Texas School District Bond Refi to Save $16 Million

A Texas school district has refinanced its outstanding bonds, a move that it expects will save nearly $16 million. According to Waco Independent School District, the bonds' maximum interest rate of 4.28 percent has been cut down to 1.655 percent. That will save $15.84 million over the remaining life of the bonds, which ends in 2038.The bonds total $85.3 million.

"This was a clear opportunity to demonstrate good fiscal stewardship of district and community resources," said Superintendent Susan Kincannon, in a statement. "With RBC Capital Markets' guidance, our business and financial services department has taken advantage of low bond interest rates to save taxpayers money and reduce the district's debt service costs."

As part of the process, the district's Moody bond rating of Aa2 was reaffirmed.

"This is a very strong rating and reflects the district's history of conservative budgeting and management practices," added Assistant Superintendent for Finance, Sheryl Davis. "We are pleased that favorable market conditions provided us the opportunity to refinance these bonds to benefit the district and taxpayers."

The funding, which involved a series of bonds, paid for construction of a high school and three elementary campuses.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • nursing students talk while studying in a hallway

    Elsevier Launches VR Simulation Solution for Nursing Students

    Elsevier has introduced Shadow Health Lab with Virtual Reality, a simulation platform that allows nursing students to interact with virtual patients and build clinical judgment skills in a safe, realistic environment.

  • Building Beyond Simulation: Creating Immersive Ecosystems for Healthcare Education

    Health sciences education is one of the fastest-growing facility types in colleges and universities. The demand for medical, nursing, and allied health professionals is driving the creation and renovation of medical simulation training facilities that provide students with real-world experience through advanced simulation-based learning.

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.