Oak Ridge Today

Eby elected chair of state school board

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Bob Eby, left, has been elected chair of the Tennessee State Board of Education. Also pictured second from left are former chair Lillian Hartgrove, Vice Chair Darrell Cobbins, and Executive Director Sara Heyburn Morrison. (Photo courtesy Bob Eby/Tennessee State Board of Education)

Bob Eby, a former chair and vice chair of the Oak Ridge school board, has been elected chair of the Tennessee State Board of Education. He will serve a two-year term.

Eby was appointed to the state school board by former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam in April 2018. He was elected vice chair the following year. Eby represents Tennessee’s Third Congressional District, which includes Oak Ridge.

He will replace Lillian Hartgrove, who represents District 6, as chair of the 11-member board. Hartgrove has served as chair for five years.

[Read more…]

Ben Stephens appointed to Oak Ridge school board

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Ben Stephens

Ben Stephens

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday appointed Benjamin Stephens to fill the seat being vacated by Vice Chair Robert S. Eby, who is resigning at the end of March in order to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education.

Stephens will serve through the county election in August. The winning candidate in that election will then serve through the November election, which will have candidates for municipal, state, and federal offices.

Stephens is manager of academic partnerships at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has been involved in community activities, and he serves on the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

At Monday’s meeting, BOE member Angi Agle said she and Laura McLean, another board member, served on a 2020 Committee with Stephens and were impressed with his service there.

Stephens said he has worked with the board on several strategic plans, and he is honored to serve on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. [Read more…]

Monday night: Oak Ridge school board to consider appointing new member

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The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider appointing a new school board member tonight (Monday, March 26).

The new member will replace Bob Eby. Eby, who has been vice chair of the school board, announced in February that he was resigning at the end of March because Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is appointing him to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education effective April 1.

Eby will represent Tennessee’s Third Congressional District, which includes Oak Ridge, on the state school board, according to his resignation letter. [Read more…]

Eby will serve on state school board, leaving Oak Ridge board

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Bob Eby

Bob Eby

Robert “Bob” S. Eby, vice chair of the Oak Ridge Board of Education, is resigning March 31 because Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is appointing him to serve on the Tennessee State Board of Education effective April 1. Eby will represent Tennessee’s Third Congressional District, which includes Oak Ridge, on the state school board, according to his resignation letter.

“This is quite an honor, and I look forward to utilizing all I have learned while serving on the Oak Ridge Board off and on over the past 33 years to serve the governor and the State of Tennessee in the best manner that I can,” Eby said in the February 7 resignation letter, which was written to Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer but also copied to other school board members and Superintendent Bruce Borchers.

Eby said Tennessee state law does not allow him to serve on the state school board while also serving as a city, county, state, or elected federal official. Members of the Oak Ridge Board of Education are elected to their positions.

“Therefore, to accept this appointment requires me to resign from my Oak Ridge Board of Education position,” Eby said. “I humbly request the Board (the Oak Ridge Board of Education) to formally accept this resignation.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge school board to consider opposing use of public funds for private schools

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The Oak Ridge school board on Monday will consider opposing the use of public funds for private schools.

A resolution to be considered by the Oak Ridge Board of Education “strongly opposes” taking funds from public education in any community in the state without agreement from a local school board, without a legal guarantee that the schools receiving the funds will comply with the same curriculum and testing standards required of public schools, and until the state’s Basic Education Program, or BEP, is fully funded by the Tennessee General Assembly.

The resolution says the Tennessee General Assembly, the state’s legislature, will consider legislation in 2017 that would use public funds to pay tuition costs for students to attend private, religious, and non-religious schools.

The General Assembly and Tennessee State Board of Education have adopted high standards for student and teacher performance in public schools, but private schools are not held to the same accountability standards as public schools with regard to academic performance or student access, the resolution says. [Read more…]