Move will save $750K by bond’s maturity date
Bellefontaine City Schools Board of Education members approved during their brief Monday evening meeting a measure to refund district’s construction project bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates and to realize a savings of $750,000 by the bond’s maturity date of December 2035.
Treasurer Joshua Wasson said the original bonds totaling $14,580,000 were first issued in September 2010 for the purpose of the district’s Ohio Facilities Construction Commission project to build the current Bellefontaine Elementary School and Bellefontaine Middle School along Ludlow Road, along with renovation work at Bellefontaine Intermediate School.
The bonds also were refunded during 2014 to secure a lower interest rate. The board’s action Monday evening will enable the district to re-fund the portion of the bonds now totaling $9,460,000 at an even lower rate.
“The way the market is right now, interest rates are heading down, this is a great opportunity to realize this savings for the district,” Wasson said.
During the student liaison report, member Colin Yoder related that Bellefontaine High School senior Ben Sailors has been selected as the 2020 Franklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Award recipient from Logan County this year.
The award program established by the Ohio Educational Service Center Association to promotes and recognizes outstanding academic achievement. One senior from each county in Ohio receives this honor each school year.
The scholarship award is named in honor of Franklin B. Walter, who served as state superintendent of education of Ohio from March 1977 to August 1991.
School officials also noted that the fifth annual Logan County Career Expo for high school students is from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 13, at Indian Lake High School, as previously detailed in the Examiner. It an outcome of the Logan County Collaborative and is coordinated by the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center in partnership with Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Logan County Job and Family Services, local school administrators and committee members from area businesses.
Representatives from approximately 80 local businesses and industries will be in attendance. Students will have the opportunity to interact with representatives to learn about career opportunities available now and in the future.
During the expo, pre-registered students also will have the chance to interview for jobs that are currently available.
Onsite students interested in the military will be provided with the opportunity to speak with recruiters from the following: U.S. Army, Navy, Air National Guard, National Guard, Marines and Air Force. They also will be invited to an Open House Event from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, at the Hilliker YMCA, where parents and students can speak one-on-one with recruiters.
In other action, the board:
• approved the hire of April Jameson, family and consumer sciences, effective with the 2020-21 school year, as a replacement position;
• accepted the resignations of Sara Schmieder, intermediate school educational aide, effective May 13, and Brian Sullivan, middle school custodian, effective Feb. 28;
• approved the following changes in time status for Dana Campbell, cook, to five hours, and Karen Croston, from high school cook to intermediate school cook and to seven hours;
• approved Kimberly Brown as a virtual classroom/Success Center grader;
• approved a paternity leave of absence for Tyler Johnson, fifth-grade; and
• recognized Bellefontaine High School seniors of the month Hannah Rader and Dustin VanBuskirk.
Members also approved moving next month’s meeting date to 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, and a change of the venue to the Bellefontaine High School Distance Learning Center, where recognition of winter athletes will take place.