Oak Ridge Today

ORHS grad, brand manager running for school board

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Paige Marshall

Paige Marshall

Paige (White) Marshall, a 1988 graduate of Oak Ridge High School and current Oak Ridge resident, is running for Oak Ridge Board of Education in the November 4 election.

Marshall said her father spent most of his teaching career teaching in Oak Ridge.

“I quite literally grew up in these schools, among public educators,” Marshall said in a press release. “I am convinced that there is incredible power in public education to give students a chance to improve personally so that they can contribute responsibly as adults.”

Marshall attended Middle Tennessee State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1991, and she went on to seminary at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, where she received her M.Div. in 1997.

After serving as a member of the clergy for almost 15 years, she went back to school and completed a master’s of business administration in marketing at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2008. Since then, she has worked in the business world for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, and for Bush Brothers and Company in Knoxville, where she is currently a brand manager. [Read more…]

Guest column: Afterthoughts on the 2015 budget

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

A lot of incomplete, and sometimes inaccurate, information has been disseminated to the public regarding the Fiscal Year 2015 city and school budgets. Such inconsistencies compound citizen frustrations as they begin to feel the impact of both bodies’ decisions. I would like to offer some clarification along with supporting resources, which will also be hyperlinked within my website, trinabaughn.com.

First, let me address the claim that council is “not supportive” of our schools. I assure you that each and every one of us actively supports the education of Oak Ridge children with both our private and public contributions of time and money.

Furthermore, when factoring in debt payments, council allocates roughly half of all property taxes toward our schools. In fact, there are only four other communities in all of the state that out fund Oak Ridge at the local level. And even though council did not increase the tax rate this year, we did increase funding to the schools by over $500,000 due to the high school mortgage obligation shift. And contrary to claims that funding levels have been flat or declined, a simple comparison from 2005–2014 shows that total school spending has increased from $42.3 million to $55.5 million.

Second, both city and school representatives are guilty of understating their employees’ history of pay increases. City employees have received pay raises four out of the last five years. Teachers, too, have received raises every year of the last five years. The range and form of those raises is worthy of further discussion, and I intend on broaching the subject in our next joint Council/BOE meeting. [Read more…]

Guest column: Not seeking re-election, DiGregorio offers advice to potential candidates

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Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have been on the Oak Ridge Board of Education since June 2005. My second term on this board is coming to a close in November, after what will be nine years and five months. But who’s counting?

I have decided not to seek re-election. On a personal level, I’m committed to term limits and shared responsibility. I should have been through in June of 2013, but a City Charter revision, through some smoke and mirrors, fixed things so that terms that should have expired in June of 2013 were extended to November 2014, an additional 17 months. Three current board members are in that situation.

Recently, I have been asked about “school boarding”—what the process is for running for a seat on the School Board, where do you register, how many signatures are required to be placed on the ballot, what a campaign would entail, and what time commitment it takes to serve on the School Board if elected. I am glad to provide this information and my opinions. I applaud anyone who wants to serve on a Board of Education. Public education is very important to me, this city, this state, and the nation.

There are three basic tasks for a BOE: policy, planning, and promotion. But the job is far more involved than that. Board members will not hire or fire any staff. Nor will they micromanage the work of any staff, including the superintendent. Collectively, the BOE has one employee—the superintendent.  The board hires him/her, and he/she does everything else. You do not work for the superintendent or the board, but working with those two, even if you disagree, will make things easier. Otherwise, the board may become dysfunctional. No community deserves a dysfunctional board of any kind. A 5-0 vote has the same effect as a 4-1 or 3-2 vote. The board speaks with one voice.

So: [Read more…]

Guest column: The Oak Ridge High School debt chronicles

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

The Oak Ridge High School Debt Chronicles—How a $40 Million Project Will Cost Taxpayers Over $126 Million (So Far) 

It appears that the nearly three-year long debate between the Oak Ridge City Council and the Board of Education (BOE) over who owes what on the high school renovation project—the single largest financial expenditure that this city has ever made—is about to be resolved once and for all (or so some hope). To many, this will provide a welcomed relief. For all, it will once again extend and increase a debt obligation far beyond what anyone ever imagined.

Just over one week after the initial public revealing, council will vote on a resolution to end the debate on the high school mortgage issue. The root problem that this resolution will address is not ambiguity in the 2004 referendum or in any “gentlemen’s agreements.” No, the reason that this resolution is necessary, according to the fifth “Whereas,” is “changing community economics and increasing educational needs.”  The need for this resolution, which will violate the original understanding and intent of the 2004 referendum, boils down to an implied need by the Oak Ridge schools for more money.

If passed, this resolution will allow the BOE to retain the portion of the half-cent sales tax revenues collected outside of the City of Oak Ridge and will accomplish the following: [Read more…]

Second top school administrator leaving Oak Ridge at end of year

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She was Oak Ridge preschool principal for 12 years and assistant interim superintendent for eight months, and now Marian Phillips has been offered a new job at the University of Tennessee.

She will start at UT on Jan. 7. She will be leaving Oak Ridge shortly after Superintendent Tom Bailey, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Phillips became assistant interim superintendent after Ken Green left in May.

[Read more…]