Project 2025 could harm Oak Ridge schools

Friendly Oak Ridge Schools a growing student population will be a challenge in the future, as will addressing a possible decline in federal and state funding for public schools.

These are the conclusions from a recent conversation conducted by Key fillerretiring chairman of the Oak Ridge Board of Education. He spoke at a luncheon meeting of the League of Women Voters in Oak Ridge.

Fillauer was asked about the impact on Oak Ridge schools by eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, as recommended by: Project 2025which was described as a blueprint for a potential future conservative Republican administration that could transform the federal government.

“If the federal Department of Education were disbanded by Project 2025Oak Ridge schools would lose approximately $3 million in federal funding,” Fillauer responded. Some of this money goes to our kindergarten. This is our early start money. In my opinion, if we lost this money, it would be a disaster.

Another question from the audience at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Oak Ridge, where the luncheon was held, concerned the proposal to expand voucher programs throughout Tennessee. School vouchers, which are offered to a limited number of Tennessee students through the existing Education Savings Account program, allow families to use taxpayer dollars to cover private school costs.

“Simply put, the voucher program is taking state tax dollars from public schools and using them to allow students to attend private schools,” Fillauer said. He noted that the Oak Ridge School Board, Oak Ridge City Council, Anderson County Board of Education, Clinton City Board of Education and Anderson County Commission all approved resolutions are opposed the state’s proposed voucher program.

He asked, “If we want to provide a better education for these students, why don’t we put taxpayer money into public schools? There is no doubt that there are public schools throughout Tennessee that need help.”

The state legislature forced changes to what can and cannot be taught in schools and approved a new law requiring school nurses to obtain parental consent before treating children except in emergencies.

“As board members, we sometimes wince when voting on policies passed to us by the state legislature because we don’t always agree with them,” he said. “But we have no choice because politics is law.”

He noted that the school board has concerns about the state testing process because teachers have to wait so long to receive the results.

“We now benchmark all of our schools so we can get results almost immediately,” he added, noting that the information helps teachers identify students who need immediate individual attention to help them catch up on their classroom understanding of a topic.

In his speech, Fillauer mentioned that the student population is not only growing, but will likely continue to grow as the number of jobs at Oak Ridge is projected to increase significantly between now and 2030.

“Based on current growth rates and existing and planned projects, Oak Ridge could add up to 2,000 new households by 2030,” one slide in his presentation stated.

The fastest population growth is occurring on the western end, from Forest Creek to The Preserve of Oak Ridge, a 1,400-acre planned community described on the website as “located between Cumberland and The Great Smoky Mountains, on the bend of Oak Ridge’s Watts Bar Lake.”

“Three years ago, we took one school bus to The Preserve to pick up the kids,” Fillauer said. “We now run three buses” that transport children to schools in Oak Ridge.

The school board has a plan outlined in Fillauer’s slide: “Get land on the west side. Project budget and soft costs from now to 2025. Build a new school for 800 students to replace the current Linden Elementary School and absorb additional student growth on the west side.”

“The ideal site for a new elementary school would be somewhere between the current Linden School and the reservation,” he noted. However, he admitted that finding and acquiring suitable land is a challenge.

“But that’s what the board is working on. We are trying to find such a solution,” he said.

He ruled out the former K-25 facility as a land source, even though it had been decontaminated.

“If we were trying to build a school on the former K-25 property, I wouldn’t want to be on the board of education,” he noted.

The companies announced plans to use part of the area between Linden Elementary School and the reservation to build a nuclear reactor, produce nuclear fuel and uranium enrichment facilities.

SRO in every school and 462 cameras

Noting that threats to public school employees and students have moved over the past 75 years from the dreaded nuclear attacks and bomb threats to mass shootings, Fillaeur said: “At Oak Ridge, we are fortunate that our students have shown great responsibility and reported something, that doesn’t look good, or something someone said, or something someone said.”

He praised the partnership the schools have established with the Oak Ridge Police Department and expressed gratitude that each Oak Ridge school has a school resource officer who serves not only as a police officer, but also as a teacher and student resource.

“Our buildings are safefrom our badges to the entrances to our homes,” he said. “When classes are in progress, the doors are closed. Each building is equipped with cameras. We have 462 cameras throughout the district. We have spent over $2.5 million on safety initiatives over the last 10 years.”

He said educators and board members are trying to understand why children and teenagers want to hurt people in schools and the influence parents have on their children.

When asked how school staff deal with students with mental health issues, he explained that each school has a nurse and a clinical psychologist, and students in emergency situations can usually get help from Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services in Oak Ridge.

He said that despite some objections, the new school calendar with a shortened summer break followed by fall, winter and spring breaks has received many positive comments.

“Both our students and teachers say they are rested and ready to continue learning (after returning from breaks),” he added. “They can’t wait to go back to school.”

He mentioned another change he has noticed as a former teacher and coach at Oak Ridge for 31 years and a member and chairman of the school board for 23 years.

“When I came to Robertsville Middle School in 1968, I had just over 3 percent of the students on free and reduced lunches,” he said, noting that at today’s middle school, over 50 percent of students are on free and reduced lunches. “Many of them are great students who want to learn and want to believe that they have a future. But we have to provide something different because today they are dealing with different situations.

Oak Ridge Schools officials made the announcement in a later news release published in The Oak Ridgerthat schools will continue to participate in the Community Eligibility Provisions (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which allow schools in low-income areas to eliminate school meal applications and serve breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students free of charge. Under this provision, all children at Robertsville Middle, Glenwood, Linden and Willow Brook elementary schools will receive free breakfast and lunch.

Praising Oak Ridge Schools’ innovative college, career and technical education curriculum, which includes 69 CTE (career and technical education) courses and 19 degree programs representing 13 different occupational groups (including aviation), Fillauer said 80% of high school students at Oak Ridge, graduates attend college and 20% go on to serve in the military or start careers in new businesses.

He stated that the school board is particularly proud of the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program at ORHS. ROTC is a program that trains university students to become officers in the U.S. Armed Forces.

“It gave kids who may not have had anywhere to go or a chance to learn to become leaders or take pride in what they do. It gives them opportunities they didn’t have in the past. Some of these students will go on to pursue military careers,” Fillauer said.

As for teachers, he noted that Oak Ridge schools “have recently gained recognition as No. 2 in the ranking of the best workplaces for large companies near Knoxville. “No other local school district has received this distinction,” he said. Superintendent of Schools Bruce Borchers also received the Leadership Award.

Don’t stop believing

What hasn’t changed in schools is the positive impact teachers can have on students by believing in their ability to find a way to succeed. Titled his talk, “Faith is the Only Option,” Fillauer gave the example of a student who long ago had learning difficulties and was referred to discipline in a “social studies prison.”

Later, as an adult, he met Fillauer, told him he had a family and a successful business, and said, “I just want to thank you for believing in me.”

Another of his students, who is currently interviewing lawyers for jobs in New York, broke the news that she was in her position because Fillauer “believed in me and said I could do it if I wanted to.”

News Editor Donna Smith contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: School board president: Project 2025 could harm Oak Ridge schools