Oak Ridge Board approves facility repairs, budget moves and names boardroom for Keyes Fillour

The Oak Ridge Board of Education voted unanimously on a package of actions at its meeting on Feb. 20, approving facility repairs and equipment purchases, a midyear budget transfer and amendment, preschool selection criteria for Head Start and voluntary pre-K, and naming the School Administration Building boardroom for Keyes Fillour.

Board members said the items were intended to address immediate health and safety needs, update aging school infrastructure and align resources for the remainder of the fiscal year. The board also accepted the district—s fiscal year 2024 audit, which auditors reported contained no material findings.

The meeting opened the action items with a request to name the district boardroom in honor of Keyes Fillour. "We are formally requesting that the Oak Ridge School District be granted permission to name the School Administration Building Boardroom in honor of Mr. Keyes Fillour," the superintendent read from the backup. The motion was made by Dr. Hartman and seconded by Miss Webb and passed unanimously. Keyes Fillour, who was in attendance, thanked the board: "I am honored and surprised," he said.

The board accepted the fiscal year 2024 district audit after Miss Van Dyke read a prepared statement from auditor Terry Metz of Brown, Jake & McDaniel. The statement, read to the board, said the firm issued "an unmodified or clean opinion report" on the district—s financial statements and that the auditors "did not note any deficiencies" in internal control or instances of noncompliance that would materially affect the financial statements. The motion to approve the audit was made by Miss Craven, seconded by Dr. Hartman, and passed unanimously.

Board members approved FY25 budget transfer number 2 and budget amendment number 1. Miss Van Dyke described the action as the district—s midyear reallocation: the district reviews staffing attrition and other variances midyear and may reassign fund balance where needed. "This one looks a little different than some years past because we—re going to have to use some of our fund balance to help pay for some of the things we needed to pay for this year," she said. The motion was made by Dr. Hartman, seconded by Miss Webb, and passed unanimously.

The board also approved the preschool selection criteria for Title I and Head Start programs; the document was developed with Anderson County Head Start and the district—s preschool policy committee and will be used to prioritize wait lists by level of need. The motion was made by Miss Craven, seconded by Miss Crank, and passed unanimously.

Several facility and equipment purchases were approved as emergency or replacement actions because of safety, health or end-of-life issues:

- Emergency replacement of the dish machine at Linden Elementary: award to K Tom Restaurant Supply Inc. of Kodak, Tenn., in the amount of $60,928. The superintendent said the health department took the existing machine out of service because it could not reach required sanitizing temperatures; disposable trays and three-compartment sink procedures will be used until the unit is installed, which has an estimated 4-7 week lead time. Motion by Dr. Hartman; second by Miss Webb; passed unanimously.

- Jefferson Middle School office casework replacement: Skilled Services LLC, $66,500. The superintendent noted the existing casework dates to the building—s 1968 construction. Motion by Dr. Hartman; second by Miss Craven; passed unanimously.

- Oak Ridge High School girls basketball locker replacement: Skilled Services LLC, $28,600. The superintendent said the original lockers were damaged by wear and past flooding; the board was told prior renovations had already addressed the boys— locker room. Motion by Miss Webb; second by Miss Craven; passed unanimously.

- Repair services to the gym floor at Woodland Elementary: additional repair work with Prater—s Inc. for $12,705 on top of the sand-and-finish quote, bringing the total to $29,244.28, after water damage identified in December. Motion by Dr. Hartman; second by Miss Craven; passed unanimously.

Board members cast unanimous votes on all items. Several motions were moved and seconded by Dr. Hartman, Miss Webb and Miss Craven throughout the agenda; no roll-call tallies were read during the meeting beyond the chair declaring each motion passed unanimously.

The board scheduled its next meeting for March 5 at 5:00 p.m. in the newly named Keyes Fillour Boardroom.