SERVE

What is your opinion?

2009-09-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

One of the issues the Oak Ridge Board of Education has been discussing is weather or not to have a residency requirement for top administrators. Another "hot topic" is weather or not School officials and adminitrators should have their children enrolled in the school system they serve. What is your opinion? Answer our poll questions.

A recent Letter to the Editor:
BOE member's residency concerns too little, too late - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridge

Please drive safely in School Zones

2009-08-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

School attendance shouldn't put our kids in harm's way - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

Are all ORHS students offered equal options?

2009-08-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

One issue that has been brought out is that ORHS offers many AP and advanced classes for high achieveing and gifted students but not as many options to the average and below average students. While the Honors and AP classes are great for the high achieving students, the options for the average student seem to be more limited. I also feel if more attention and encouragement were given to average and below average students then more of them would be able to take the AP classes at the Jr. and Sr. level possibly improving our Newsweek ranking even more.

Also having one child who is gifted I do know that special attention is given to monitor her progress on an ongoing basis. I am concerned because I feel all students should have proper monitoring, encouragement and equal options. What is your opinion? Please vote on our poll.

On another note:
It was reported at Monday's School Board meeting and in the Oak Ridger that ORHS is still ranked in the Newsweek poll. Apparently the data was not reported in time to be published. This year the ranking is just a little higher than last year. It is still somewhat concerning that our rankings in this poll have dropped significantly over the last several years and we are still failing NCLB as well.

ORHS ranks No. 889 in Newsweek poll - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger

http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x592694730Source: oakridger.com

Still failing NCLB Graduation rates

2009-07-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

from:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jul/28/no-option-left-behind-parents-react-getting-school/

http://tn.gov/education/nclb/ayp/doc/Lis...UL2009.pdf

http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x592694730Source: oakridger.com

Board's self-test: 4.88 of 5 points - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

What is your opinion????

2009-07-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

Whether you agree with our opinion or not we encourage all Oak Ridge citizens to submit letters to the editor to both the Oak Ridger and the Oak Ridge Observer. Let your voice be heard (or at least read anyway).

Digging Deep into the Data

2009-07-15T06:38:00.001-07:00

Trina's response:

As expected, the ORSB voted 4-1 to extend Dr. Bailey’s contract this evening. We are now stuck with him through 2013. Before bestowing more glowing praise on the super and after thoroughly patting themselves on the back, the board had the administration provide a partial response to my letter. Unfortunately, as Mr. Green pretty much stated, the data is quite sophisticated and probably cannot be properly understood by the average citizen. I think I’ll give it a shot anyway.

1. The administration maintains that Dr. Bailey did not receive a salary increase for the 08/09 school year. Instead, they state that what appeared to be a salary increase was actually a manipulation of an annuity. School budget documents delineate the annuity in question into a separate line item (#72320 189 “Other Salaries & Wages”) from the salary line item which is #72320 101. The 2010 Proposed Budget clearly shows an annual increase in the salary line item each year as follows:
07/08 Audit $128,802
08/09 Approved $131,888
09/10 Proposed $133,866
2. The administration stated that no TN superintendent license exists; my point that Dr. Bailey was one of only 5 superintendents out of 135 in the state who is not a licensed educator was not refuted.
3. The administration demonstrated an increase in the ORS graduation rate. This does not conflict with my original contention that we failed the No Child Left Behind standard of 90% 2 years in a row, while 92% of Tennessee schools passed.
4. The administration alluded to the Newsweek rankings that Oak Ridge schools have completely off of this year. They offered no data to show that Oak Ridge schools are, in fact, on that list.
5. The administration itemized some (not all) of the principals who have been replaced by Dr. Bailey. They failed to provide the pertinent details such as how many were forced to resign and how many resigned or retired early.
6. The administration addressed only one of the 6 years of overspending that the superintendent’s travel line item reflects. Setting aside the one year they did explain, the overspending percentage is reduced from 56% to 50%. No explanation for why this occurred or how it was paid for was offered.

The administration neglected to mention the other 10 points that my letter discussed (US News & World Report rankings, enrollment decline, increased spending, vehicle purchase and allowance for unlimited personal use, excess year-end assets, the Oak Leaf scandal, the transportation cuts, the high school coach fiasco, the assistant superintendent who left our school system and then returned and chooses not to put his children in Oak Ridge schools, and the newly hired high school principal who has less experience than the majority of our system’s teachers and has NO managerial experience.)

I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Eby chose to vote against the extension. I wasn’t surprised at the rest of the board’s votes but am very disappointed. I regret my votes in the last two elections for two of the current board members. I won’t make that mistake again.

Trina Baughn

Michelle's response:

In response to Jenny Richter's comments regarding Dr. Bailey's accomplishments this past year. I agree that he has done a good job with the High School Renovation project which is now almost completed as well as advances in technology such as the Skyward Family Access program. She stated that she was basing her vote on the past year's performance ONLY which I guess means she was disregarding most of our and other citizen concerns with the downward trend of the Oak Ridge school system under Bailey's reign.

Dan Digregoiro did question whether or not the board had to vote at this time but unfortunately was muted on his last attempt when the vote was called and he went ahead and voted yes to the contract extension.

I was impressed that Bob Eby voted no, stating he felt he could not make an informed decision at this time. I sincerely hope that Mr. Eby will continue to hold the School Board accountable for implementing better criteria for evaluations of the superintendent and themselves next year!

While some of the data presented at the meeting was impressive, it did NOT address all of the concerns that have been voiced by citizens.

Michelle Doka

We at SERVE

2009-07-09T18:07:00.001-07:00

We at SERVE want to inform the public about issues relating to our community. These issues include safety issues, issues pertaining to our school system and other community issues. We also would like citizen input so feel free to add comments to our blogs and take our polls. We hope to make Oak Ridge a better and safer place for all who call this city home!! For safety issues you can also go to http://protectoakridgekids.blogspot.com/ In the post that follows are some Letters to the Editor we have submitted urging the public to speak out to School Board members to not vote on yet another contract extension for the current superintendent. Please read and act if you agree!!!

A message to the citizens of OR - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

School chief misleading public? - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

Is Bailey worth renewing his contract? - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

Contact information for School Board Members:

Keys Fillauer wkfillauer@comcast.net 482-3841
Bob Eby ebyr@usec.com
Jennifer Richter jrichter@utk.edu 483-2912
Angie Agle agle@bellsouth.net 482-6979
Dan Digregorio donato60@gmail.com 483-8939

Urge School Board Not to extend Superintendent's contract

2009-07-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Is Bailey worth renewing his contract? - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

School chief misleading public? - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger Source: oakridger.com

Citizens of Oak Ridge,

Let me stress that this is an important letter with issues that the public needs to be aware of, however, first off I need to say a couple things before getting into all of that…

Obviously over the past year and a half I have wrote more than one LTE and in many circumstances there have been certain individuals that have viewed my LTE’s as still grieving and lashing out so in response let me say this.

OF COURSE I am still grieving!!!! That will NEVER change and for those that have lost close loved ones they will understand. For those that have not, may you never have to understand or go through such a painful process!! It is unbearable at best some days and liveable on others when you know that you HAVE to carry on for those that you are still responsible for and love!

Furthermore, some have complained that my husband and I are assigning blame for the loss of our daughter by continuing to push for change in our schools. To that, I must respond that if we had truly wanted to place blame, we would have filed a lawsuit against Dr. Bailey and the school system. We did no such thing.
Now, on to what I REALLY wanted to say…
There is a SERIOUS problem with our administration today!!! If you have been reading all the articles and letters then you should be up to date on most items that concern our current superintendent at minimum.
If not maybe just a few facts will bring things to light for you…
Since 2002 when Superintendent Bailey came into office our National rankings for the school system have dropped significantly! At one point-( not under Bailey’s reign)- we were listed as one of the top 100 school districts, we are currently listed as 929 out of 1500. Wow, what a drop and a difference!! But wait, Bailey doesn’t think it merits an issue because according to him and his comments that have been published recently the current ranking is not accurate. Hate to break it to you but apparently when we were ranked in the top 100 is was considered accurate then because everyone took credit for it, so now that it has dropped so much NOW it is not accurate??? Sounds like someone doesn’t want any mud on their boots!!!
If it is positive credit is taken, if it is negative then the administrators deny it is accurate… anyone see a problem with this???
And that is just the beginning my fellow citizens. Look at everything else behind the scenes that has been pointed out about our current superintendent that was ranked 4.75 (HA) our of 5.0
There has been significant turnover in principals and teachers since his reign began. Not to mention that previously before he became our superintendent he bragged about all the principals and teachers he fired in his other school district.
He also was not suppose to get a raise last year when none of the school staff received a raise due to a shortfall in the budget but if you look Bailey did get a raise!! See a problem with that??
Not to mention that his next in command, Ken Green, doesn’t even have his kids enrolled in our school system… Makes you wonder why!!!
There are so many items that I could continue to mention but if you have kept up then you would already know. If you have not then I strongly suggest you look into everything!!

In closing, there is to be a vote on July 14th to extend Superintendent Bailey’s contract yet again. This does not even need to be voted on until 2011 because his current contract goes through 2012.
So I urge ALL of you to not only be at this meeting but also email all of the members of the school board to either vote against the extension or vote to postpone the vote on this. They have 2 more years before they have to vote so why rush it???
We need change but if no one speaks up then nothing gets changed!!!

submitted by Laurie Paine

Time for change in Oak Ridge schools - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger

2009-05-23T19:10:00.001-07:00

For more information about these candidates please click on the following:

Time for change in Oak Ridge schools - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger

Posted using ShareThis

NOW is the Time for Change in our schools!!!

2009-05-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

PLEASE VOTE

JOHN SOLDANO
· Has owned and operated a successful business for over 30 years and will apply a business approach to the school board
· In addition to being a product of Oak Ridge schools himself, has been an actively involved parent in our schools for 18 years
· Believes some of our greatest issues are decreasing operating capital and misallocated capital and addressing low teacher morale
· Humbly demonstrates the depth of his commitment to give back to the community by financing 97% of his campaign out of his own pocket

BRENDA FELLNER
· Brings over 20 years of experience in multiple education arenas
· Has a diverse background and set of life experiences that will support efforts to improve our educational system at ALL levels
· Has served in a variety of leadership roles, has worked with all facets of administration including curriculum and budget development
· Understands the instructional mechanisms critical to academic success

DAN DIGREGORIO
· Has over 37 consecutive years of service to our children in Oak Ridge as a teacher, coach, school board member, parent and grand-parent
· Knows our kids: As a volunteer track coach, Dan is still working directly with our children and is on campus everyday
· Urges voters to cast their ballots for the candidate(s) they want choosing the next superintendent

Respectfully submitted by:

· Trina Baughn Michelle Doka Laurie Paine Miriam Pitz

2009-05-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Election Forums scheduled this week. Be an informed voter!!!!

We would like to encourage everyone to attend the upcoming election forums sponsored by the League of Women voters.

Tuesday, May 12 will be for the City Council Candidates

Thursday, May 14 will be for the School Board Canditates

Both forums will be in the High School Amphitheater and run from 6:30 -9:00pm

2009-05-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all! SERVE is a new group in Oak Ridge dedicated to several different aspects of serving the community. Our name stands for the following...
S- safety
E-education
R- Revitalization
for
V- virtually
E-everyone

We are here to not only inform the public about issues in our area that need addressing but also to listen to the public's comments and help to serve our students and community by standing up for what we believe in.

We look forward to hearing from you!