Farmington School District Saves Money By Refinancing Bond

FARMINGTON — Farmington School District will save $950,000 in interest costs over the next five years by refinancing one of its bond issues.

The School Board last week accepted an interest rate of 3.42 percent from Ross Sinclaire and Associates of Nashville, Tenn. The school is refinancing $9.8 million in bonds from a 2008 issue.

Kevin Faught with Stephens Inc., investment firm in Fayetteville, said the district received four bids to refinance the bond issue and Ross Sinclaire submitted the lowest interest rate. The district will save $997,064 over the life of the bond issue, with almost all the savings occurring by 2019. The school currently is paying a 4.4 percent interest rate on the bonds.

The board had a full agenda for its Nov. 18 meeting, including a presentation about Lynch Middle School, a report on the high school’s plan to change its curriculum and implement career academies, a discussion on what to do about the school property next to Williams Elementary School and an update on the two elementary schools.

Terri Strope, assistant superintendent, said Williams Elementary School is full and 29 students who live in the Williams’ attendance zone have been transferred to Folsom Elementary. Of these students, 16 ride a bus to Williams each morning and then board a shuttle bus to Folsom. In the afternoon, they ride the shuttle bus back to Williams to catch their bus home.

The biggest problem, Strope said, is that the students are late to Folsom each morning and have to leave class early in the afternoon to get on the shuttle bus.

“They are losing 40 to 45 minutes of class time each day,” Strope said.

While both elementary schools have children in kindergarten- third grade, that does not necessarily mean that the first grade teachers at Folsom are teaching the same lessons as the first grade teachers at Williams. Strope said teachers do not have time to schedule planning periods with their counterparts at the other schools.

Board President Jeff Oxford wondered about changing the configuration of the two elementary schools and placing kindergarten and first grade at one school and second and third grade at the other school.

“It’s been talked about,” Law told Oxford.

When the school district first opened Williams and then Folsom, the idea was to have neighborhood schools.

“There are challenges to that,” Law said.

He agreed to discuss changing the schools with principals and others involved and then come back to the board with a report at a later meeting.

In other business, the board decided not to do anything with the vacant property next to Williams, at least for the next year, and then re-evaluate the real estate market. Two school board members expressed interest in the property earlier this year but backed off when the land was appraised for more than $22,000 per acre.

Law said school officials have some concern whether the district will be able to expand quickly enough to keep up with student growth at the two elementary schools and that maybe the school should hold onto the vacant property for that reason.

The board’s next meeting will be a work session to discuss phase 2, classroom space, for the new high school. A date for this was not set but the board is looking at one day during the second week of December.