Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Schools receives three funding awards from Carl Perkins Reserve Grant

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Oak Ridge Schools Logo

Oak Ridge Schools has received three competitive grant awards from the Carl Perkins Reserve funds. The first award in the amount of $50,000 is designated for the continuation of a large competitive grant that was won to increase the offerings at Oak Ridge High School in advanced manufacturing, a pathway that includes welding, robotics, and new courses in mechatronics engineering and machining technologies.

The second award is for $10,000, and it will continue the schools system’s efforts in assisting students by paying for industry certification vouchers in nursing, Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud, and AutoCAD concept-to-production toolsets, a press release said. [Read more…]

New principal named at Oak Ridge Preschool, administrative assistants at Linden, Glenwood

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Lisa Downard

Lisa Downard

Oak Ridge Schools have announced a new principal at the Preschool and new administrative assistants at Linden and Glenwood elementary schools.

Lisa Downard will be the new principal of Oak Ridge Schools Preschool. Downard has a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. She earned her Ed.S. in instructional leadership from Lincoln Memorial University in 2014, a press release said. Downard was the assistant principal at Linden Elementary School for six years.

Heather Jenkins has been selected to become the new administrative assistant at Linden Elementary School. Jenkins has a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Tech in elementary education and an master’s degree from Tennessee Tech in instructional leadership. Jenkins has taught at Linden for 11 years. [Read more…]

ORPD investigating truancy cases with DA’s Office, Oak Ridge Schools

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The Oak Ridge Police Department, Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office, and Oak Ridge Schools have started investigating juveniles with unexcused absences from school during the 2015-2016 school year, officials said Friday.

“This process involves seeking petitions for truancy for those students who were absent for significant periods of time,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

The petitions will be submitted with the Anderson County Juvenile Court for remediation, the press release said. The 15 petitions were the start of an ongoing investigation, and officials anticipate that additional juvenile petitions will be filed.

“As part of this investigation, ORPD will also be investigating additional allegations of educational neglect, and when warranted, will seek petitions in (Anderson County General) Sessions Court against parents of students with a high number of unexcused absences from school during the 2015-2016 school year,” the release said. [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax increase, more money for schools

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Note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. June 16.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget on Monday that does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include more money for schools. The budget anticipates increases in the trash fee and water and sewer rates.

It was the second and final vote on the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The first vote, or reading, was Monday, June 6.

The property tax rate will stay at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It’s the ninth year in a row without a property tax rate increase by the city, although the tax rate had to be adjusted last year after five-year reappraisals.

The budget, which has about $22.8 million in the general fund, includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that will move municipal employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started. [Read more…]

School board has special meeting Monday to consider one-time spending approved by city

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Oak Ridge Schools School Administration Building

The Oak Ridge Board of Education will have a special meeting on Monday to consider approving $538,048 worth of one-time spending that was approved by the Oak Ridge City Council this past Monday (May 6).

If the Tennessee Department of Education agrees, the extra money, which had been requested by Oak Ridge Schools and the BOE, would not be part of the city’s annual “maintenance of effort” for the schools, a level of funding that can’t be reduced.

Most of the $538,048, or $425,000, would be used in the next fiscal year for principal and interest payments for a four-year technology lease that began in fiscal year 2016, the current fiscal year. That lease funded the purchase of convertible laptops for grade levels 5-8, supporting what is known as a 1:1 initiative and part of Access Oak Ridge.

The other $113,048 would be used for building improvements: [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax increase, more money for schools

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:15 a.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget on Monday that does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include more money for schools and it anticipates increases in the trash fee and water and sewer rates.

The budget passed in a 6-1 vote in the first of two readings this month. The second and final reading is Monday, June 13.

Council rejected one motion to lower the $2.52 property tax rate by 4.4 cents and another to take away the additional $538,048 requested by Oak Ridge Schools and put it into the capital fund instead.

The budget does not increase the property tax rate for the ninth year in a row. After five-year reappraisals last year, the rate is now set at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.

As approved on first reading Monday, the budget includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that will move municipal employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started. The school budget, which was approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education in May, also includes 3 percent salary increases. [Read more…]

Dodson—teacher, community leader—running for City Council

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Jim Dodson

Jim Dodson

Jim Dodson, an Oak Ridge art teacher and community leader, has announced that he will be a candidate for Oak Ridge City Council in the November 8 election.

Dodson, a teacher with Oak Ridge Schools for 29 years, has a strong record of community service and leadership on several civic boards and organizations, a press release said.

“I will definitely work alongside my Oak Ridge and East Tennessee neighbors for a better quality of life in our community,” Dodson said. “I hope to give our residents a voice on City Council and continue to promote excellent educational opportunities for all our kids and young adults.

“I will also continue to help recruit businesses and families to Oak Ridge as the place to relocate. I look forward to working as an Oak Ridge City Council member to maintain and improve all city services while providing safe and thriving neighborhoods. It’s my vision that what Oak Ridge has to offer should not be a secret anymore.” [Read more…]

Three Oak Ridge elementary schools earn AdvancED STEM Certification

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Pictured here are STEM leaders Evan Parker (left) and Kim Howard (right), with Principal Nancy West (center). Woodland Elementary School is the 42nd AdvancED STEM Certified school. (Submitted photo)

Pictured here are STEM leaders Evan Parker (left) and Kim Howard (right), with Principal Nancy West (center). Woodland Elementary School is the 42nd AdvancED STEM Certified school. (Submitted photo)

Three Oak Ridge elementary schools have earned AdvancED STEM Certification. Glenwood, Linden, and Woodland elementary schools are now officially three of 40-plus schools worldwide that have earned this certification so far, a press release said.

“The process is ongoing, and we look forward to adding more of our schools to this distinguished list in September,” the press release said.

For several months, Oak Ridge Schools STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) leaders have been working to provide evidence to a team of evaluators who have undertaken a data-driven internal review and an external diagnostic review process that demonstrates the school district’s ongoing commitment and capacity to prepare students for STEM fields of study and work, the release said.

“STEM students have the skills, knowledge, and thinking strategies that prepare them to be innovative, creative, and systematic problem solvers in STEM fields of study and work,” the release said. “Engaging in this process long term will provide educators with detailed findings and a clear roadmap to stimulate and sustain dramatic improvement.” [Read more…]

Students, including in Oak Ridge, Clinton schools, donate more than 22 tons to Goodwill

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Hamblen-Winning-Class

The class in Hamblen County that won an ice cream party by donating the most to Goodwill of all Hamblen County classrooms. (Submitted photo)

 

Elementary and middle school students across Anderson, Knox, and Hamblen County—including Clinton City Schools and Oak Ridge Schools—recently participated in the Annual Goodwill Sack Pack material drives. More than 1,600 students from all three counties brought in an approximate total of 44,910 pounds of donations for Goodwill Industries-Knoxville.

From May 9 through 13, students were encouraged to bring donations of gently used clothing, toys, and other household goods to school to benefit Goodwill Industries, a press release said. In exchange for their donations, students were rewarded with free snacks from McDonald’s, free passes to the American Museum of Science and Energy, and/or the opportunity to win two free passes to Dollywood. A third-grade class at Hillcrest Elementary won an ice cream party from Keep Morristown-Hamblen Beautiful for having the most participation of all Hamblen county classrooms. [Read more…]

Reminder: Public hearing, first reading of school budget this evening

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Oak Ridge Schools School Administration Building

Reminder: The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider the Oak Ridge Schools budget in the first of two readings at 5:30 p.m. today (Wednesday, May 18). The meeting will include a public hearing.

 

Reminder: The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider the Oak Ridge Schools budget in the first of two readings at 5:30 p.m. today (Wednesday, May 18). The meeting will include a public hearing.

The second and final reading is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 23.

The school board meets in the Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building at 304 New York Avenue.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Proposed schools budget would include raises, ask city for more money

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The budget proposed for Oak Ridge Schools for the fiscal year that starts July 1 includes 3 percent salary increases and a request for an additional $538,048 from the city. As proposed, the budget also includes the reduction of the full-time equivalent of four teachers and an increase in five technology positions.

The budget was presented to the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday. The board has a work session to discuss the Fiscal Year 2017 budget at 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday, May 12) and a work session to review the budget line by line at 5:30 p.m. Monday, May 16.

If implemented as proposed, the budget would ask the city for a 3.6 percent increase in funding. It would also include experience-based pay increases known as step increases for staff.

It would include money to fund a 6.2 percent increase in health insurance rates and another 10 percent for dental insurance. [Read more…]

ORPSEF partners UT-Battelle, ORAU, UCOR fund $30,636 literacy grant

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Bookmobile

Ginger Adams, teacher at Linden Elementary School, is pictured above with participants in last summer’s bookmobile program. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation partners UT-Battelle, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) joined to fund Oak Ridge School’s $30,636 “Oak Ridge Reads” literacy grant.

The Oak Ridge Reads initiative supports Oak Ridge Schools’ efforts to improve literacy by extending services beyond the classroom. The Oak Ridge Reads grant will address summer learning, family literacy support, and high quality reading opportunities in home and after-school settings.

With support from the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, the Literacy Department of Oak Ridge Schools will provide a summer community bookmobile reading program to benefit families in Oak Ridge. Additionally, each preschool and kindergarten student will receive a library of books that they can keep, and after-school book clubs will begin for elementary and middle school students during the 2016-17 school year. [Read more…]