Oak Ridge Board approves FY '25 audit, preschool selection criteria, $42,770 door hardware and extracurricular trips

The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a series of routine items and purchases during its meeting.

Audit: The superintendent recommended and the board approved the FY '25 district audit. Ms. Van Dyke reported that the auditor issued an unmodified (clean) opinion and that there were no audit findings. The motion was made by Dr. Hartman and seconded by Ms. Webb; the chair announced the motion passed unanimously.

Preschool selection criteria: The board approved selection criteria for Pre-K, Title I and Head Start programs that were developed with Anderson County Head Start and the district’s Preschool Policy Committee. The documents create a prioritization process and wait-list method by level of need. The superintendent recommended the criteria; a motion was made and approved unanimously.

Door-hardware purchase: The superintendent recommended purchase of door hardware at Oak Ridge High School to replace aging hardware and add Grade 1 lever-action intruder-function devices. The board approved the purchase of $42,770 from Service Systems of Chattanooga, Tennessee, with funding from a public school safety grant; a future purchase was described to complete the update for remaining classrooms.

Consent agenda and trips: The consent agenda passed unanimously and included approvals for multiple student trips—ROTC to Nashville; Robertsville TSA to National Harbor, Md.; Oak Ridge High School track field trip to Louisville, Ky.; and Oak Ridge High School FCCLA to Chattanooga—and other routine consent items.

Clubs: The board approved a new Linden Elementary Pokemon Club as a low-stress extracurricular meant to support social-emotional learning.

All recorded motions and votes at the meeting were announced as unanimous. The meeting included informational reports on finance and enrollment but did not record any failed or divided votes.