Oak Ridge Today

COVID-19: Oak Ridge Schools cancel Safety Patrol trip

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Note: This story was updated at 5:35 p.m. March 15.

Oak Ridge Schools has cancelaed an elementary school Safety Patrol trip to Washington, D.C., but the Oak Ridge High School winter guard and percussion trip to Suwanee, Georgia, is still scheduled to occur.

Update: The WGI has canceled all future events, and the ORHS Indoor Percussion will not be traveling to Georgia. But they did perform at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Friday. It’s not clear if the status of the band and orchestra trip mentioned below has changed.

Regarding another trip, the Oak Ridge Board of Education did not vote in a meeting on Wednesday to cancel the ORHS band and orchestra trip to New York City at this time. But school officials plan to keep monitoring conditions in New York City.

The school board was considering the status of the trips because of concerns about COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

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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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Geothermal well system leaking under ORHS soccer field

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The geothermal well system is leaking under the soccer field at Oak Ridge High School, requiring emergency repairs to prevent classroom heat pumps from shutting down, school officials said.

“Recently, we lost a section of the geothermal wellfield to leaks in the well system that would require extensive exploratory excavation to locate and repair the leaks,” said Allen Thacker, Oak Ridge Schools maintenance and operations supervisor. “This option is not possible due to the location of the wellfield under the soccer field and the extensive cost of excavation and replacement of field damage. The wellfield is now operating at below 80 percent capacity, and the need for the cooling tower to be the primary source of water cooling is imperative to prevent shutdown of the classroom heat pumps.”

Thacker said the heat pumps serve all of the Learning Center, most of Comprehensive Studies, part of the Wellness Center, Visual Arts, and administration areas.

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Bat infestation cleaned from high school during summer

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A bat infestation was cleaned from a third floor ceiling of Oak Ridge High School this summer, school officials said.

Five live bats and more than 20 dead bats were removed, according to Allen Thacker, maintenance and operations supervisor for Oak Ridge Schools.

Maintenance workers had learned of the possible infestation on June 5, Thacker said. A pest control contractor said the infestation was contained in a third floor level of a 1994 addition.

The contractor said the bats were a common brown bat that migrates though the area, and the bats were most likely part of a larger colony that moved through the area, leaving a small group of sick or weakened bats behind.

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No tax rate increase requested for Oak Ridge schools budget

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The Oak Ridge Schools budget approved in the first of two readings, or meetings, on Wednesday does not request a property tax rate increase from the City of Oak Ridge.

There is also no request for an increase in the “maintenance of effort” funds, the amount of money that, once appropriated, has to continue to be funded year after year.

But school officials would like, if they are able to get it, an increase in capital improvement funds, money that could be used to fix and improve buildings but wouldn’t be recurring. No number has been attached to that request, but school officials would like the Oak Ridge City Council to consider it. During Wednesday’s meeting, the school board discussed ways to “get past conversation,” possibly with a collective effort, roundtable discussion, and comprehensive plan.

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County Commission has special budget meeting Monday

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The Anderson County Commission will have a special budget meeting on Monday afternoon. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Monday, May 6, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

During the special meeting, the Anderson County Commission will review the recommendations of the Budget Committee, discuss them, and then send the Commission’s recommendation’s back to the Budget Committee.

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School board has special budget meetings

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education will meet in the following special-called meetings to discuss the Fiscal Year 2020 budget:

  • May 6 at 5 p.m.—Budget presented to the Board
  • May 8 at 5:30 p.m.—Budget development work session
  • May 13 at 5:30 p.m.—Budget line-by-line review work session
  • May 15 at 5:30 p.m.—Public hearing and first reading of budget
  • May 20 at 6 p.m.—Regular meeting, adoption of FY 2020 budget on second reading

City celebrates two major projects—Preschool, Senior Center—with groundbreakings

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The City of Oak Ridge held ceremonial groundbreakings on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, to celebrate the start of two major projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool, pictured above, with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Construction activity is already under way at both sites, and the buildings are slated for completion later this year. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge held ceremonial groundbreakings on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, to celebrate the start of two major projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool, pictured above, with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Construction activity is already under way at both sites, and the buildings are slated for completion later this year. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge held ceremonial groundbreakings on Monday, January 14, to celebrate the start of two major projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Construction activity is already under way at both sites, and the buildings are slated for completion later this year.

“These projects have been in the planning stages for decades and we are making good on promises to deliver them,” Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said in a press release. “The Preschool and the Senior Center will have a positive impact on our citizens and their families for generations to come. We are excited to see construction begin.”

Studio Four Design Inc. was chosen to design the Preschool and the Senior Center. At a special meeting in October 2018, Oak Ridge City Council unanimously approved resolutions awarding construction contracts to Jenkins and Stiles LLC totaling just more than $11 million ($8.4 million for the new Preschool and Scarboro Park improvements and $2.68 million for the new Senior Center). General obligation bonds were sold in late November to completely fund the projects.

“After years of discussion, plans for these important facilities are coming to fruition,” Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in the press release. “The Preschool and Senior Center are welcome additions to our community. We are appreciative of all the hard work that has gone into making these amenities a reality for Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]

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…]