The Oak Ridge School Board unanimously approved a large set of policy updates Tuesday and approved several grants and budget items, including a $50,000 blanket purchase order and an increase in concession manager stipends at Oak Ridge High School.

The changes update district policies to reflect multiple recent state laws and administrative requirements, add new reporting and training rules for safety and special education, and make operational budget approvals for the 2025–26 fiscal year.

Board members voted unanimously to adopt more than a dozen policy changes, including updates to records requests, charter school reporting, surplus property thresholds, emergency preparedness, threat assessment reporting, virtual education rules, library materials, internet use, special education reporting and parental leave, substitute teacher days, searches and student discipline, wireless device rules, student wellness, student records, and others. Many of the changes were described by the board as required or clarified by specific “public chapter” laws passed at the state level.

During discussion, a board member successfully moved an amendment to board policy 4.1, the districtinstructional program policy, to move a long definition of discrimination and religious facilities language into a footnote so the policyintroductory paragraph would not be dominated by that definition. The board voted first on the amendment and then on the policy as amended; both votes passed unanimously.

The board approved two competitive grants: an FY26#39;26 IDEA partnership grant intended to provide year-two special education professional development for administrators (the district previously received $25,000 from the state in FY25) and a Preschool Voluntary Pre-K grant. A board discussion during the IDEA item clarified that the grant funds are for professional development for administrators and are not intended to be used to hire special education staff such as speech-language pathologists.

On budgeting and operations, the board approved a $50,000 blanket purchase order for Home Depot to expedite maintenance purchases that collectively exceed local purchase thresholds; the staff explained single purchases are typically under $10,000 but the district collectively spends more than $25,000 annually with that vendor. The board also approved transportation certification clearances for the 2025–26 year, reaffirming that bus drivers meet required physical, mental and legal standards, and thanked First Student for assistance with driver compliance.

The board also approved a stipend increase for Oak Ridge High School concessions coordinators to $150 per football game (from $120) and $125 per basketball game (from $90). The board was told the increase will be supported by surplus concession revenue and will not require additional district funding.

Other specific statutory or procedural changes recorded in the meeting include an increase in the surplus property disposal threshold from $5,000 to $10,000 to match federal regulations, a 60-day bona fide separation requirement before reemploying retirees, an increase in substitute teacher days without a license from 20 to 30, and a change in the elementary physical activity requirement from a weekly total to 40 minutes per full school day.

Votes at a glance

- Board Policy 1.407 (School district records): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously.
- Board Policy 1.7 (School district goals): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Crank; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously.
- Board Policy 1.901 (Charter school applications): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously.
- Board Policy 2.403 (Surplus property sales): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (Threshold aligned to $10,000.)
- Board Policy 3.202 (Emergency preparedness plan): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously.
- Board Policy 3.204 (Threat assessment team): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously. (Includes 48-hour parent notification and quarterly incident reports.)
- Board Policy 4.1 (Instructional program): Motion to approve as amended; amendment moved by Doctor Hartman and seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Amendment moved long discrimination definition to a footnote.)
- Board Policy 4.212 (Virtual education program): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously. (Adds hybrid-learning option and attendance policy requirements.)
- Board Policy 4.301 (Interscholastic athletics): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Permits virtual students to participate per TSAA/TMSAA guidelines.)
- Board Policy 4.403 (Library materials): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Clarifies materials may not be excluded solely for being religious.)
- Board Policy 4.406 (Use of the Internet): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (Implements Teen Social Media Act limits.)
- Board Policy 4.601 (Reporting student progress): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Craig; outcome: approved unanimously. (Report cards must include reading screener and dyslexia screener results, if applicable.)
- Board Policy 5.1 (Personnel goals): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Removes requirement for educator diversity goals per state law.)
- Board Policy 5.119 (Employment of retirees): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously. (Requires 60-day separation of service.)
- Board Policy 5.305 (Family and medical leave): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (Updates eligibility and increments for paid parental leave.)
- Board Policy 5.701 (Substitute teachers): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Crank; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (Substitute days without a license increased to 30.)
- Board Policy 6.303 (Questioning students and searches): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously. (Searches must be conducted by personnel with state-required training.)
- Board Policy 6.304 (Student discrimination/harassment): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Includes anti-Semitism definition tied back to 4.1.)
- Board Policy 6.312 (Wireless communication devices): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Students may possess devices but must power them off and store them during instruction.)
- Board Policy 6.411 (Student wellness): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Miss Crank; outcome: approved unanimously. (Elementary physical activity requirement changed to 40 minutes each full day of school.)
- Board Policy 6.6 (Student records): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Records transferred to new schools within 5 business days.)
- FY26#39;26 IDEA partnership grant: Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (Funds for administrator professional development only; cannot be used to hire SPED therapists.)
- FY25'26 transportation certification clearance: Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously.
- FY25'26 Home Depot blanket purchase order ($50,000): Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Webb; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously.
- FY25 preschool CACFP food grant application: Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously. (Reimbursement-based meal funding for preschool.)
- FY26#39;26 Preschool Voluntary Pre-K grant ($457,330.68 entered in ePlan): Motion to approve; motion made by Doctor Hartman; seconded by Miss Webb; outcome: approved unanimously.
- Oak Ridge High School concessions coordinator stipend increase: Motion to approve; motion made by Miss Crank; seconded by Doctor Hartman; outcome: approved unanimously. (New pay: $150/football game, $125/basketball game; supported by surplus concession revenue.)

Board members and staff praised district IT, maintenance and custodial teams for rapid responses to start-of-school issues including computer reconfigurations and an AC failure at Linden Elementary that caused one missed day. The board also recognized Mike Taylor, introduced in the audience as the new director of the Oak Ridge Public School Education Foundation, and closed with adjournment.

The board repeatedly noted these updates were made to align district policy with recent state public chapters; where the transcript referenced a statute only as a public chapter number, the article uses that same phrasing rather than adopting a different statutory label.

Sources and attribution

Quotes and attributions in this story come from board members recorded in the meeting transcript, including Miss Webb, Doctor Hartman, Miss Crank, Doctor Borchers, Miss Van Dyck, Mister Stoltz and others. When a speakerrole was not explicit in the transcript, the article lists the speaker as recorded in the meeting (for example, "Miss Webb").