Oak Ridge Board approves budget transfers, grants, contracts, laptops and other routine items

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on the evening of its March meeting approved a package of routine motions including a fiscal-year budget transfer and amendment, Head Start grants, several contracts, purchases of student devices and accessories, and personnel-related approvals.

Board members voted unanimously to approve FY 2025 budget transfer number 2 and budget amendment number 1, a midyear adjustment the superintendent recommended to realign district spending. The board also approved the FY 2026 Preschool Head Start baseline grant request of $1,075,035, which the superintendent said would fund seats for 118 three- and four-year-old children. The board approved a related FY 2026 Head Start training and technical assistance plan allocating $9,317 to staff training and program support.

The board approved its FY 2026 nonresident tuition rates as required by Board Policy 6.204. The board named Sarah Cunha (Linden Elementary) as Oak Ridge Schools’ Volunteer of the Year and voted unanimously to forward her nomination to the Tennessee School Boards Association for statewide consideration.

Other approvals included a yearbook services contract for Oak Ridge High School (Jostens), the purchase of 3,500 Novo student laptops in an amount cited in the meeting as $3,111,500, and 3,500 protective laptop bags in the amount of $105,000. The board approved the Roberts Middle School Rubik’s Cube club and confirmed tenure status for Melissa Morris.

All motions on the consent and action agendas passed by unanimous vote, with motions routinely made and seconded from the board’s floor and then carried without recorded roll-call tallies.