Oak Ridge Today

Preschool concerns over paint, Head Start funding reaching resolution

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Oak Ridge Schools School Administration Building

Concerns over federal funding, lead-based paint, and the Oak Ridge Preschool appear to be reaching a resolution. And that ought to be good news for parents and staff members who have been worried during the past year that the program could lose federal money and even have part of its program shut down.

There have been two separate concerns, one related to lead-based paint at the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and the other related to the reported falsification of federal data.

Work to repair the lead-based paint could start June 29, Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer said after a Monday night meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

And a one-year probationary period with an on-site monitor for the Head Start program ends the next day, on June 30. That monitor was put into place last year as part of a 10-point plan worked out by Anderson County and Oak Ridge schools in April 2014 after concerns were raised about the falsification of federal data at the Oak Ridge Preschool, specifically reports on the motor skills of children.

Oak Ridge Schools will now do its own monitoring, but Anderson County Schools, which supervises the local Head Start program, can come in at any time. [Read more…]

Council OKs repair of lead-based paint at Preschool, meant to be temporary fix

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Oak Ridge Preschool and School Administration Building

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday agreed to use $150,000 in unspent red-light camera to repair the lead-based paint on the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building on New York Avenue. Officials say the building needs to be renovated or vacated for the Head Start program to receive funding in the 2015-2016 school year. (File photo)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council has agreed to use $150,000 in red-light camera money to repair the lead-based paint on the city’s Preschool, providing what officials hope will be a temporary fix while they develop a plan to permanently repair, replace, or move the Preschool.

The repairs, which could be done by August 3, were approved in a 6-0 vote. Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn abstained because a family member owns a building on Mitchell Road that the city and schools could consider leasing.

The City Council also endorsed a recommendation from the Oak Ridge Board of Education that could have children in a new building by the 2016-2017 school year. That resolution calls for further study of options for the Oak Ridge Preschools and Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building on New York Avenue. It also would set up a joint city-schools committee, consider buying the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce building for school administration offices, and remodel the G Building at Oak Ridge High School. [Read more…]

Pedestrian safety project at Jackson Square to be completed soon

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Jackson Square Pedestrian Improvements

Workers repave Broadway at Jackson Square on Oct. 25 as part of a pedestrian safety improvement project paid for with red light camera money.

The city-owned parking lot on the north side of Jackson Square now has two handicapped-accessible areas, and the pedestrian safety improvements under way there could be finished in another week, an official said Tuesday.

The project, which includes road and sidewalk work, is being done under a contract approved by Oak Ridge City Council in August.

It’s part of more than $500,000 worth of projects that use red light camera money. The other projects are designed to make eight Oak Ridge Turnpike intersections safer for pedestrians. Those improvements, which will provide a pedestrian walkway and crosswalk system near Oak Ridge Turnpike businesses, are estimated at $370,000. [Read more…]

Council approves pedestrian safety projects, Chamber contract

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Oak Ridge City Council

During a special meeting Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council approved pedestrian safety improvement projects on Oak Ridge Turnpike and at Jackson Square, and approved a contract worth up to $175,000 with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday agreed to use more than $500,000 in red light camera money to improve the city-owned parking lot on the north side of Jackson Square and make eight Oak Ridge Turnpike intersections safer for pedestrians.

Council also approved a $175,000 contract with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, an amount that was down significantly from previous years but higher than what City Manager Mark Watson had originally proposed earlier this year. [Read more…]

Council rejects funding for sinkhole repairs, tax rate reduction; approves Habitat property transfer

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Oak Ridge High School Soccer Field Sinkhole

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday rejected a request to reimburse the school system about $36,000 for repairs to this 13-foot sinkhole under the Oak Ridge High School soccer field.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday rejected a request to use red light camera money to reimburse the school system $36,000 for sinkhole repairs made in April at the Oak Ridge High School soccer field.

Council also agreed to transfer a small burned-out lot on Hillside Road to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County and rejected a proposal to lower the property tax rate by one cent.

Asked about the sinkhole repair reimbursement on Tuesday, Oak Ridge Schools Interim Superintendent Bob Smallridge said the school system, which expects revenues to fall by about $1 million and is cutting 18 positions, has a tight budget. [Read more…]