School district eyes bond restructure

FAYETTEVILLE — The School District likely will seek voter approval early next year to restructure eight bond issues to generate about $111 million to maintain and improve district buildings.

There would be no tax increase if voters approve the plan, administrators said.

“Any time we restructure, we have to take it to voters for approval,” said Superintendent John L Colbert.

The School Board spent much of its meeting Thursday night reviewing the results of a districtwide facilities condition assessment done by EMG, a Maryland-based firm helping districts plan and prioritize school maintenance projects.

The firm evaluated the district’s buildings to determine each one’s needs from the foundations to the roofs. Everything from mechanical and electrical systems to interior features, such as lighting and ceiling finishes, were reviewed.

The board also heard from Parker Higgs, a regional director for Entegrity, which audited the buildings to identify potential utility savings by upgrading

to more efficient lighting, plumbing fixtures and heating and air conditioning units.

The board will hold a special meeting — a date has not been set — to discuss recommendations from both the facility assessment and the energy audit. It then plans to vote at its next monthly meeting Nov. 21 on which projects to pursue and whether to have a special election. The election could be held in February, Colbert said.

The district’s debt service for 2020 is about $15.6 million. That will stay roughly the same for the next 10 years if voters approve restructuring, according to figures presented by Kevin Faught of Stephens, a financial services firm assisting the district.

Administrators decided last year they needed help prioritizing facilities work, said Megan Slocum, associate superintendent for support services. They agreed in March to pay $164,345 to EMG for the assessment.

The assessment results weren’t surprising, but they provided more details than the district had previously, she said.

“It is very helpful for us to have an unbiased third party come in with the right credentials and the right historical background, historical perspective, to tell us these are some things that you need to consider, and, if we were in your shoes, this is the rate at which we would consider replacing these things,” Slocum said.

She showed the board data for each school including items such as the roof, pavement, facade, structure and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

Estimated costs for addressing maintenance issues were put in three time periods: $22.4 million for this year and next year; $44.8 million for 2021 to 2028; and $61.5 million for 2029 to 2038. The grand total is $128.7 million over the 20 years. None of that money is earmarked for new buildings.

Washington Elementary School needs the most immediate attention, with an estimated $5 million in maintenance costs identified for this year and next. Almost half of those costs are associated with mechanical, electrical and plumbing.

Washington’s building dates to the 1930s.

Megan Hurley, a board member, said the work put into assessing the facilities is “invaluable” to the board.

“We have so many big and hard, complicated decisions ahead of us as a board, and I would have felt terrified stepping into that without an overall picture of the district,” she said.

District officials appear determined to go for an election in February rather than wait until the primary election on March 3.

Having a successful bond election in February and getting the bond documents prepared, approved and signed by the board will allow the district to apply for state facilities money by March 1, said Alan Wilbourn, the district’s communications director. The district hasn’t been eligible for facility money in the past, but is now because of a change in the funding formula, he said.

“Currently, interest rates are favorable,” Wilbourn said. “We anticipate that the interest rate savings and the additional state facilities funding will be much more than the cost of a special election.”