Medford board looks at next step after referendum
With voters approving a $22.6 million referendum earlier this month, the Medford school district will be moving into a construction planning phase.
On Monday night, district administrator Laura Lundy told school board members that they are in the site visit stage of selecting an architect for the project. She said requests for qualifications has been sent to a number of architects and general contractors.
She said they have already had four to five site visits to the high school and anticipate having more after Thanksgiving. They will submit proposals and go through an interview process on December 12 and 13 with a recommendation of a general contractor and architect for the December 16 board meeting.
Once those are selected, the project will advance to the design phase which is projected to take place from January to April of 2025.
While some school-led projects would be done earlier such as boiler replacement, the major work would not likely be done until after the 2025-2026 school year.
Board members received an update on the financial side of the project from Baird. The financial markets are in a situation where the short term interest rates being paid on deposits are higher than the interest rates that institutions are paying to borrow funds. The markets have been in this situation for about 24 months and the financial advisors said this is good news because it can help reduce borrowing costs.
“It is a great place to be, “ said Debby Brunett of Baird.
The district’s finance plan calls for the borrowing to be broken into two parts with a 21 year bond to be issued in winter of 2025 and a second shorter term bond to be issued the following year. Federal rules require it to be split into the two parts to not exceed set limits in a given year.
Brunett walked the board through the financing plan emphasizing the goals of reaching the target impact to taxpayers, minimizing the total interest costs, minimizing interest rate risks and maximizing investment earning to shorten the amount of time the district needs to borrow funds.
The district currently does not have a bond rating, but its most recent rating was AA- and they are building the financial plan based on having a similar rating now.
She also explained that while the district would be receiving about 70% reimbursement through increased state aid on the money borrowed, the gross amount of the debt service levy would appear on residents’ tax bills. The aid would be seen as a reduction in the general school levy. She said this is required by state law and wanted to explain to the board in case it gets questioned.
Board members gave their OK for the financing plan to proceed. Formal action will take place in January to approve the bond sale.
In other business, board members
• Received an overview of the school report cards and testing numbers. The district as a whole received a score of 63.7 and meeting expectations. Medford Area Elementary Schoo significantly exceeded expectation with an overall score of 88.4. Stetsonville Elementary School exceeded expectations with a score of 79.1. The Rural Virtual Academy exceeded expectation with an overall score of 70.4. Medford Area Middle School meets expectations with a score of 60.9. Medford Area Senior High School meets few expectations with an overall score of 57.5. One area that significantly impacted the high school’s grade was that the district’s composite ACT score fell below the state average. Part of this is due to student attitude since for those not going onto a four-year college the ACT the test has less personal meaning to the students. Curriculum Coordinator Elizabeth Rachu said they are working to improve testtaking skills and also are emphasizing the importance of the ACT to those going into the trades. It was also noted that the DPI had downwardly adjusted the scores across the state because since the tests were aligned with state academic standards there were too many districts scoring proficient and advanced. It was noted that even with the changes, Medford students scored higher than last year. The DPI has indicated it will be adjusting the report cards again this summer.
• Received an update on the request for proposal process for the next five-year food service contract. The district is required to bid it out every five years. The bids will be released this spring and a new contract begins on July 1. The district will continue with a fixed meal cost contract rather than a cost reimbursement. While this gives the district less flexibility in some things such as programs to get more local food in the school, it gives more stability and lower prices for district families. Finance director Audra Brooks said they would be including things in the bid such as purchasing animals from the school agriculture program and utilizing local produce more.
• Signed the necessary paperwork to create a checking account to spend Fund 46 money. This reserve account serves as a savings account for the district for capital and maintenance projects. The district needed to wait five years from when it was created in order to spend any funds from it. The bulk of the money in the account is in CDs and about $5,000 will be moved over into the checking account for it to be set up. Brooks assured the board that no money would be spent from the fund without direct board approval.
