Oak Ridge Today

Parents, teachers, friends form Friends of Oak Ridge Schools

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A group of parents, neighbors, teachers, and friends have created a new organization that will focus on maintaining a strong school system in Oak Ridge.

The new organization, Friends of Oak Ridge Schools, or FORS, was founded on the idea that a great school system benefits each and every child and also enhances the socioeconomic condition of the city, a press release said.

“We believe a strong school system is important to draw and retain businesses, industries, and new citizens by providing a well-educated, diverse workforce,” said the release, authored by Fernanda Foertter, Linda Gilpin, Donna Butcher, and Jutta Bangs.

The release said Friends of Oak Ridge Schools was started on the knowledge and experience of a similar organization in Support Strong Sumner Country Schools, but FORS has its own mission unique to Oak Ridge. FORS is totally independent of any other group, including Oak Ridge Schools, Oak Ridge Board of Education, and Oak Ridge City Council, the release said. [Read more…]

Guest column: Oak Ridge…a story of excellence

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Let me first state how thankful I am to be part of the Oak Ridge community. I have not worked in, nor do I know of, a community and school district that has a stronger board of education or staff that is focused on students. There are many reasons and indicators of this, but one does not have to look too far to understand that the academic achievement in Oak Ridge has remained steady and/or improved despite a 30 percent increase in the number of students in poverty (over 50 percent of our students now come from a home of poverty) over the last decade. This is a true testament to the dedication of our board, staff, parents, and students.

I have enjoyed my transition both to Oak Ridge and Tennessee as superintendent and look forward to my second year in this role. I have become active in the community and am happy to be a member of Noon Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Methodist Medical Center Board. I look forward to participating in additional activities and offerings that this great community is so fortunate to have. My wife and I have also enjoyed a wonderful personal transition to Oak Ridge. My son will be a freshmen at Oak Ridge High School next year, and my daughter will be a part of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band this fall at the University of Tennessee. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be the Oak Ridge superintendent as well as being a father of a current Oak Ridge student.

This is too great of a community and district to let negativity infiltrate the very essence of Oak Ridge. The creation of this amazing community and the Oak Ridge Schools is too great of a story for our country (the world really) to move in such a negative direction. Therefore, I pledge to do my part to keep the conversation civil, accurate, and most of all focused on the 4,440 students that walk through our doors every day who depend on the adults to make decisions based on the needs of children and not the comfort level of adults. [Read more…]

Guest column: Clarification on Oak Ridge Schools’ administrative positions

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Note: Due to a technical error, this Oak Ridge Schools press release did not publish earlier this month with a chart comparing the Oak Ridge and Maryville school districts. We did publish the chart, which you can see here.

There have been a lot of questions recently about the number of Oak Ridge Schools’ administrative positions.

On the state website, it gives the impression that Oak Ridge Schools has added multiple administrative positions between 2007 and 2013. If the numbers reported were correct, it would appear that the number of administrators increased by about 63 percent since 2007.

In reality, Oak Ridge Schools only reclassified one existing position to an administrative position in that time period. Why is there a discrepancy between district data and state reporting?

First, we need to define administrator. In Oak Ridge, administrators are defined as superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, vice principals, district directors, district supervisors, and district assistant supervisors. If you look at Oak Ridge Schools’ human resource files, we have had the following numbers of administrative positions between 2007 and 2013: [Read more…]

AP Academy held at Oak Ridge High School

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Last week, Oak Ridge High School hosted the AP Academy, a College Board-endorsed Advanced Placement Summer Institute for teachers, led by certified AP consultants.

Now in its 14th year, the academy hosted new and veteran teachers of Advanced Placement courses for a four-day, subject-specific workshop aimed at providing support and training needed to teach AP courses. Teachers came together from schools across the country and as far away as Saudi Arabia to exchange ideas. This year, enrollment was up from 105 to 167 teachers.

Oak Ridge High School boasts an extremely robust AP program, and most of the consultants who led these workshops are former Oak Ridge High School teachers, a press release said. Students who take an AP course and pass an AP exam may earn college credit while still in high school. [Read more…]

New elementary, middle school students register next week

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With the exception of students at Willow Brook and the Preschool, all students who are new to Oak Ridge elementary and middle schools need to register at their schools from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, July 28, to Wednesday, July 30, a press release said.

Parents who pre-registered kindergartners in May also need to complete the registration process on those dates.

Registration for new students in grades 9-12 will be made by appointment only. For more information regarding high school registration, contact the registrar at (865) 425-9524.

The information necessary for new student registration includes the following: [Read more…]

Willow Brook Elementary announces new lunch, breakfast program

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Willow Brook Elementary

Willow Brook Elementary School is pictured above in May 2012. (File photo)

Willow Brook Elementary School has announced a new breakfast and lunch program.

The school is implementing a new option available to select schools in Tennessee that participate in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, an Oak Ridge Schools press release said. It is called the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, and it starts this school year. This is the same program that has allowed breakfast to be offered to all students at no cost.

In a CEP school, all students receive a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, regardless of family income. Willow Brook is currently the only school in the Oak Ridge School District that meets the qualifications for the Community Eligibility Provision, the press release said. [Read more…]

Parents protest ‘walk zone,’ expanded area with no school bus service

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Kathie Creasey at Walk Zone Protest

Kathie Creasey, right, holds a sign during Thursday’s protest against Oak Ridge Schools’ expanded parent responsibility zone. The zone change eliminates transportation services for students who live within 1.5 miles of their school. (Photo by Sara Wise)

 

Critics of Oak Ridge Schools’ expanded parent responsibility zone protested Thursday morning at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.

Laurie Paine, who lost her daughter, Ashley, at the intersection in 2007, joined almost 15 other parents and community members to rally for change.

“I don’t want anyone to go through what my family went through,” Paine said. She started a Facebook page to unite community members who were against the walk zone and used that website to spread the word of the protest.

Robertsville Middle School parent Kathie Creasey became emotional at the protest, saying that her own son was close to Ashley. She was protesting because she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her kids. [Read more…]

Number of students affected by bus route changes down to 1,300

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Keys Fillauer and Chris Marczak at Girls Inc.

Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer, left, and Oak Ridge Schools Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak say a Wednesday change in how mileage is calculated could reduce the number of students affected by a new “parent responsibility zone” for transportation from 1,800 to 1,300. Marczak says his family is also affected by the expanded zone, where bus service is not provided.

 

The Wednesday change in how bus service is mapped could help about 500 students, reducing the number of children affected by expanded zones where parents will have to provide transportation to schools from 1,800 to 1,300, officials said.

Those students would have been in the expanded 1.5-mile “parent responsibility zone,” where bus service is not provided and parents have to arrange transportation. The expanded parent responsibility zone, which is also sometimes called a PRZ or walk zone, was approved by school officials in June.

Oak Ridge school officials announced Wednesday that they were changing how the 1.5 miles is calculated, switching from a 1.5-mile radius measured by air (also known as “as the crow flies”) to actual walking distance. That means the expanded no-bus service zone will now affect fewer families. Parents called the change a small but positive step.

Even with the modification, though, parents continue to have concerns. The protests kicked into high gear last week, and some parents expressed concerns during a Wednesday evening meeting at Girls Inc. Among the concerns were children who have to cross busy roadways or pass by the homes of registered sex offenders.

“We are paying property taxes, and our children’s safety should come first,” parent Beverly Heun said. “Our transportation should not have been cut.” [Read more…]

School walk zones changed to actual walking distance, rather than ‘as crow flies’

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Parents of Oak Ridge students have been expressing concerns that the new 1.5-mile walk zones approved in June were based on a 1.5-mile air radius (“as the crow flies”) rather than actual walking distances.

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers announced that school officials were changing the calculation of the walk zone to actual walking distance for 1.5 miles “as the crow flies. The change is expected to cost $200,000.

Here’s the statement from Borchers: [Read more…]

Schools release Oak Ridge to Maryville comparisons

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There was much discussion comparing the Oak Ridge and Maryville school districts during budget deliberations in Oak Ridge this year. Among the data compared between the two systems was the number of administrators working for each district.

Last week, Oak Ridge Schools released information that compares the two systems in a variety of areas, including number of administrators, average teacher and principal salaries, ACT scores, student-teacher ratios, and percentage of economically disadvantaged students, among other things.

Read the information here: Oak Ridge to Maryville Comparisons.

Parents protest expanded 1.5-mile walk zone for students

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Oak Ridge School Buses at the Central Services Complex

Parents are protesting a June 23 decision to expand the walk zone for students to 1.5 miles to help reduce a $1.25 million budget deficit. The expanded walk zones mean that bus service won’t be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 a.m. July 12.

Parents concerned about student safety are protesting a recent decision by Oak Ridge Schools to expand the student walk zone to 1.5 miles.

In the past two days, they’ve started a petition and Facebook group to oppose the June 23 decision, and they’ve organized a protest, rally, and walks through the expanded walk zones at several schools.

“We’re serious about this,” said Daniel Morgan, who has two sons at Linden Elementary School and a daughter who starts at Robertsville Middle School this fall. “The citizens are concerned about the safety of the children.”

The expanded walk zones mean that bus service will no longer be available to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The change could affect 1,800 students. The new bus stops have been posted on the Oak Ridge Schools website. [Read more…]

Letter: Marsh a man of integrity who seeks to help community

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To the Editor:

Michael Marsh is a man of integrity who seeks to assist his community in developing new initiatives that will bring about opportunities for economic growth through encouraging small businesses and less taxes due to careful budgeting and spending of existing revenue. The results would mean more money for the citizens and community for their investment into creating more jobs, more affordable housing, and greater protection through service agencies. Michael and his wife, Wanda, have operated a successful and award-winning auto service business in the District 7 for over 25 years. Their positive service and customer satisfaction testify to their loyalty to this district as well as the entire Anderson County.

Michael and Wanda are involved citizens in the community and Oak Ridge Schools and have the largest Wildcat banner in the world over their business. [Read more…]