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Oak Ridge Schools walk zone expanded to 1.5 miles, could affect 1,800

Posted at 8:22 pm June 24, 2014
By John Huotari 7 Comments

Charlsey Cofer at Oak Ridge School Board Meeting

Oak Ridge Preschool Interim Principal Charlsey Cofer, left, says that cutting preschool transportation could result in fewer students, which would in turn result in less funding.

Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 a.m. June 25.

Starting this fall, bus service will no longer be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The move is expected to save $500,000. It’s part of a larger effort to reduce a $1.25 million deficit.

The expansion of the “parent responsibility zone” for school transportation was the largest change approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday. The 1.5-mile walk zone could affect 1,800 students, said Karen Gagliano, Oak Ridge Schools director of business and support services.

Other budget changes approved Monday include a delay in the purchase of textbooks, a move expected to save about $330,000, and a $123,000 reduction in the number of planned hires of technicians. The school system now expects more than $200,000 in additional revenue from state Basic Education Program funding and sales and property tax revenues.

A technology initiative known as 1:1 is no longer being considered as originally envisioned, and 2 percent pay raises for school staff members are off the table.

But the school board worked to save preschool transportation, a program that costs roughly $74,000 per year. Interim Preschool Principal Charlsey Cofer warned that cutting transportation for preschoolers could result in a drop in the number of students, which would in turn affect funding. She said about 170 students used the transportation last year out of more than 200 who were enrolled. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: 1.5-mile walk zone, 1:1, 1:1 initiative, Angi Agle, Bruce Borchers, budget, bus service, Charlsey Cofer, deficit, Karen Gagliano, Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Schools, pay raises, preschool transportation, teachers, teaching assistants, technology initiative, textbooks, transportation, walk zone

Schools consider revised outsourcing proposal for substitute teachers

Posted at 12:31 am March 19, 2014
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Oak Ridge Board of Education

An outsourcing proposal strongly opposed by teaching assistants last month has since been revised to include only substitute teachers at Oak Ridge Schools. It will be considered by the Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday.

An outsourcing proposal strongly opposed by teaching assistants last month has since been revised to include only substitute teachers at Oak Ridge Schools.

The new proposal to use Professional Educational Services LLC, or PESG, of Nashville, to provide substitute teachers will be considered by the Oak Ridge Board of Education during a Monday evening meeting.

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. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: ACA, Affordable Care Act, health care law, health insurance, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge Schools, outsourcing, PESG, Professional Educational Services LLC, substitute teachers, TA, teaching assistants

TAs unite in opposition to outsourcing proposal as schools consider changes

Posted at 11:17 pm February 24, 2014
By John Huotari 5 Comments

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…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Angi Agle, Autumn Moorhouse, Boyce Griffith, Bruce Borchers, Chris Marczak, health care, health insurance, Keys Fillauer, N. Henry Bledsoe, Oak Ridge Schools, paraprofessionals, PESG, retirement, substitute teachers, TAs, teaching assistants

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