By Lindsey Rowland
lrowland@wbcowqel.com
The Colonel Crawford Board of Education held their last regular meeting of the summer on Monday evening before the school year begins.
Business ran smoothly, with the majority of items on the agenda pertaining to lining up and approving the personnel for the upcoming school year, alongside a few other routine approvals that included such things as the passing of a Safe School Helpline to be made available again this year. This service is available for students Pre K-12 and serves as an open line of communication to anonymously report troublesome situations.
The largest discussion of the evening confirmed the upcoming refinancing that the district will be undergoing. Dave Conley and Scott Erikson of Rockmill Finanicial Consulting came to give a presentation to the board about what the process of refinancing will mean.
Essentially, world conflict, such as happenings overseas, result in decreased interest rates and, with the state of world events, the prime market time for starting the project is on the horizon. This refinancing will cost the district very little extra money and the differences in taxes will be extremely subtle, as the general mentality behind it is to save as much as possible.
The board voted to refinance over $2.5 million of bonds issued in 2003. The move is expected to generate about $26,000 per year in savings. Once the refinancing is complete, the bonds will join those that Colonel Crawford worked with during the last refinancing in 2007, and the total savings between the two will be calculated and reported.
Finally, Superintendent Todd Martin thanked the Academic Boosters for their efforts in cleaning up the flooded football field, reported that the Energy Project has begun to work on cooling systems and controls this week, as well as made it known that bidding for the old North Robinson, Whetstone, and Sulphur Springs buildings will close at 1 p.m., Aug. 6.
The board will meet again on Aug. 25.