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The Columbia Public Schools Finance Committee on Wednesday approved a recommendation to continue refinancing the District’s $ 11.3 million General Bonds from 2012. The committee will present the review to the Columbia School Board for approval. at the board meeting on October 11.
If approved, the bonds will be refinanced, which means that the previous bonds will be replaced by new ones with the current interest rate taken into account from March 1, 2022. By refinancing, the district will achieve an interest saving estimated at $ 210,000 per year, or over $ 1 million over the next five years.
The board will vote on a go-to-market resolution, which will allow district staff and lawyers to draft documents for a competitive sale of district bonds on Jan. 10 if approved. During the January 10 school board meeting, bond rates will be presented to the board for final approval. Matt Courtney of Pieper Sandler, the district’s financial adviser for bond matters, explained this to the finance committee on Wednesday. If approved on January 10, the bonds would close approximately 30 days after.
Also on Wednesday, Heather McArthur, chief financial officer, said the district was having difficulty recruiting teachers for the 2021 summer session.
“A lot of teachers didn’t want to commit to the six-week summer school, so we had some recruiting issues,†McArthur said, referring to the district’s summer semester extension for integrate the missed credits of the 2020-2021 school. year.
The extension also affected student attendance throughout the summer, McArthur said.
“Our attendance declined over the six weeks of summer school. We suspected that could happen, â€she said. To maintain attendance, McArthur said the district will start and end the 2022 summer session in June.
This summer, 280 teachers taught Classes, Which one is less than the 300 or so who have taught in recent years. To welcome for this change, the average class size has increased.
McArthur also suggested combining Two Mile Prairie and Battle Elementary for summer school. Additionally, four elementary schools and one middle school could be closed for construction in the summer of 2022. Schools suggested for closure include Russell Boulevard Elementary, Parkade Elementary, Shepard Boulevard Elementary, Derby Ridge Elementary and Jefferson Middle School.
“Summer school is a source of income for Columbia public schools,†McArthur said. She said the district’s income is collected by daily summer attendance and summer 2020 has resulted in financial losses. Missouri is one of the only states to provide income to schools based on daily summer attendance.
Next steps about the summer school will be further away discussed on October 11 black board Meet.
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