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Board approves $80 million debt authorization and advances referendum project planning
Summary
Trustees approved a resolution authorizing not-to-exceed $80 million in debt tied to the November referendum and discussed project-tracking, procurement and construction management funding. The board also approved a contract for the new Dutch Fork Elementary School after rejecting a last-minute amendment to require sustainability goals.
The School District 5 board voted Jan. 13 to approve a resolution authorizing the issuance of not-to-exceed $80,000,000 of debt approved by the November referendum. "This debt will be offered for public sale through a competitive process," said financial adviser Jay Glover, who described how bids are awarded on lowest true interest cost and how premium proceeds are handled. The resolution passed 7 to 0.
Superintendent Ross said the administration will publish a bond-referendum dashboard to show project budgets and milestone status (procurement, design, permitting, construction, occupancy, closeout). The dashboard will categorize benchmarks as not started (red), in progress (yellow) and complete (green). Ross told trustees the district will align budget timelines and rezoning/staffing changes ahead of the 2026–27 school year.
CFO Heather Tucker and advisers said the district plans a competitive sale; any premium realized is treated under state law as board discretion and does not count against the referendum’s authorized principal amount. Tucker said the board and administration will determine timing and sizing of future issuances based on project needs and inflationary pressures.
On related contracting, the board approved contractual terms for the new Dutch Fork Elementary School as shown in Exhibit E. Trustee Huddle moved to defer the contract to require vendors to return with sustainability goals; that amendment failed 4 to 3 and the original contract motion carried 4 to 3. Trustee concerns centered on including energy/sustainability standards in the contract before award and the potential cost of adding them after signing.
In public comment, Kim Murphy raised procurement concerns about a broken link on the statewide procurement site (Skebo) and noted only three firms submitted RFQs; she asked the board to ensure thorough due diligence on large construction contracts. Administration recommended continuing to use three broker firms for real-estate services (NAI Columbia, Mabry, Colliers) and presented a recommendation to assign up to $2,000,000 (of a previously reserved $3.5M assigned fund balance) to hire a construction management group for initial referendum projects; trustees asked for written documentation about the original fund assignment and the scope of items that fund was intended to cover.
