But the green light come with stipulations.
J.D. Willis, chairman of the county board, said both boards adopt a memorandum of agreement.
The county's five stipulations include:
• The two bodies designate unrestricted lottery revenues to make payments on the bond.
• If the lottery revenues are insufficient, the school board must pay the shortfall through reductions in other expenses.
• Any transfer from the current expense budget to the capital budget shall not reduce the base amount of the current expense for calculating funding for subsequent years unless otherwise approved by the school board and the county
• The agreement will remain in affect until the bond is paid off.
• Future board must comply with these stipulations.
"The attorneys just got together and wrote up the information that was talked about at our last joint meeting," Willis said. "Its just, in legal terms, a memorandum of agreement between the two boards."
The school board will meet 6 p.m. Monday at the A.B. Gibson Center to consider the agreement.
The $3 million initiative will be funded by zero interest loans from the Qualified School Construction Bonds Program, which is part of the Federal Stimulus Plan. The school system has until next Friday to apply for the money.
The plan calls for an addition at the Wagram school to house the students from Shaw Primary School. East Laurinburg Alternative School will then be moved to the Shaw campus and the East Laurinburg campus will be closed. Some school officials see the change as a way to cut costs, reduce overcrowding and improve academic achievement
In a related matter, County Manager Kevin Patterson announced that the county had refinanced two prior school bonds with a savings of $240,000 over the remainder of the term.
The county currently owes $6.7 million on the bonds. The money was used to construct Laurel Hill Elementary, Carver Middle and Spring Hill Middle.
Post a Comment
