Schools Superintendent: High-level swim programs 'highest priority'

Following the city's decision to close Freedom Hall Pool, Johnson City Schools superintendent Erin Slater said she's committed to making sure middle and high school swimmers have a pool to compete in. "Johnson City Schools' highest priority is continuing to maintain and grow our swimming program," Slater said. "We are looking at what we can do in order to build a plan." In an interview Wednesday, Slater said that while the city works on a more permanent solution to accommodate those who regularly use Freedom Hall pool, the school district is working on its own plans. "As the city is working on their pathway forward on what they want to do, we are independently looking to make sure that our highly successful swim programs continue at the high level that they currently are," Slater said. The city's temporary solution for the closure has been to extend the hours of Memorial Park Community Center's pool, which members of the local swimming community have said does not meet their competitive needs. "The city has told us that they will alter some of [Memorial Park Community Center's] hours in order for our teams to be able to use that facility. That is not a comprehensive solution. That is a great start, and we're very happy that we have a great start," Slater said. According to Slater, Johnson City Schools is working to find other facilities that would meet the these competitive needs. While she would not name which pool facilities the school district is working to partner with, Slater did say there are ongoing conversations with multiple organizations for practice and swim meet facilities. "It's still a work in progress. We are being as aggressive as we can soliciting partnerships from other entities to make sure that we can have a plan in place as soon as possible," Slater said. Leading up to the closure, Slater said the city alerted the school district of the possibility of closure in early 2026, after an aquatics feasibility study was completed months earlier. "There was that aquatic study that was completed and … an engineering study that was completed as well that showed the extent of the repairs," Slater said. "So in conversations, the city let us know that this was probably going to happen." When asked whether the possibility of closing the pool was communicated to parents and students before the city's announcement in late February, Slater said the announcement was the first public communication. "It's a city facility, so we were relying on the city to put out that public information so everybody had the information at the same time. Then, we were able to have conversations following that," Slater said. Repairs required to extend the pool's lifespan by another 10 years are estimated to cost around $750,000, according to the city's press release on the closure. Slater said officials previously had informal discussions about splitting up this cost among the city, school district and other organizations that use the pool relative to how much each entity uses the pool. "There has been conversation with school board members that they would be willing to have a conversation about contributing to the repairs at Freedom Hall pool as compared to the usage," Slater said. If the commission did decide to repair the pool, Slater said the school district is willing to help with funding. Freedom Hall Pool was home to Johnson City Schools' Liberty Bell Middle, Indian Trail Middle and Science Hill High swim teams in addition to several other local clubs and school teams. The pool is set to close April 3.