CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors approved a $9.995 million bond issue, Series of 2012, to continue to finance its high school renovation and expansion project at Monday night’s regular board meeting.
The winning bidder was Janney Montgomery Scott LLC with the lowest true interest cost of 3.35. The winning bid was followed by Morgan Stanley (3.44); Roosevelt & Cross (3.49) and Robert Baird (3.55).
Historically low interest rates and the district’s enhanced credit rating resulted in a better than anticipated bond sale earlier Monday, said Gregg McClanahan, a financial adviser with Public Financial Management of Harrisburg.
“Today’s rates were the best that I’ve seen since the 1970’s. If you were going to borrow, now would be the time to do it,” he said. He said the Moody’s Investors Service assigned an A1 underlying and an A1 enhanced rating to the district for this bond issue.
According to him, the A1 rating reflects the school district’s satisfactory financial position, modest tax base and manageable elevated debt burden. He said proceeds from this issue will be used to fund renovations and expansions at the high school as well as other improvements to existing buildings in the district.
The district is financing the high school project with a series of bond issues. It approved a bond issue, Series of 2011, last September in the amount of $9.820 million.
In June 2011, the board approved housing grades seven through twelve at the high school campus by a 5-2 vote. One year later, it voted, 6-2, to approve the $36 million high school renovation and expansion project that is currently under way.
In addition, the board is considering consolidating the Clearfield Middle School and the Centre and Bradford Township Elementary Schools and expanding the Clearfield Elementary School into a kindergarten through sixth grade campus. The board has not finalized this project, which would cost between $8.8 million and $10.4 million.
When asked by board President Dave Glass, Business Administrator Sam Maney said the district had a successful bond sale last year. However, he said this bond issue far exceeded the 2011 bond issue.
