Board agrees to consider selling bonds for new school this year

The Lincoln County Board of Education has agreed to consider passing a bond resolution at its September meeting to enable Knox Wall, a division of Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., to start selling bonds for the new school this calendar year.

The decision was made at the regular monthly meeting of the board held Tuesday, August 7.

The new school, the cost of which cannot exceed $32.6 million, will be funded by State Capital Outlay Funds and a maximum of $25,150,000 in general obligation bonds, supported by SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) and property taxes.

According to information given to School Superintendent Randall Edmunds by Tom Owens of Knox Wall, there are five advantages to selling a portion of the bonds this year. They are:

(1) By borrowing less than $10 million in a calendar year, the system can price the bonds at "Bank-Qualified Rates." These rates are almost always cheaper than the rates available in the regular tax-exempt market.

(2) A school system that borrows less than $15 million in a calendar year is exempt from arbitrage or having to pay back any interest earned from investing the money. This means the system can keep an arbitrage profit that it earns on the unspent portion of the construction fund proceeds as long as the system meets certain spending requirements (i.e. five percent in six months, 85 percent in three years, and so forth.)

(3) The combination of borrowing at the lower Bank-Qualified Rates and being able to keep the profits the system makes from the reinvestment of proceeds will enable the system to maximize the dollars it has available for the project. Presently, the system can borrow at a rate of 4.25 to 4.35 percent and reinvest at a rate of 5.3 percent.

(4) This will enable the system to begin site work on the project and make some of the first construction draws that come due. Since the system will have money on hand, it can delay issuing the remaining portion of the bonds and therefore, save on interest expense.

(5) This will allow the system to know exactly how much of the remaining authorized but unissued bonds it needs to issue when the cost of the school and the amount of state funding available for the project are finalized.

In additional items of information, Dr. Edmunds said, "The resolution states that the county must agree to levy a tax if we're not able to pay off the debt on the new school. However, I'm hoping SPLOST will take care of it."

In a related item of business, Dr. Edmunds said the board will also need to approve an application for State Capital Outlay Funds for FY 2009 at its next meeting.

"We received $485,508 last year, and we have $19,957 in accumulated entitlement funds," said the superintendent. "If our application is approved by the General Assembly at the $200 million level, we will receive $736,198 for FY 2009. Moreover, with forward entitlement, we can get approximately $7.5 million over the next few years to apply to the new school."

He went on to note that Lincoln County's FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) count has increased, which makes the system eligible for additional entitlement funds.

In other business, the board set the millage rate for 2007 at the rollback rate of 12.882 mills. The monies will be used to fund an FY 2008 General Fund Budget of $12,368,708.

In further business, Dr. Edmunds presented each board member with a certificate for successfully completing board member training activities for the 2006-2007 school year. Those serving on the board are Dr. Robert Williams, chairman; Gail Remsen; Robert Hearst; Wayne Williford; and Becky Reed.

The superintendent then expressed his appreciation to the group for their diligence in completing the training, provided each year by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA).

Also during the meeting, the board:

.. Was informed by Superintendent Edmunds that the Georgia Department of Education is seeking input on proposed graduation requirements. The policy division's website address is policy@doe.k12.ga.us.

The proposed "Graduation Rule" establishes the minimum academic requirements a student must have in order to graduate from a Georgia public high school. The new rule is needed to bring schools in line with the Georgia Performance Standards, the state's newly revised curriculum.

It is anticipated that the Graduation Rule will be adopted by the state board of education at its September meeting and will go into effect for the 2008-2009 freshman class.

.. Was informed by Dr. Edmunds that due to the extreme heat, precautionary procedures are being followed in regard to students participating in outdoor activities. The safety guidelines were mandated earlier this year by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

.. Was informed by the superintendent that the first day of school (Au- gust 7) went very smoothly. "We appreciate the principals and their staffs being ready and having a good first day."

.. Reviewed financial reports for the SPLOST Fund through July 31, 2007, and the General Fund for the period from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007.

.. Voted to adjust the pay for substitute teachers with an increase of five dollars per category (high school diploma, college degree or above, substituting for 10 or more consecutive days, etc.). Also, substitute pay for maintenance/custodial workers, school food service workers, and students workers was set at the hourly federal minimum wage.

"As of July 24, minimum wage increased from $5.15 per hour to $5.85," explained Dr. Edmunds. "And, it is expected to go up two more times - to $6.55 in 2008 and then to $7.25 in 2009."

The pay scale for substitute employees has not been adjusted since 1999.

.. Was informed by the superintendent that according to the state department of education, children who cannot receive their second dose of Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine because of limited supplies are being allowed to enter school. They must, however, receive the second dose when vaccine supplies stabilize.

.. Heard the first reading of revisions to the Honors Program policy. "Since we're in the process of phasing out quality points, the new policy will bring us in line with the student handbooks and with what the state is doing as far as the HOPE Scholarhelping ship is concerned," said Superintendent Edmunds.

.. Was informed by the superintendent that the system received $389 from an auction of surplus school supplies.

.. Heard the second readings of revisions to the State Salaries and Supplements Policy and the Bids and Quotations Policy. The policies were approved as read.

.. Heard the second readings of the following policies: High School Graduation Coach, High School Graduation Coach Evaluation, Middle School Graduation Coach, and Middle School Graduation Coach Evaluation. The policies were approved as presented.

.. Voted to enter into executive session

to deliberate upon the employment

of personnel. Upon returning to regular session, the board:

.. Voted to approved the following to serve as substitute food service workers: Leslie Blair, Ronda Cowart, Norma Davisson, Melissa Gibbs, Jodi Hunter, Paige Milton, Elizabeth Waits, and Delorise Wright.

.. Voted to approve Keith Bennett and Mary Wideman to serve as substitute bus drivers.

.. Voted to accept the retirement decision of Helen Cavitt from her bus driver position, effective July 31, 2007.

The next regular meeting of the board of education will be held Tuesday, September 4, at 7 p.m. at the board office on Metasville Road.