Bond firm recommends refinancing for KISD

Jerry Roberts The Kilgore Independent School Board started its night by recognizing students from Maude Laird Middle School and Kilgore High School who achieved commended performance on every subset of the TAKS test for the 2005-2006 school year.

Howard Stephens, KISD board president, handed out certificates to each student for their achievement.

Mike Byrd, First Southwest finance, made a presentation to the board recommending they re-finance outstanding bonds which will come due in Feb. of 2007.

Byrd told the board the district would save approximately $420,000 over the next ten years if the district refinances its bonded indebtedness at current interest rates..

Byrd will make a final proposal at the November board meeting and, if the board elects to re-finance the bonds, it would take 30 days from that date to complete the transaction.

Bill Salmon, assistant superintendent, said school enrollment is up another 13 students from last month and the district enrollment is up 130 students from last year.

Jerry Roberts, KISD superintendent, told the board that the administration polled campus, asking them to look ahead at what they believed their campuses needed.

Roberts told the board the administration was looking for direction from the board on how the board wants to proceed for capital improvements.

Debbie Phillips, school trustee, said she believed the board should look at what was needed in the bond proposal that failed and match that list against the current needs to see what the district has already accomplished.

Terry George, trustee, agreed with Phillips and suggested the list should be prioritized. Howard Stephens, board president, concurred with these recommendations.

Roberts said the administration will compile a list and present it to the board at the next regularly scheduled board meeting.

Roberts said now that the Eastview campus will no longer be used by KISD because of the new Credit Recovery Center at the high school, the board should now consider what to do with this property.

Roberts said part of the space has been rented out in the past but with the district no longer active on that campus, the upkeep and the utilities will exceed income the district would get from that agreement.

The board will review the issue at a later meeting.

In final action the board authorized Roberts and Revard Pfeffer, KISD business manager, to approve change orders on the new construction of the Vocational Ag Building and the Chandler expansion projects.