BusinessTN

Last August, over 70% of Oak Ridge voters approved a half-cent increase in the local option sales tax to fund construction/renovation of a new $44 million high school. The state-of-the-art project, with its price tag far exceeding the average $25 million to $35 million cost of a cookie cutter high school, replaces a facility portions of which date back to the Truman presidency.

The new building will give Oak Ridge physically what it already has academically—one of the highest quality school systems in the state and nation. Newsweek magazine recently ranked Oak Ridge High School one of its 750 best (and the best of three high schools ranked in Tennessee). Parenting magazine Offspring ranked ORHS second best in the South and one of the 100 best school districts in America. At 24.5, the average ACT score of ORHS students is four points above the state’s average. The school offers 26 advanced placement courses. More than two-thirds of teachers have master’s degrees. On the backs of local taxpayers, Oak Ridge already boasts the highest per-pupil expenditure in the state at around $10,000, far more than the state average of roughly $6,000.

Why do Oak Ridgers show such a willingness to fund the local school system beyond normal levels? Home of the Oak Ridge National Lab, currently undergoing its own $2.2 billion federally-paid renovation, Oak Ridge is a scientific community whose ability to provide a top-notch public education is critical to its ability to attract skilled scientists to the area. The decision to build a public high school of private school proportions, replete with 21st Century classrooms and laboratories, is in part intended to enhance Oak Ridge’s quality of life, a key selling point.

Beyond the staggering $55 million price tag, there is another reason the new Oak Ridge High School project is remarkable for Tennessee. More than $5 million of the cost of the project has already been defrayed through private donations to a local public education foundation. The gifts came primarily from Department of Energy (DOE) contractors operating in the area. School superintendents contacted across the state agree it is an unprecedented display of support for a public school’s construction in Tennessee. Ideally, such private support will serve as a model for other systems statewide looking to beef up their own performance.

Among those giving were UT-Battelle, the lab’s operators, which gave $2 million, including the initial $100,000 needed for a feasibility study. UT-Battelle chief Jeff Wadsworth stated flatly at the time that the lab’s ability to attract the best talent depended on its ability to provide quality public education in the area.

BWXT-Y12 gave $1 million. Wackenhut Services, security providers at the lab, gave $500,000. Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of 91 major research institutions, including nearly every major university in Tennessee, gave $1 million. But smaller local businesses pitched in, too. Duratek gave $50,000. Pro2Serve, PrSM Corp. and Peggy Sells Homes-Realty Center gave $10,000 each. A local consortium of doctors gave over $100,000.

“The citizens of Oak Ridge stepped forward to support their greatest asset, their children,” says Oak Ridge school superintendent Tom Bailey. He’s right. But in reality, what Oak Ridge voters and corporate donors did in supporting the school’s construction will benefit all Tennesseans. The lab employs 3,800 people, including 1,500 scientists and engineers. About 13,000 contractor employees work at the Oak Ridge facilities. DOE spending in Oak Ridge generates over $70 million annually in state and local tax revenue. Total personal income generated in Tennessee by DOE-related activities is around $2 billion. Considering what the lab does for the entire state in terms of job creation, revenues and the spawning of businesses, Oak Ridge’s new high school is a public project that will pay dividends across Tennessee.

The 1989 Hollywood movie Field of Dreams depicted an Iowa farmer who acted when hearing the words, “If you build it, they will come.” Perhaps heeding a similar call, citizens of Oak Ridge have likely secured their community’s place as a high-tech destination ideally suited for professionals and their families.