Johnson City board approves audit, budget items, calendar and policy updates; hears legislative update on vouchers
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Summary
The Johnson City Board of Education approved the school portion of the city's audit with no findings, received a February financial report, approved a proposed 2728 calendar and tuition rates for 2026–27, advanced family medical leave policy on first reading, and combined first and second readings for a public-appearances policy to comply with new state law.
At its April meeting, the Johnson City Board of Education took a series of routine fiscal and governance actions, approved a district audit with no findings and heard updates on building projects and state legislation.
Financials and audit: Lea Veil presented the February financial report, saying revenues for the month totaled $10,510,000, expenditures $8,480,000 and the fund balance stood at $23,415,000. She also reported PEP deposits for the month of $353,000 for the city and $149,000 for the schools, and told the board the secure-vestibule project had $307,000 remaining as of March invoices. On the city's 2024–25 audit (school portion), Veil said the audit performed by Blackburn, Childers and Stegall produced no findings; the board moved, seconded and voted to accept the audit.
Calendar, tuition and policies: The superintendent recommended the district's proposed 2728 calendar, noting the district reverted to previously used coding to avoid family confusion; the board voted to approve the calendar. The board also approved recommended tuition rates for 2026–27, keeping them the same as in 2025–26. For governance, the board approved the first reading of policy 5.305 (family medical leave) and combined the first and second readings of policy 1.4.1.404 to align district rules on public appearances with recently signed state legislation.
Facilities and projects: Brian Ross provided an update on capital projects: Town Acres is progressing with footings and masonry; Market Street work faces material delays; Indian Trail hardware is on order and contractor bids open soon. The board received these staff updates and took no additional capital-action votes that evening.
Legislative update: Miss Treece briefed the board on state action, including an amendment to House Bill 2532 (voucher expansion) that would add 15,000 vouchers and raise an income cap cited in the briefing as $178,434 for a family of four; Treece contrasted those figures with median incomes cited for Tennessee and Johnson City. The board reiterated that it had previously passed a resolution opposing vouchers.
Votes at a glance: the board adopted the meeting agenda, passed the consent agenda, approved the February financials, accepted the city audit for the year ended 06/30/2025 (no findings), approved the proposed 2728 calendar, and approved the tuition rate recommendation for 2026–27. Several motions were moved and seconded and carried by voice vote during the meeting.
The meeting proceeded to communications and informational items following those approvals.
