Preschool concerns over paint, Head Start funding reaching resolution
Posted at 10:15 am June 24, 2015
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…]
Filed Under: Education, Education, Front Page News, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: 10-point plan, Anderson County Board of Education, Anderson County Head Start, Anderson County Schools, Anderson County Schools Head Start, Charlsey Cofer, falsification of federal data, federal data, federal funding, federal money, Head Start, lead-based paint, Melinda White, monitor, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge Preschool, Oak Ridge Schools Preschool, Oak Ridge Schools Preschool/Head Start., on-site monitor, preschool, red light camera money
City, Schools Preschool Building Planning Committee to meet April 9
Posted at 9:44 pm April 1, 2015
The Oak Ridge City Council has 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 new joint city-school committee that could lay the groundwork for a new preschool by the 2016-2017 school year will meet on Thursday, April 9.
The meeting of the Joint City/Schools Preschool Building Planning Committee will start at 1:30 p.m. April 9 in the School Administration Building conference room.
Members of the committee are Charlsey Cofer, Keys Fillauer, Bruce Borchers, Lee Ann Shelton, Jessica Hill, Allen Thacker, Mark Watson, Janice McGinnis, Ellen Smith, Shirley Raines, Pat Fallon, and Jon Hetrick.
The joint city-schools committee for the Preschool was endorsed earlier this year. For now, officials have 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 city-school committee could work to determine space needs, develop an affordable finance plan, develop a project timetable, and make a public education plan.
Filed Under: Education, Front Page News, K-12, Meetings and Events Tagged With: Allen Thacker, Bruce Borchers, Charlsey Cofer, city-school committee, Ellen Smith, Janice McGinnis, Jessica Hill, Joint City/Schools Preschool Building Planning Committee, Jon Hetrick, Keys Fillauer, Lee Ann Shelton, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge Schools Preschool, Pat Fallon, preschool, Shirley Raines
School Board could make Preschool recommendation tonight
Posted at 11:12 am January 26, 2015
By John Huotari 1 Comment
Principal Charlsey Cofer, left, discusses the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool with Oak Ridge City Council members and City Manager Mark Watson, seated at table, during a Jan. 15 work session with the Oak Ridge Board of Education.
It's been on the city's wish list for decades, but city and school officials now appear closer to finding a solution to repairing or replacing the city's preschool.
Officials said they've "kicked the can down the road" for years, but the discussion gained urgency after lead-based paint was found on the exterior of the 70-year-old building during a routine inspection in the spring of 2014. It could cost up to $150,000 to make repairs. Officials have characterized that as a Band-Aid or "last investment."
"We're going to have make a decision now, unfortunately, because of the paint," said Keys Fillauer, Oak Ridge Board of Education chair. "The bottom line is: How are we going to pay for this?" [Read more…]
Filed Under: Education, Education, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Allen Thacker, Bob Eby, Charlie Hensley, Charlsey Cofer, Chuck Hope, Keys Fillauer, Mark Watson, Mitchell Road, Oak Ridge Board of Education, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Preschool, Oak Ridge Schools, Oak Ridge Schools Preschool and Robert J. Smallridge School Administration Building, preschool, Trina Baughn, Wackenhut, WSI Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge Schools walk zone expanded to 1.5 miles, could affect 1,800
Posted at 8:22 pm June 24, 2014
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
Anderson Schools rejects Oak Ridge Head Start application over false federal data
Posted at 7:26 pm April 21, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 14 Comments
Note: This story was last updated at 8:35 p.m.
Anderson County Schools director optimistic that resolution will be reached
By John Huotari and Sara Wise
They had concerns about the alleged falsification of federal documents that contained data on motor skills of children, so Anderson County school officials rejected Oak Ridge's application for Head Start funding in the 2014-2015 school year.
The decision could affect roughly $700,000 in funding, or enough to cover about 118 students in the Oak Ridge Head Start program, a federal entitlement program for low-income children. Anderson County Schools supervises the local Head Start program.
But Anderson County Schools Director Larry Foster said the county school board's unanimous April 10 decision could be rescinded based upon collaboration between the two school systems. Representatives of the two systems have already had discussions, and school board chairs are expected to discuss what can be done to resolve funding for next year.
"Hopefully, this can be resolved," Foster said during a brief break in a Monday morning Anderson County Commission meeting in Clinton. [Read more…]
Filed Under: Education, K-12, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Anderson County Board of Education, Anderson County Schools, audit, auditors, Bruce Borchers, Charlsey Cofer, children, Christine Marie Blackburn, funding, gross motor skills data, Head Start, Head Start funding, irregularities, Larry Foster, Melinda White, motor skills, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Head Start, Oak Ridge Preschool, Oak Ridge Schools, school board