Norman Public Schools approves sale of $40.8 million and $2.775 million general obligation bonds; Moody's rating affirmed

Norman Public Schools on Feb. 24 voted unanimously to award two general obligation (G.O.) bond sales after a presentation from BOK Financial Securities that included confirmation the district's credit rating had been affirmed by Moody's.

Zach Robinson, representative of BOK Financial Securities, told the board the first sale — $40,845,000 in G.O. combined-purpose bonds — received four bids and that JPMorgan Securities LLC was the low bidder at an average rate of 3.146366%. Robinson said Moody's affirmed the district's rating at "double A 3," a designation he described as comparable to an S&P AA-minus, and said the high rating helped secure competitive demand and lower interest costs for the sale.

Robinson said the second sale — $2,775,000 in G.O. building bonds — was taxable to bondholders and therefore carried a higher yield. He reported six bids on that sale and recommended awarding to Northland Securities at an average rate of 4.666539%. Robinson described the second sale as a close, competitive auction and presented historical sale data showing rates for recent years.

Board members moved and seconded motions to award the low bids and to adopt resolutions providing for issuance. The board voted yes on each motion as recorded in the meeting transcript. Votes recorded for the bond awards and the associated resolutions were: Tina Floyd — yes; Alex Regiers — yes; Annette Price — yes; Dawn Brockman — yes. The motions carried unanimously.

Robinson highlighted the practical impacts of the rating and sale results. "They really looked through the audit, through the budget, asked a lot of really good questions," he said of Moody's review, adding the affirmed rating "helps us to have the most demand for your bonds by having that credit rating." He also noted that four bids within about 10 basis points on the larger sale and six bids within about three basis points on the smaller sale indicated a competitive market for the district's issues.

The board did not discuss changes to the bond structures in detail during public deliberation; the meeting record shows the board approved the award recommendations and adopted the resolutions as presented.

Action items recorded in the meeting minutes indicate the district expects to proceed with issuance to the awarded bidders under the terms outlined during the presentation. No implementation dates or further conditions were specified in the discussion.

The board thanked BOK Financial Securities for the presentation and moved on to the next agenda items.