Kingsport board approves budget amendment to fund reset rooms, tutoring and Medicaid reimbursement program

Kingsport City Schools on Sept. 9 approved a budget amendment that packages several health- and instruction-related funding items, including a Ballad Health donation for a reset room at Jackson Elementary, a grant allocation to continue a high-dosage tutoring program, and a contract to manage Medicaid (TennCare) reimbursements for medically necessary school health services.

Fry, a district staff member who presented the item, told the board the amendment includes a $4,500 donation from Ballad Health to create a reset room at Jackson Elementary. He said the district had completed similar reset-room work at Robinson and Sevier previously. The board approved the donation allocation.

Fry also said available funding from the Niles Longer Foundation totals $115,384 — not the larger figure originally listed in the board packet — and that money will be used for a “high-dosage, low-ratio literacy tutoring program” at Johnson, Kennedy and Roosevelt schools. Fry said the program is the same one the district has operated for at least two years.

The amendment also formalizes an agreement with Stellar Therapy Services to manage the district’s TennCare Medicaid reimbursement program. Fry said the district already received reimbursements of $72,524 for services provided last year; Stellar’s fee is 30 percent, leaving a net amount of $52,167 that the district can spend now. Fry said Stellar files claims on the district’s behalf while the district’s clinics lacked the capacity to manage this billing internally, and that the district’s investment in an electronic medical records system (estimated at $15,000–$20,000 per year) makes the program practical now.

Fry summarized reimbursable services as those that are medically necessary and provided with parental permission, including daily medication administration, diabetic management, catheter care and tube feeding. He said the district must contract with a TennCare managed care organization for reimbursement and that parental or guardian permission is required for each student whose services are billed. Fry cautioned that current rules allow reimbursement only for students on TennCare and not for students with private insurance.

A board member asked whether private insurance could be billed; Fry said state legislation or regulations limited earlier attempts and suggested the district would look into whether private insurance billing is permissible in the future.

The board voted unanimously to approve Budget Amendment No. 2 after Fry corrected an error in the meeting packet and summarized the three items.

The district said these funds will be used to support health services operations, pay for ongoing electronic record keeping and related program costs, and continue a targeted tutoring program at three schools. Staff said further details and parental permission forms are being processed as the program rolls out.