An alternative plan could allow the Jefferson City Public Schools to move forward with $2 million for improvements for Moreau Heights in a year and still be able to spend $3.1 million on renovations at East Elementary School this summer.
Until Monday's meeting, school officials had thought they would need to push Moreau Height's improvements back a year, in order to accommodate the greater need to construct security vestibules in some buildings. This new plan would keep the Moreau Heights improvements on track.
Also on Monday, incoming School Board President John Ruth talked about his hope the incoming board will have time to "dig into the work of the Long Range Facilities Planning Committee."
"We have real space issues ... we're going to need the public's support," Ruth said after the board meeting.
Chief Financial Officer Jason Hoffman laid out the proposal for how the district could attempt a host of capital improvements in the years to come, in exchange for borrowing $3 million for three years.
He said JCPS has spent $12.1 million in major school renovations between 2010 and 2014, starting with the Southwest Early Childhood Center pre-school renovation and ending with West Elementary School in 2014.
This summer, East Elementary is in the starting gate. On Monday, the board approved a contract with Wisch & Vaughan Construction to do the work. The project is estimated at $3.1 million - nearly double the cost of the $1.5 million renovations being completed a few years ago.
"But we're doing a lot of extra things at East to try and solve some issues," he said.
Hoffman said the district also has spent more than $2 million in smaller school renovations.
He estimated the district has about $7.9 million available for construction projects this year. Of that amount, some of it will be used to renovated East Elementary, some of it will finish the job of building secure vestibules in all the buildings and some of it will buy equipment for the high school's new culinary arts program. A little left over will be used to resurface the high school track and repair the Cedar Hill Elementary roof.
"We have enough money to do all of those," he said.
Hoffman thought the district would have $5.1 million available next year for construction projects, but the district needs to replenish its fund balance. And so, the initial plan was to delay the Moreau Heights project for one year so the ending fund balance in fiscal year 2017 could rise to $4.6 million.
"That's what we've been planning all along," he explained. "We've come up with a second option. It isn't for a vote tonight; it isn't for approval. It's really for consensus that this is the direction that you feel we need to go. It's going to take some research, some legal work and some bidding."
Hoffman said the district was helped by a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City.
"It used be nearly impossible for school districts to enter into any debt instruments. There's a lease-purchase provision, but it was so cumbersome that no one took advantage of it. In 2014 most of those restrictions were removed," he said.
He noted with those legislative changes, school districts now will be able to enter into lease-purchase debt agreements, and he compared the process to a traditional bank loan.
"There's some hurdles we have to jump through, but it's much more manageable," he said. "What we're planning is borrowing $3 million for three years."
He said he expected the district would likely be able to procure the low at an interest rate of 2 percent, or lower.
By doing so, he believes the district would have $8.1 million for capital projects next year.
"We'll have $2 million for Moreau Heights in summer of 2016, and we think it will be a smaller renovation, because we're taking care of the vestibule and all the office spaces this summer."
That project would be followed by construction projects at SWECC, Belair and Thorpe Gordon Elementary Schools.
The proposal would still leave the district with a $4.5 million ending fund balance. The proposal is being called "Option 2," Hoffman said.
Ruth commended Kehoe for his advocacy.
"We're looking for feedback," Ruth said. "I appreciation Option 2 as being a very viable option. It keeps on track with that schedule. It assumes interest rates are very favorable. This opens up some possibilities. I personally would be very interested in exploring this."