JCC Board of Education Increases Tax Request Authority, Discusses Renovations

The Johnson County Central Schools’ Board of Education approved a resolution to increase the Tax Request Authority by up to 6% during its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 10. Being able to increase the Tax Request Authority gives the board the flexibility to budget for the full amount allowed by the State. According to Superintendent Jon Rother, if the Tax Request does not allow the district to budget for the full allowable Budget Authority, the district's Budget Authority will be decreased and will not be retrievable.
Rother explained that the only flexibility the district has in the budget is within the Budget Authority. Whatever is not spent in the Budget Authority is then carried over to the next fiscal year and cannot be included in tax asking for that year.
The board also reviewed the Budget Certification for the 2026-2027 school year. JCC's Budget Certification is a Budget Based calculation which starts with the previous year's General Fund Budget and subtracts out Special Grant Funds, the Special Education Budget and General Fund Lid Exclusions (these are other grants secured by the district). The resulting number is then multiplied by 1.025. This gives us JCC's 2026-2027 Budget Authority which is $9,409,739. The State gives JCC an Allowable Reserve of 45% and access to the prior year's Unused Budget Authority which is $183,605. JCC's Budget Authority for 2025-2026 was $9,004,935. It will increase by 4.5%. According to Rother, this has been the same consistent increase over the last seven years.
Rother also explained that one form of State Aid for schools is Equalization Aid. JCC did not receive this as it starts with district resources and compares it to the needs of the school district. If the needs are greater than the resources, then the district receives Equalization Aid to bring the resources up to an "equal" level of the needs. This could be $1 or it could be $100,000. JCC's resources are greater than its needs, therefore JCC does not receive Equalization Aid. For the 2023-2024 school year, the State of Nebraska began Foundation Aid. This is state aid for every school district based on the number of students enrolled. The intent was to help each district lower their General Fund levy; which JCC did. JCC's Foundation Aid for 2026-2027 is $734,064.
As bids for renovations to the school building came in under the budget set by the board, all alternatives included in the bid package were approved for the project.  These include replacing the HVAC roof unit on the gym, ceiling tile replacement throughout the building and all remaining interior doors and hardware.
Rother gave a summary of the renovation project happening at the high school during the summer months. Currently, Variant Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Heat Pump Systems are being installed to meet the heating and cooling needs. A Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS) is being installed to pretreat and provide air to the VRF systems. Using existing equipment, Hydronic Perimeter Heating (fintube) will be upgraded to use heated water to provide additional heat to the classrooms. According to Rother, the HVAC system will include an upgraded control system to replace the outdated system. A Ductless Split Air Conditioning Unit is being relocated from the basement to the technology server room on the second floor. All classrooms and hallways are being upgraded to provide smoke seals between the classrooms and hallways. Exhaust systems are being installed in the locker rooms. All interior doors leading to corridors are being upgraded to fire safety code standards.
The board was considering a lease-purchase agreement for one or two 14-passenger mini-buses. However, this arrangement was not approved. The board prefers to purchase vehicles outright at this time. An arrangement for the purchase of one 14-passenger mini-bus is being sought.
JCC's administration has been seeking board input on the idea of not allowing backpacks in the high school. Not allowing backpacks can serve as a security measure and it would help enforce the cell phone policy. No decision has yet been made to disallow backpacks.
The board also discussed the 2026-2027 breakfast and lunch prices. All public school districts that are part of the federal school lunch program receive reimbursements on school meals. The federal government sets the rates for reduced meals. The current reduced rates are $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch. The district receives reimbursements in the amounts of $2.94, $2.64 and $0.40 for Free, Reduced and Paid breakfasts respectively. The reimbursements for Free, Reduced and Paid lunches are $4.69, $4.29 and $0.53 respectively.
Board member, Jon Schmid, recommended moving the breakfast and lunch prices from $2.35 and $3.60 to $2.94 and $4.69 respectively. These rates would then match the federal reimbursement rates JCC receives for Free school lunches. Schmid sees this as a way to financially balance the lunch fund account, as the lunch program ends the fiscal year with a negative balance. He also sees paying for school meals as a responsibility of parents to provide for their children. Board member, Dan Jones, pointed out that all programs the school provides are a service and not for the purpose of money-making. Board member, Sarah Weber, did not feel comfortable raising the regular pay meals by that much all at once and said that raising the prices for regular pay meals will only affect parents who already pay full price. Those on free lunches will still receive free lunches, and those on the reduced rate of $0.40 will still pay $0.40.
Weber was also concerned that by increasing the lunch prices significantly in one year more students may bring their lunch from home, potentially decreasing revenue for the program. It was also noted by board member Kim Wellensiek that the rate JCC currently charges is the highest rate for elementary and the second highest rate for secondary compared to the rates charged by ten neighboring school districts. Schmid made the motion to raise the breakfast price to $2.94 and the lunch price to $4.69. There was not a second. The agenda item to set the meal prices for the 2026-2027 was tabled to be considered again at the July regular meeting. Jones asked that Rother research and provide the cost to the district to feed students on a per meal, or per student, basis.
A Right to Access School Library Materials policy was approved by the JCC Board of Education. LB 390 (approved by the Governor on April 14, 2025) requires each school board of a public school district to adopt a policy relating to access by a parent, guardian, or educational decision maker to certain school library information. The new policy provides parents, guardians, and educational decision makers the right to access a catalog of all books in the school district’s library and the right to opt into certain notifications when their student checks out a library book.