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

Posted at 11:39 am July 17, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Education, K-12, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: 1.5-mile, Adam Wilson, Amanda Jenkins, Ashley Paine, Beverly Heun, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley, budget, budget deficit, bus service, carpools, children, Chris Marczak, Girls Inc., Illinois Avenue, Keys Fillauer, Knox County Schools, Maryville, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Schools, Oak Ridge Turnpike, parent responsibility zone, property tax rate, property taxes, PRZ, Rhoni Basden, Robertsville Middle School, students, transportation, walk area, walk zone, Willow Brook Elementary School

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

School budget proposals include cuts, tax hikes with varying benefits

Posted at 7:01 pm May 15, 2014
By Sara Wise 11 Comments

Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers presented three budget proposals for fiscal year 2015 to the school board on Wednesday. The proposals suggest that deep cuts will need to be made to attract new students, families, and staff to the district, and to keep those already here. Borchers introduced the proposals by stating that the district will be “tightening our belt.”

Students, families, and staff were the main theme of the budgets proposed on Wednesday. In fact, each was presented to show a different budget scenario that would lose, retain, or attract the group. The school board will review two budgets intended to retain and attract those groups, as well as a third expected to result in a loss of students, family, and staff. All of the budgets proposed generate revenue through expenditure cuts.

All three budget proposals suggest property tax rate increases to offset the cuts, with the rate hikes ranging from 14 to 57 cents.

With about $1.2 million in cost savings, the first proposal has the lowest budget target, and it was referred to as the “losing students-families-staff” budget. It proposed the fewest system-wide cuts, but still suggested that reductions are needed. Those expenditure cuts include increasing class sizes and reducing teaching positions and transportation services. Transportation reductions would increase the student “walk zone” to one mile and end preschool transportation altogether. This proposal would not be able to fund the district’s 1:1 device integration program.

The second budget, said to “retain students-families-staff,” is targeted to bring $3.7 million in revenue through cost savings. This budget would still make cuts to staff and transportation, but would allow the planned 1:1 device integration to begin, which would be cut from the “losing” budget. This budget allows a 2 percent wage raise system-wide, but still calls for staff reductions, including reducing the assistant principal position at Oak Ridge High School as well as extra-curricular stipends and staff development reductions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Bruce Borchers, budget proposals, cost savings, cuts, Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Schools, preschool transportation, property tax rate, revenue, school board, staff development, staff reductions, tax increases, teaching, transportation, walk zone

K-25: Large, flat, close to ORNL, interstate—good for economic development

Posted at 7:14 pm March 28, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Gov. Bill Haslam Visits ETTP/K-25

Sue Cange gives Gov. Bill Haslam, right, an update on the almost-completed demolition of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. Cange is deputy manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management. Also pictured are Leo Sain, left, president of cleanup contractor UCOR, and Jeff Tucker, UCOR deactivation and decommissioning manager.

It was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs. Then, it helped win the Cold War. Now, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge presents a giant opportunity for economic development in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam said during a tour last Friday.

“We have a real interest in what happens here,” Haslam said in a short meeting with reporters before getting a brief update on the demolition of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The governor said the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center, has 2,000 flat acres with infrastructure already in place, including roads and rails, and it’s three miles from Interstate 40 and seven miles from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory.

“We don’t have that opportunity in a lot of places,” Haslam said. “Finding 2,000 flat acres in East Tennessee is virtually impossible.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office, Roane County, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: auto manufacturing, Bill Haslam, business, cleanup, Darryl Kerley, East Tennessee Technology Park, Ernest Moniz, ETTP, funding, Heritage Center, John Ragan, K-25, K-25 Building, Ken Yager, Kent Calfee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Randy McNally, Ron Woody, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tom Beehan, transportation, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium, World War II

No students injured when car hits school bus

Posted at 2:58 pm March 5, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Education, K-12, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: crash, Diane Gibson, Highland Avenue, Hillside Road, Oak Ridge Schools, school bus, students, transportation

Sponsored: Seniors Helping Seniors assists elderly residents

Posted at 2:50 pm October 29, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Lois Engel

Lois Engel

A nurse for more than four decades, Lois Engel still works with seniors, but now she gets to spend more time with them.

She and her husband Ed own a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise in Clinton. They and their care providers help seniors with services ranging from light housekeeping and cooking to gardening and transportation. They can help elderly residents stay in their homes five to eight years longer than they might otherwise.

“It’s a gift to us to be able to assist other people,” Lois Engel said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Sponsored Posts, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, care, care plans, care providers, clients, Clinton, cooking, Ed Engel, gardening, housekeeping, Lois Engel, Oak Ridge, safety assessments, seniors, Seniors Helping Seniors, transportation

Pellissippi State receives $4.6 million federal grant

Posted at 12:03 pm September 21, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez on Wednesday announced $474.5 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country, including Pellissippi State Community College, for the development and expansion of innovative training programs in partnership with local employers, a press release said.

The 57 grants will support 190 projects in at least 183 schools in every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Pellissippi State’s grant is valued at about $4.6 million. Located near Oak Ridge in west Knox County, the community college is the leader of a consortium that received a total of roughly $12.7 million. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Federal, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: Arne Duncan, Barack Obama, employers, grants. training, health care, manufacturing, Pellissippi State Community College, Penny Pritzker, SEELC, Southeastern Economic and Education Leadership Consortium, Thomas E. Perez, Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training, transportation, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Labor, workers

Higher ticket prices for Oak Ridge Transit System on Nov. 1

Posted at 4:29 pm August 20, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

ETHRA Van

One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, and additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1. (Submitted photo)

One-way tickets on the Oak Ridge Transit System will increase from $1.50 to $2 on Nov. 1, officials said.

Additional stops during a trip will cost an extra $1, and extra stops must be scheduled when reservations are made, a city press release said.

The Oak Ridge Transit System is a fixed-route transportation service for the city, and it is operated by East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, or ETHRA. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, ETHRA, Oak Ridge Transit System, stops, tickets, transportation

CNBC: Tennessee ranks second-best in America for transportation, infrastructure

Posted at 10:15 am July 13, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

For the fourth year in a row, Tennessee’s transportation system ranks as one of the best in the nation, according to CNBC’s 2013 study “America’s Top States for Business.” According to the report, Tennessee ranks second-best in America in the category of “Transportation and Infrastructure,” up from fourth place in 2012.

Tennessee is also the only state topping the list that has no transportation debt. Many states across the nation carry transportation debt and must allocate a large portion of their funds to interest payments, according to a press release from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, State, Top Stories Tagged With: America’s Top States for Business, CNBC, cost of living, infrastructure, John Schroer, Kent Starwalt, TDOT, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee Road Builders Association, transportation, transportation debt, transportation system, workforce

Energy Department announces investments, including at ORNL, for next-generation biofuels

Posted at 2:01 am July 6, 2013
By U.S. Department of Energy Leave a Comment

Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Submitted

WASHINGTON—Building on President Obama’s newly announced plan to cut carbon pollution, the Energy Department this week announced four research and development projects to bring next-generation biofuels on-line faster and drive down the cost of producing gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels from biomass. The projects—located in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin—represent a $13 million Energy Department investment.

One of the projects selected for negotiation is worth up to $2.1 million and located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: bio-oil, BioForming, biofuels, biomass, carbon, Ceramatec, diesel, electrochemical deoxygenation, Energy Department, Ernest Moniz, gasoline, hydrocarbon fuels, jet fuels, lignocellulosic biomass, microbial electrolysis, Norman, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, President Obama, research and development, supercritical solvent extraction, Tennessee, thermal fractionation, transportation, University of Oklahoma, Utah, Virent Inc. Madison, Wisconsin

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Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

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