Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge school board approves mask mandate

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Oak Ridge school board member Angi Agle, right, proposed a mask mandate inside Oak Ridge school buildings, and her motion was seconded by board member Ben Stephens, left. The school board approved the mandate, which has a written opt-out per an executive order by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, in a 3-1 vote on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021.

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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TSBA recognizes Tara Kneiser, Laura McLean

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Pictured above are Oak Ridge Board of Education members Ben Stephens, left; Keys Fillauer, second from left; Laura McLean, third from right; Angi Agle, second from right; Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, right; and Tara Kneiser. (Photo submitted by Oak Ridge Schools)

 

The Oak Ridge Board of Education recently nominated Tara Kneiser to qualify as the Tennessee School Board Association Volunteer of the Year. In the first round of qualification, Kneiser earned the East District School Volunteer of the Year award. She now is one of nine volunteers from across the state who qualifies to become the State School Volunteer of the Year. This state-level award will be presented to one of the nine finalists at the TSBA Convention in November, a press release said. [Read more…]

School board approves change in residency requirement

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday approved, in the first of two votes, a policy change that would require the superintendent and principals to live in Oak Ridge.

Assistant principals, the executive director of school leadership, and the executive director of teaching and learning would be required to live in Oak Ridge if they are relocating to the region after being hired by Oak Ridge Schools. This would not apply to new administrators in those positions who already live in adjacent counties, such as Knox County.

The policy change would reduce the number of administrative positions with a residency requirement. The current policy requires the superintendent, executive director of school leadership, executive director of teaching and learning, director of pupil services, principals, and assistant principals to live in Oak Ridge “to be thoroughly familiar with the community and to be available beyond the regular day.”

But the current policy is suspected of reducing the number of candidates who apply for jobs at Oak Ridge Schools, according to administrators.

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Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch

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

The four incumbents—Mayor Warren Gooch, Council members Kelly Callison and Ellen Smith, and Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn—were re-elected to four-year terms on Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday, according to unofficial election results in Anderson and Roane counties.

The final results mirrored the results of early and absentee ballots in Anderson County.

There were four City Council seats up for regular election and five candidates for those seats.

Gooch had the most votes Tuesday, a total of 7,916 in the two counties (6,774 in Anderson County and 1,142 in Roane County). Gooch also had the highest number of votes in the transitional 2014 election, his first City Council election. [Read more…]

Election 2018: Progress PAC endorsements for City Council, School Board

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Note This story was updated at 10 a.m.

Four candidates for Oak Ridge City Council and all three candidates running for Oak Ridge Board of Education running in the election today (Tuesday, November 6) have earned endorsements by Progress PAC.

Three City Council incumbents—Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Ellen Smith, and Kelly Callison—received the PAC endorsements as did Tim Stallings, who previously served on the City Council in the 1990s.

School Board candidates Laura McLean, Ben Stephens, and Erin Webb—who are all serving on the BOE now and are running unopposed—also received the political action committee’s nod, a press release said.

Progress PAC, which was created by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce but which operates independently, endorses City Council and School Board candidates who ask for the committee’s support and who are supportive of the Chamber’s mission, vision, and key legislative priorities, the press release said. [Read more…]

Forum for Oak Ridge City Council, Board of Education candidates is Tuesday

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The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge will sponsor a candidate forum on Tuesday, October 16, at 7 p.m. in the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater. Candidates running for Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to participate, a press release said.

The five candidates for a four-year term on City Council are Kelly Callison, R.G. “Rick” Chinn Jr., Warren Gooch, Ellen D. Smith, and Timothy L. Stallings. Four council members will be elected. Derrick M. Hammond is the only candidate running to fill the unexpired two-year term left by Council member Hans Vogel when he resigned earlier this year.

The three candidates for a four-year term on the Oak Ridge Board of Education are Laura McLean, Benjamin J. Stephens, and Erin S. Webb. Three board members will be elected. [Read more…]

One challenger for City Council, none for school board

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The deadline for candidates to qualify for the November 6 municipal elections was noon Thursday, and four Oak Ridge City Council incumbents have one challenger while there are three candidates for three school board seats.

Besides the four seats now held by incumbents, the November election will include the selection of an additional member of Oak Ridge City Council to fill the rest of the term of Hans Vogel, who was elected to a four-year term in November 2016 but resigned in June to take a new job at Idaho National Laboratory. Only one candidate, Derrick Hammond, has qualified as a candidate in that special election. Hammond was unanimously appointed to the seat by City Council in July to fill the seat through the November election. After his unopposed November election, Hammond will serve the last two years of Vogel’s unexpired term.

Also on the ballot in November are city council and school board seats in Clinton, Norris, Oliver Springs, and Rocky Top. That’s in addition to the state and federal elections for Tennessee governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, and Tennessee Senate and Tennessee House of Representatives.

The four incumbents on the seven-member Oak Ridge City Council who are up for election in November all qualified as candidates by Thursday’s deadline. They are Kelly Callison, R.G. “Rick” Chinn Jr., Warren Gooch, and Ellen D. Smith. The four incumbents last had an election in November 2014. [Read more…]

Marshall resigns from school board

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Paige Marshall

Paige Marshall

Oak Ridge Board of Education member Paige Marshall resigned from the school board on Thursday.

Marshall and her family are moving to North Carolina for a new job, BOE Chair Keys Fillauer said Friday.

In her resignation letter on Thursday, Marshall expressed sadness and deep appreciation.

“I am sad to leave a wonderful school district in Oak Ridge and the wonderful people on the Board of Education as well as our wonderful Oak Ridge Schools staff and students,” Marshall said. “It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve our community. I wish you all the best as you and the rest of the board work to keep the Oak Ridge Schools the finest in the state.”

Elected in November 2014, Marshall’s four-year term expires this November, when there are three open seats on the five-member school board. [Read more…]

Ben Stephens appointed to Oak Ridge school board

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Ben Stephens

Ben Stephens

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday appointed Benjamin Stephens to fill the seat being vacated by Vice Chair Robert S. Eby, who is resigning at the end of March in order to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education.

Stephens will serve through the county election in August. The winning candidate in that election will then serve through the November election, which will have candidates for municipal, state, and federal offices.

Stephens is manager of academic partnerships at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has been involved in community activities, and he serves on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

At Monday’s meeting, BOE member Angi Agle said she and Laura McLean, another board member, served on a 2020 Committee with Stephens and were impressed with his service there.

Stephens said he has worked with the board on several strategic plans, and he is honored to serve on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. [Read more…]

School board expects to ask city for more money for salary increases for staff

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Oak Ridge Schools presented its proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 to the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

Oak Ridge Schools presented its proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 to the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

 

The Oak Ridge Board of Education expects to ask the Oak Ridge City Council for more money for a 2.5 percent salary increase for teachers and staff members.

The total amount needed to fund the 2.5 percent salary increase is $855,810, after about $98,000 worth of budget adjustments.

Most of the money for the salary increase could be available if the City of Oak Ridge agrees to continue putting into the budget $538,046 worth of funding that was given to the school system last year on a one-time basis to help pay for a digital device initiative that includes convertible laptops for students, among other expenses. In other words, the school board will ask the city to make that $538,046 a recurring source of funding, as opposed to non-recurring (one-time) money.

The school board will then ask for an additional $317,764 on top of the $538,046, or $855,810 total.

Oak Ridge Vice Chair Bob Eby made the proposal to ask for increased funding from the city. [Read more…]

ORHS pantry provides food, clothing, toiletries, cleaning products to students in need

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Oak-Ridge-High-School-RISE-Pantry-8-Jan-4-2017-Web

A pantry started about a year ago at Oak Ridge High School provides food, clothing, toiletries, and cleaning products to students in need. The Oak Ridge Board of Education toured the pantry with ORHS administrators and teachers on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. From left to right are Laura McLean, Angi Agle, Allen Etheridge, Beth Estep, Leslie Shelton, Bruce Lay, Bob Eby, Bruce Borchers, and Keys Fillauer. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:25 p.m. Jan. 26.

A pantry started about a year ago at Oak Ridge High School provides food, clothing, toiletries, and cleaning products to students in need.

It’s known as the RISE Pantry. RISE stands for Raising Individual Students to Excellence.

The pantry started with a cabinet. It’s now housed in a former classroom on the third floor of the high school.

Items stored there include, among other essentials, backpacks and notebooks, pants and shirts, shoes and boots, and soup and beans.

“You can’t learn if your basic needs aren’t met,” said English teacher and coach Allen Etheridge, one of those who started the pantry. “(If) a kid asks, we will bring them down here.” [Read more…]

Julie Dallas, Woodland parent, and Laura McLean, Oak Ridge School Board member, receive Tennessee School Boards Association Awards at East Fall District Meeting

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Julie Dallas, a Woodland Elementary School parent, and Laura McLean, an Oak Ridge School Board member, received Tennessee School Boards Association Awards at the East Fall District Meeting in September.

Dallas received the 2016 East Volunteer Recognition Award.

McLean received the Level I Boardmanship Award.

Here is more information from a press release:
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