'A vote for students': Johnson City Schools approves Freedom Hall pool funds

The Johnson City Board of Education unanimously agreed Monday to use People's Education Plan funds to help repair the Freedom Hall Pool, saying the decision was necessary to ensure students have a place to practice and compete. The city of Johnson City has received bids totaling $864,000 for the project, including contingency funding, according to a resolution attached to the board's agenda. The board approved the motion unanimously, with members describing the decision as a vote for students. During public comments, Science Hill High School swim coach Chris Coraggio spoke in favor of the motion and urged the board to approve the funding. "Repairing Freedom Hall Pool should not be viewed as the school system paying to correct maintenance deficiencies," Coraggio said. "Rather, repairing Freedom Hall is a forward looking action that you can take to invest in the future of our children. When you vote to sign off on the allocation tonight, we can move forward expeditiously to get this project started. I urge you to do so." Members of the board said the PEP funds come from a quarter-cent sales tax that has already been collected and are available for capital projects for specific purposes, with Board Chair Rick Smith saying the money is available now. "We're not talking about future taxes, and we're not talking about getting something in the future," Smith said. "This is money, many millions of dollars, that is already sitting in the city's bank … funding this repair to the pool would still leave us in a very good position to fund any other capital repairs to school facilities or the library as the PEP was funded, without any further necessity or action that the city could decide." Smith said the decision was particularly important because the school district currently has no pool available for its swim teams. The district's swim season runs through the winter, and Legion Street Pool is expected to be closed, meaning students may have to rely on other community pools that are not obligated to provide practice space. Secretary Paula Treece provided the board with a timeline of the PEP funds and the district's relationship with the Freedom Hall pool before the vote. She said Johnson City voters approved an amendment to the city charter in 1994 establishing a quarter-cent sales tax dedicated to construction, maintenance and renovation of facilities operated by the Johnson City School System, as well as other related capital expenditures approved jointly by the Board of Education and Board of Commissioners. Treece said Monday's vote was the first time in 33 years that the Board of Education had been asked to approve the use of the funds, and the request involved a city facility rather than a facility operated by the school system. For many years, she said, Johnson City Schools used portions of Freedom Hall until November 2020. The city and school district then agreed to move the school system's operations out of the facility. Since then, she said, Freedom Hall has been operated and maintained solely by the city of Johnson City. Treece said the school board was informed Jan. 19 that the Freedom Hall pool would close and that PEP funds initially were believed to be unavailable for the repairs. Treece said the board was also told that the city had known about significant maintenance concerns at the facility for some time. "We were also told that the city had been aware of significant maintenance concerns for some time, and that by August of 2025, conditions had become unsafe for maintenance personnel to perform routine work." She questioned why the pool remained open after those concerns were identified. "If the facility had reached that point, it is reasonable to ask why it remained open until February, allowing continued use by students and community members," Treece said. Since the pool's closure, Treece said, the city's interpretation of the charter amendment has changed. The city attorney determined that a portion of the PEP funds could be used for the repairs. In July, she said, the City Commission voted to request the use of the funds. Treece also pointed to the city's recent budget decisions. In June, the City Commission approved a 28-cent property tax increase. That budget included plans for a new aquatic complex but did not include funding for the repairs needed to reopen the Freedom Hall pool. "This placed the Board of Education in a difficult position by being asked to use voter-approved school funds to repair a city facility," Treece said. "I want to be clear, I support our swim teams, and I believe our students deserve access to a safe, quality aquatic facility. Students must come first in every decision we make. However, I also believe the city has a responsibility to maintain and fund the facilities it owns." Treece said she had concerns about establishing a precedent for using PEP funds to cover the cost of repairs to a city-owned facility. "Had the proposal involved a shared contribution based on usage, I believe that would have been a more appropriate discussion. Asking PEP funds to cover the entire cost of repairing a city facility creates a precedent that we must carefully consider," Treece said. "With that said, I will be voting in favor of this request because I do not believe our students should suffer because of decisions that were beyond their control." "Our swim team deserves a safe facility, and I will always put our students first," she added. Many board members echoed this sentiment before the vote. Board member Ginger Carter also added a motion requesting that the city of Johnson City provide the school board with a maintenance plan for the pool. The motion was approved. The next board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Central Office, 100 E. Maple St., Johnson City.