SF Board Approves Bond Resolutions

The Spring-Ford Area School District Board of Education met for a special meeting on Monday night at 6 p.m. to finalize approval on the decision on what to do with the $9.3 million in proceeds from 2007 bonds that have been unspent by the district.

Attorney Megan Duryea Santana was on hand to council the board on any outstanding questions with the bond issue.

The board voted 7-1 to use $3,746,827 on capital projects (about $1 million difference from the number given at last week's meeting) and to defease the remaining $5.5 million to an escrow account to assist in paying off debt service. It was determined that the board would save $320,000 per year until 2017 on the budget as a result of the debt service alleviation. The $5.5 million would be deposited on Jan. 3, 2012.

Two questions on the timing of action were raised by board members Tom DiBello and Bernard Pettit. DiBello, new board president, asked what timeframe the board had on the escrow funds. Pettit asked about the timeframe of beginning the capital projects that were listed.

"There is no magical date, but this issue cannot remain outstanding," Santana replied. "It has to be spent as early as possible. It should have been spent three years ago. It's not something you want to play around with."

Santana explained that the three-year mark is really the time in which the board should have taken action with the funds. However, once the five-year mark is hit, which is where the board currently stands, there's a possibility of rebate revisions being dished out by the IRS.

"The IRS could come out and say that since you haven't used the money, you shouldn't have taken so many bonds out," she said.

Overall, Santana explained that so long as the board is proceeding with the projects in a prompt and expeditious manner, there should be no problem from here.

The board added three items to the capital projects list since last week's meeting, which reflected the difference. The items include replacement of fencing at the tennis courts, lighting the lower east side of a parking lot and a new HVAC system in the "MDF" room.

At the end of the meeting, board Vice President Joe Ciresi returned the idea of a new Health and Wellness Center to the table.

"One reason why I voted no was because we saw nothing about it other than we were asked for $1.8 million," Ciresi explained. "So, I'd like it to go back through extracurricular and through property, to come back to the board and have a real presentation of how this can be curricular-based and what this could look like in the future. Not saying that we're going to do it, but if the board's in favor of this, I'd like to see what this project is supposed to be."

Various board members agreed, including Ed Dressler and Julie Mullin.

"I agree," Mullin said. "Since the meeting Monday, I've received information that I don't know if I missed at previous meetings or just never made it as far as the table, but I would also be very interested in more information on where that whole plan came from. I think there was a lot more to it than we got that night, although I was the one that did push to keep the meeting moving. I don't know that at that hour, or the position we were in at that meeting, if the presentation would have sold it even at that point. I think it deserves some more time than it got that night."

DiBello said the issue will be placed on the agenda for the January property meeting.

Board member Mark Dehnert, who openly opposed using any of the bond money for capital projects at last week's meeting, pointed out that the money for the Health and Wellness Center would now have to come out of the General Fund, since the board just approved all of the capital projects to be done with the bond money. Business Manager Tim Anspach and Santana both confirmed Dehnert's statement.

Two resolutions were approved at the meeting, along with workshop approvals for teachers, administrators and programs. The board will meet again in January.