148 Carver Avenue in Oak Ridge.
At the fair, you can learn about tools for Oak Ridge parents and students at school booths about the new school year block program, the tutoring that is available, and family resources.
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