The Lindbergh Board of Education voted unanimously last week to adopt a resolution selecting an underwriter for the issuance of over $1 million in bond-like certificates.
Board members voted Feb. 1 to approve the resolution selecting First Bankers’ Banc of St. Louis to serve as underwriter for the issuance of $1,065,000 in certificates of participation, or COPs.
The COPs are scheduled to be issued when the board meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in the boardroom at Early Childhood Education, 4814 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
Proceeds from the sale of the COPs will be used to complete the construction, furnishing and equipping of the district’s new Central Office building.
First Bankers’ Banc of St. Louis submitted the lowest of six bids for the COPs.
Bids were evaluated on the basis of the true interest cost, or TIC, which is a combined measure of both underwriting fees and interest rates.
First Bankers’ Banc’s TIC was roughly 3.1216 percent, while the highest bid had a TIC of about 3.6262 percent.
In March 2016, the school board approved the issuance of $6 million in COPs to fund the construction of the new Central Office building.
First Bankers’ Banc also was the low bidder for that sale.
Work on the two-story, 24,000-square-foot administration building is underway at the 2.2-acre former Johnny’s Market site, 11555 Gravois Road.
In September, the Board of Education voted to award a $6,561,000 construction contract to Wachter Inc., which submitted the lowest of six bids.
Lindbergh’s Central Office currently is housed at Lindbergh High School, and occupies roughly 20,000 square feet there.
Central Office has 12 departments and roughly 50 employees overseeing such district-level programs as technology, facilities, curriculum, finance and human resources. Construction of the new Central Office building will be completed this fall, restoring eight to 10 classrooms at the high school to address the surging enrollment the district is facing.
Proceeds from the COPs also will be used to fund the renovation of the existing Central Office space at the high school into classrooms after the new administration building is constructed.
A future bond issue possibly could be used to retire those COPs and roll the remaining debt into the bond issue, which then would be paid by the district’s debt-service fund.
