AC BOE requests “Oak Ridge 85” story be added to textbooks

The Anderson County School Board joined with its counterparts in Oak Ridge to adopt a resolution seeking to add the story of the “Oak Ridge 85” to social studies textbooks across Tennessee.

In 1955, 85 black students from Oak Ridge’s Scarboro neighborhood integrated Oak Ridge High School and have become known as the Oak Ridge 85.

Last month, the Oak Ridge School Board passed a resolution formally asking the state to include the Oak Ridge 85 story in social studies textbooks across the state. Thursday night, the Anderson County School Board unanimously approved making the same request.

State education officials will meet this fall to discuss what will be added or taken out of textbooks across the state.

If the Oak Ridge 85 is included and added, it could be seen in textbooks as soon as the 2024-2025 school year.