Title IX Worries Continue for Spring-Ford

Yet another 45-minute discussion ensued at the Spring-Ford Area School District Board of Education workshop meeting on Monday night. This time, it was about bond defeasance and .

Ed Murray of Dolphin & Bradbury was in attendance to present bond options for the board on a bond that was taken out for construction on the schools over five years ago.

Currently, the board has the option of taking nine million dollars and using it on capital projects, which would include construction and repair, or defease the bond, which would decrease debt service by almost $500,000 per year over the next five years. Murray said this could potentially decrease the school's budget.

"I’m not sure how much that got explained," said superintendent David Goodin. "We borrowed the original bond at approximately four-and-a-half-percent. What’s leftover – if we take the nine million dollars and put it in the escrow, we’re only going to earn one percent. So, the question is, is that the best use for the money?"

Goodin went on to say that the school is going to pay that four-and-a-half-percent either way.

"Do we have capital projects that we need to get done that if we don’t do now are going to have to come out of the general fund?" he continued. "That’s really what we’re looking at. What are those issues out there that exist that we need to take care of. If we don’t take care of it now when we have the money, once the money goes into escrow, we can’t touch it until 2017. Then, it goes for the defeasance of the bonds. If the district has inclinations of doing some things that need to be addressed, now’s the time to do it.”

Board president Joe Ciresi asked director or planning, operations and facilities Bruce Cooper if there is anything big coming up.

"What we have to realize is the board didn't borrow the money," Ciresi said. "It came from a construction project that the former administration approved. The former board put this burden on us and now we have to figure out what to do with it."

Board vice president Tom DiBello suggested that using the money on anticipated Title IX construction for the might be best. He inquired with Cooper and athletic director Mickey McDaniel on what might need to be done. It was determined that the softball field needs lighting to match the baseball stadium. However, township ordinances may get in the way with that.

The fear is that along with the complaint filed against Spring-Ford, the federal government is also making changes, which will supersede Pennsylvania Commonwealth law, seeping down from college athletics to high school athletics.

McDaniel said the fitness room is also over-crowded, and although the capital improvement funds cannot technically be used for "education" such as books and programs, the physical education classes use athletic fields and facilities more than extracurricular teams.

In a list of potential improvements provided by Cooper, the board realized that $1.8 million out of a potential $2 million-plus budgeted will be used for athletics. Ciresi asked if there were any other ideas that could be tossed around, such as more technology items.

Solicitor Marc Davis told the board they have to move as soon as possible; however, Goodin, Cooper and the board agreed that they could not get a comprehensive list of capital improvements together by the Nov. 28 meeting, therefore it would have to wait until the Dec. 5 meeting.

Murray reminded the board that the situation is not necessarily a bad thing.

"The money exists," he said. "You did the project you wanted to do, it cost less than you anticipated. This shouldn't be seen as a negative. It just has to be dealt with one way or another. It's a nice spot to be in, but your five-year deadline is up and you have to make a decision."