The refunding of general-obligation bonds issued in 1997 by the Mehlville School District will save the district $56,446 more in interest than originally anticipated.

Board of Education members voted unanimously Feb. 13 to approve the refunding of outstanding 1997 general-obligation bonds totaling $14,880,000 by issuing refunding bonds totaling $13,925,000.

As originally proposed, the refunding of the 1997 general-obligation bonds maturing in 2008, 2009 and 2011 through 2013 was projected to save the district roughly $696,000 in interest payments. But the actual interest savings will total $752,446.

In another matter, the board named Lisa Counts as assistant superintendent for human resources, effective July 1.

The board voted unanimously in closed session to name Counts to the post. Her salary will be $100,000, according to interim Superintendent Jerry Chambers.

Counts previously served as principal at Holman Middle School in the Pattonville School District and Hancock Middle School in the Hancock Place School District.

The district received 40 applications for the post.

“From those, we selected 10 persons for interviews and those persons were interviewed by a committee. From that, there were three finalists and those were interviewed by (incoming Superintendent) Terry Noble, (Deputy Superintendent) Eric Knost, (Assistant Superintendent for Instruction) Vicki VanLaere and myself. The four of us interviewed the final three and selected Lisa,” Chambers said.

“Dr. Counts was the unanimous choice of the screening committee on Thursday (Feb. 8) and then she was the unanimous choice also of the four of us on Tuesday morning (Feb. 13). That’s unusual. Usually, when you have that many persons involved with interviews, you simply go with the preferred choice of the majority of those who conduct the interviews. In Dr. Counts’ case, she was so impressive, had such strong references and had such a strong interview that we all felt she would be the best fit for that position in the Mehlville School District. Obviously, we are all very excited and looking forward to working with Lisa after July 1.”

In a separate matter, the board voted unanimously to approve a resolution “opposing tax-credit scholarships and other voucher measures.”