Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: Parents, staff again choose balanced school calendar

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

By Chris Marczak

The second calendar voting for the Oak Ridge 2015-16 results have been counted.

Parents and staff members were called on March 13 and asked if they preferred a balanced calendar or a traditional calendar for all schools including Willow Brook and the PreSchool for the 2015-16 school year. The first vote callout took place Feb. 10.

The traditional calendar is the calendar that most of the Oak Ridge Schools have had for quite a while. Students come to school in the middle of August, have a one-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, a one-week spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and an 11- to 12-week summer.

The balanced calendar is a new calendar that Oak Ridge has never had before. It is called a balanced calendar due to the balance that it gives for instructional time in the classroom—about nine weeks at a time. Students typically arrive for school the first week in August, have a two-week fall break, two weeks off for winter, two weeks off for spring break, dismissal at the beginning of June, and a seven- to eight-week summer. The balanced calendar is not like the Willow Brook Elementary or PreSchool calendar where students start school in mid-July and have three-week breaks. [Read more…]

MMC Foundation welcomes new board members, staff

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Methodist Medical Center Foundation Board Members

The Methodist Medical Center Foundation welcomed four new members to its volunteer board of directors. Pictured from left are Bob Wilkinson, Dr. Lawrence
Maccree, Leigha Edwards, and Bruce Borchers. (Photos courtesy Methodist Medical Center)

Submitted

Four leaders from the Oak Ridge community have volunteered to give their time and expertise as members of the Methodist Medical Center Foundation board of directors. Joining the board this month are Bruce Borchers, Leigha Edwards, Dr. Lawrence Maccree, and Bob Wilkinson.

Bruce Borchers came to Oak Ridge in 2013 to serve as superintendent of the Oak Ridge Schools. Borchers is a life-long educator. His teaching and administrative career has taken him to positions in Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. Borchers earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota and also holds master’s degrees from Wayne State College and the University of South Dakota. He also serves on the board of directors for the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Oak Ridge Rotary Club. Borchers and his wife Shannon have two teenaged sons. [Read more…]

Reminder: Second Oak Ridge school calendar survey this evening

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

Parents of students in the Oak Ridge school system will be called this evening for a second opinion poll on a proposed change to the system’s calendar for academic year 2015-2016.

At 6 p.m. today (Thursday), parents will receive a call through the automated Skyward system asking if they want to convert to a “balanced” calendar for all schools or keep the traditional calendar currently used by all but two of the schools in the system. Teachers and other school staff members will be called at 7 p.m. asking for their preferences.

Option No. 1 will be the balanced schedule, which has nine weeks of instruction beginning the first week of August, with two-week breaks in the fall, winter, and spring, and seven to eight weeks off during the summer. [Read more…]

Schools seek bids to replace demolished Blankenship bleachers

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Blankenship Field Visitors Bleachers

Declared unsafe, the visitors bleachers at Blankenship Field have been removed, and the project to replace them has been put out for bids.

The visitors bleachers at Blankenship Field have been demolished, and the Oak Ridge Schools are scurrying to replace them by the start of the high school football season this fall.

Project bids are being accepted through March 21, although it’s not clear yet who will pay for the new bleachers and other improvements at Jack Armstrong Stadium. The bids could be considered by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on March 24.

The board could also make a funding decision then, School Board Chair Keys Fillauer told Oak Ridge City Council members during a Monday night meeting. There are a range of options that include city funding, school funding, and donations, among others. [Read more…]

No students injured when car hits school bus

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No students were injured when a car crashed into the front of a school bus that had stopped to pick up students at Hillside Road and Highland Avenue on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Diane Gibson, transportation director for Oak Ridge Schools, said the driver was picking up two students when she heard a crash and then watched as a car hit the front of Bus 1937 from Willow Brook Elementary School.

“There was nothing she could have done differently,” the schools said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. [Read more…]

Education Foundation will award $80,000 more to Oak Ridge teachers

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The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award another $80,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers this year, and applications are now being accepted for the 2014 grant cycle.

This year, the Foundation will award $80,000 in grants to teachers, administrative staff, and student groups as part of its ongoing “Making the Critical Difference” campaign. Grant applications are due no later than March 31.

This campaign provides resources and teaching tools over and above those funded with tax dollars, typically in the range of $500 to $5,000, a press release said. The grants are not intended for salaries or to replace items that may have been cut from the schools’ annual budgets. Since the program began in 2004, the Foundation has awarded a total of more than $399,000 to dozens of teachers in every grade. ORPSEF grants may be made for educational programming, professional development, equipment, facilities, travel, conferences, or other purposes that might be approved by the Foundation. [Read more…]

Guest column: Schools ask for second vote on calendars

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

By Chris Marczak

We want your vote..one more time! The Oak Ridge Board of Education has asked for one more community vote for the two calendars that are being proposed for the Oak Ridge School system starting for the 2015-16 school year.

The first vote collected on Feb. 10 showed English-speaking parents favored the balanced calendar 1,094 to 183; Spanish-speaking families were split down the middle with a 43-to-43 vote; and staff favored the balanced calendar 395 to 176.

The two calendars being proposed are called a traditional calendar and a balanced calendar. Both of these proposed calendars have been looked at and discussed by the district’s Curriculum and Instruction team; a district Calendar Committee comprised of teachers and administrators; the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Board made up of parents from all schools; Superintendent Bruce Borchers; and me. Both calendars give staff and parents a choice in the type of calendar they want for the children of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Letter: Chamber endorses tablets for all students, tech infrastructure improvements

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Note: This is a copy of a resolution adopted by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Whereas, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce has a long-standing tradition of supporting education in our community as education and training are critical in the development of the workforce;

Whereas, Oak Ridge Schools is an internationally recognized system of excellence;

Whereas, the educational opportunities, rigor, and performance provided by Oak Ridge Schools have been, and continue to be, the key attraction for new residents to our community; [Read more…]

Council has special meeting today on high school debt, school budget

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Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education

A proposal to resolve a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt had majority support during a non-voting joint work session of Oak Ridge City Council and Board of Education on Friday.

The school board approved it unanimously on Monday, but a few City Council members have questions about a proposed resolution of a dispute over sales tax revenues and high school debt so they have called a special meeting for this evening (Thursday evening).

At issue is a proposed resolution of the dispute over certain Anderson County sales tax revenues and debt payments for the $66 million renovation of the Oak Ridge High School.

Before it was approved by the school board on a voice vote Monday, the resolution was discussed in a joint work session with the council on Friday. A majority of city and school officials expressed support for the resolution during the non-voting work session.

It is next scheduled to be considered by the City Council on Monday, March, 3.

Tonight’s special non-voting meeting has been called by City Council members Trina Baughn and Anne Garcia Garland. [Read more…]

TAs unite in opposition to outsourcing proposal as schools consider changes

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Oak Ridge TA Outsourcing Teachers and Parents

Stacey Callison, left, says teaching assistants play important roles in the education of her children, and she thinks Oak Ridge Schools should seek another solution before outsourcing their jobs.

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

Teaching assistants have been united, and sometimes fierce, in their opposition to a proposal to outsource their jobs to a private company, and on Monday, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said administrators might have to “go back to the drawing board.”

The outsourcing proposal began as an attempt to help the school system comply with the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act and to avoid potentially large fines of up to $1.2 million for errors that might be made in following the new federal health care law.

But in the second half of a 3.5-hour school board meeting on Monday, teachers, teaching assistants, family members, and parents said the TAs would be concerned about their health care and retirement benefits if they were to become employees of PESG of Nashville. The 10 speakers also questioned the benefits of outsourcing in general, and they praised the work of Oak Ridge’s teaching assistants. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge TAs concerned about outsourcing proposal

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Christopher J. Marczak

Christopher J. Marczak

Note: This story was last updated at 7:28 p.m. Feb. 24.

Teaching assistants reacted with concern and indignation last week to a proposal to have a Michigan-based company provide substitute teachers, teaching assistants, and paraprofessionals to Oak Ridge Schools.

Chris Marczak, Oak Ridge Schools assistant superintendent, said the proposal to hire Professional Educational Services LLC, or PESG, would allow current employees to keep their jobs, save money, and help the school system comply with the reporting requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act. Marczak said there would be a negligible impact on TAs.

“The only thing that’s going to change is the name of your employer,” he said during a 2.5-hour meeting with teaching assistants and others on Thursday.

But teaching assistants are concerned about their future employment and benefits, including health insurance and retirement. Some said they hadn’t received adequate notice of the proposed change and aren’t being treated with the respect they deserve after years of working for Oak Ridge Schools. Marczak said school administrators, including the human resources department, took notes during the meeting and will respond to the staff’s concerns. [Read more…]

Blankenship bleacher project could cost $550,000; funding not clear

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday will consider whether to demolish the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

Demolition work has started at the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field, which are pictured above in January. Replacing them could cost $375,00 with another $175,000 requested for related projects.

It could cost a total of $550,000 to replace the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field and complete related projects ranging from repairing the Wildcat Crossing stairs on the home side of the field to replacing the retaining wall and removing trees behind the visitor bleachers.

Demolition work on the deteriorated bleachers has already started. The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved that project in January.

It could cost about $375,000 to replace just the bleachers, said Allen Thacker, maintenance and operations supervisor for Oak Ridge Schools. And the seating capacity would be reduced from 3,400 seats to 2,000.

But it’s not clear yet who will pay for the replacements or supply the extra $175,000 for related projects, which also include replacing stairs and sidewalks at the visitor restrooms. [Read more…]