Johnson City financial report: December revenues, TISA funds and board debate over vouchers
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Staff reported December revenues of $9,670,000 and a year-to-date general fund decrease of $1,521,000; board members questioned per-pupil funding, TISA receipts and expressed concerns about state private-school voucher proposals and their fiscal impact on public schools.
Leah Veil, presenting the finance report, told the board: "Revenues for the month of December totaled $9,670,000." She said TISA outcomes funds received in December amounted to just under $942,000 and that December expenditures were $8,493,000. For the year, the general fund showed a net decrease in fund balance of $1,521,000, leaving the district slightly under its target by about $68,500. Veil said property tax revenues were beginning to come in and that the fund balance typically rises in March or April.
Board members pressed on per-pupil funding levels. Veil said the state base is "just over $7,000" per pupil and that additional adjustments for unique learning needs apply. One board member said that the governor's budget increases for voucher students were proportionally larger than increases directed at public-school funding: "the amount to help actual public education was minuscule per student compared to that increase for the voucher students," and urged constituents to contact legislators.
Therese, the district legislative liaison, told the board the bill-filing deadline has passed and encouraged watching education subcommittee meetings online; she said the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) legislative program will summarize K–12 bills next month and that the district will return with a fuller report in March.
The board approved the finance report by voice vote. No budget reallocation or new local funding was authorized at this meeting.