District adviser: 2025 bond sale yields premium; board committees approve athletics, HVAC and construction work

Beauregard Parish School District’s finance and facilities staff briefed committees Sept. 8 on the outcome of a $15 million general obligation bond sale and on proposed uses of remaining 2023 bond funds.

Stephanie Fairridge, the district’s financial adviser present at the meeting, said four firms submitted bids on the series 2025 bonds and the low true interest cost was 4.35%. She told the committee the sale produced a premium that will provide additional construction proceeds; an initial figure cited was $15,122,825, and she later clarified that after issuance costs the net proceeds going into the construction account would be $15,000,001.22.

Finance committee action The finance committee adopted a resolution authorizing acceptance of the low bidder and formalizing the sale. Fairridge said the bonds will be delivered and the funds available on Sept. 25, 2025.

Planned uses of remaining 2023 bond funds District staff presented a proposed list of projects to be funded from remaining 2023 bond proceeds. Items discussed included: - New sports lighting for South Beauregard and other fields (listed estimate: $450,000), intended to bring stadium-grade lights parish-wide. - Bus camera systems and associated software to equip buses for recording incidents during travel (listed estimate: $200,000). - A covered outdoor dining area at East Bullard High to ease cafeteria overcrowding (estimate included in staff list). - A paved teacher parking lot at Pinewood (approx. $300,000) and track resurfacing at multiple campuses (approx. $300,000 for multiple tracks). District staff said if the listed projects were approved the district would retain roughly $1.5 million in remaining 2023 bond funds for additional work.

Committee votes on facilities The buildings and grounds committee approved using $240,000 of the remaining 2023 bond funds for additional improvements at the South Beauregard High School Athletic Complex. Committee members discussed drainage problems and replacement of facilities taken during prior construction phases and voted to move the item forward.

The committee also approved $310,000 to replace the backup chiller at DeRidder High School. Facilities staff explained that replacing the backup chiller would restore redundancy in the school’s cooling system; during a prior failure the lack of redundancy had forced building closures. Staff said vendor CD Morgan has begun walkthroughs of district schools to assess HVAC needs and will present further recommendations.

Project delays and construction notes Facilities staff reported several projects encountering delays: - South Beauregard Athletic Complex: fabrication errors in prefabricated steel elements required refabrication and structural-engineer involvement; new state code enforcement requires fire alarms for new stadium seating, and temporary power issues further slowed work. The district said the fabricator is working to correct the parts at no cost to the district, and a rescheduled walk-through with the fire marshal is set. - Singer campus: site excavation encountered deeper soil-seepage than expected (two-foot excavation became four to six feet), extending timelines and adding change-order work for drainage. - Maryville High School: a boiler control board was in repair and expected back for reinstallation. District staff said the DeRidder High School athletic complex will be re-bid and come before the board in November for a vote.

What’s next Facilities staff were directed to consolidate the 2023 bond items into a proposed budget and return with timelines and cost details. Staff also will continue vendor assessments for HVAC work and report progress to the buildings and grounds committee.

Quote "The low bid was a 4.35% ... they are going to be giving you a premium that will provide construction proceeds," financial adviser Stephanie Fairridge said in committee as she described the bond sale results.