Oak Ridge Today

Watson’s budget proposes same tax rate, less funding for Chamber, ORCVB

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The budget proposed by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Monday would not raise property taxes, but it would slash funding for the Chamber of Commerce, and Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The ORCVB funding could be cut from $410,000 to $300,000, Watson told City Council members during a Monday night work session. The city needs “more heads in beds,” more people staying here and more events, Watson said.

The chamber’s contract with the city is now worth about $260,000. The city could instead use $125,000 for funding of services and projects—sending city officials on recruiting trips, for example—and spend $55,000 on memberships in organizations such as the Roane Alliance and Anderson County Economic Development Association. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge school board approves new superintendent contract

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Bob and Carol Smallridge and Bruce Borchers

The Oak Ridge Board of Education has approved a four-year contract with new school superintendent Bruce Borchers, right. Above Borchers speaks to Carol Smallridge, left, and interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge, second from right. Also pictured is Borchers’ son Jack.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education unanimously approved a four-year contract with new superintendent Bruce Borchers in a short special meeting Monday.

Borchers will be paid $178,000 per year, and he starts June 18, said Bob Eby, school board vice chair.

“We’ve got a top-notch superintendent that can take us to the next level,” Eby said. He led the contract negotiations on behalf of the board with the help of Oak Ridge Schools Human Resources Director Christine Lee and school attorney Larry Giordano. [Read more…]

School board offers superintendent contract to Borchers

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Bob and Carol Smallridge and Bruce Borchers

Before the school board offered him the Oak Ridge Schools superintendent job on Monday, Bruce Borchers, right, speaks to Carol Smallridge, left, and interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge, second from right. Also pictured is Borchers’ son Jack.

The Oak Ridge school board has offered the superintendent’s job to Bruce Borchers, who is now superintendent of the Rockwood School District in Eureka, Mo.

The position, which has a salary range of about $175,000, is still subject to contract negotiations.

Board members approved the offer in a 5-0 vote during a short special meeting on Monday at Riverside Grille in Oak Ridge.  [Read more…]

Seven superintendent finalists, three to be interviewed Tuesday

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An executive search firm has narrowed down the list of superintendent candidates to seven finalists, and the Oak Ridge school board plans to interview three of them Tuesday.

The three are:

  • Bruce Borchers, superintendent of the Rockwood School District in Eureka, Mo., which has 22,000 students;
  • Dale Lynch, superintendent of the Hamblen County Schools in Morristown, which has 10,300 students; and
  • Keith Rowland, superintendent of Shenandoah County Public Schools in Woodstock, Va., which has 6,250 students.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge School Board passes resolution calling for SROs in all schools

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a resolution on Monday that says the board is committed to providing school resource officers at all eight of the schools that make up the system, from preschool all the way to high school.

The resolution passed last night directs Interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bob Smallridge to work with City Manager Mark Watson to find a way to make that happen.

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School Board to discuss school resource officers, superintendent search

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

The Oak Ridge Board of Education will discuss a plan to possibly add more school resource officers during a meeting this evening.

The board will also consider a new timeline in its search for a new superintendent.

Interim Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Robert J. Smallridge, who is a former superintendent in the Secret City, said he would like to have one school resource officer, or SRO, in each school. There is currently one SRO at the high school.

[Read more…]

School board raises superintendent pay offer, hires Smallridge as interim

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

Their first attempt to hire a new school superintendent ended after four of five finalists withdrew, and Oak Ridge Board of Education members learned Monday that bumping the potential pay range up to $175,000 per year could attract new candidates and better reflect market conditions.

The board approved the recommendation to offer a higher salary in a 5-0 vote during a special meeting Monday. The board also agreed to have executive search firm Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, contact previously interested candidates with the new pay information, reset the application deadline to March 1, and set a start date for the new superintendent of no later than June 15.

The potential salary range for a new superintendent had earlier been set at $140,000 to $150,000, but two finalists from a search that started in June withdrew, citing salary issues, among other things, and a third apparently would have had to take a $6,000 to $8,000 pay cut to take the Oak Ridge superintendent’s job.

[Read more…]

School board to consider superintendent search, interim superintendent

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During a Monday meeting, the Oak Ridge Board of Education could ask former school superintendent Robert J. Smallridge to serve as interim superintendent.

Tom Bailey, the most recent superintendent, retired at the end of the year, and the school board has not hired a replacement.

[Read more…]

Two more finalists withdraw from superintendent search

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Two more finalists for Oak Ridge Schools superintendent have withdrawn, and the search will have to be re-opened, an official said Wednesday.

One candidate, Roger Collins, toured Oak Ridge this past Friday. The other, Dan Lawson, was scheduled to be here Thursday, but that visit has been canceled.

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said Collins and Lawson have decided they want to stay where they are. Collins has been superintendent of Nelson County Public Schools in Lovingston, Va., for 10 years. Lawson, superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn., has been with his district 16 years.

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Connecticut massacre focuses attention on school security in Tennessee

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The school shootings in Newtown, Conn., on Friday have focused attention on school security in Tennessee, led to pledges to increase the police presence at some schools, and bolstered calls for more school resource officers across the state.

It has also revived an intense debate about gun control in the United States.

The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown last week killed 20 children, six adults, the gunman, and his mother. On Tuesday, the National Rifle Association said it was prepared to “offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again” and would have a major news conference on Friday.

In Tennessee, a few legislators have proposed requiring school resource officers in all schools, training at least one staff member to use firearms, or allowing teachers to carry handguns into schools not patrolled by armed police officers. But it’s not yet clear how much support—or funding—those proposals will have.

In Oak Ridge, Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said education officials will continue to advocate for more school resource officers, or SROs. But local officials said adding SROs could depend upon funding.

In Anderson County, Mayor Terry Frank sent out information on Tuesday on the positive measures taken this week by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after last week’s shooting, including four walk-throughs at Dutch Valley Elementary School on Monday.

[Read more…]

‘Meet and greet’ canceled with second superintendent candidate

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The “meet and greet” that had been scheduled with a second school superintendent candidate on Thursday has been canceled, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday.

The session had been scheduled for lunchtime Thursday with Dan Lawson. He is superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn.

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Second superintendent finalist to visit Oak Ridge on Thursday

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The second of three finalists for Oak Ridge Schools superintendent will visit the city on Thursday.

Dan Lawson, superintendent of Tullahoma City Schools in Tullahoma, Tenn., will be at a “meet and greet” session at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce from 11:30-12:30 p.m. Thursday.

As part of his tour, he could also visit Willow Brook Elementary School and the Oak Ridge Preschool, Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said Monday.

[Read more…]