Chowchilla high school district bond refinancing will save nearly $500,000

The Chowchilla Union High School District has agreed to bond refinancing that will save taxpayers nearly $500,000.

“It’s basically like a home mortgage refine, except the time clock does not start over. It starts right here with the remainder of the years we have for it and reduces the amount of interest,” Superintendent Ronald Seals said. “In our minds this is paying the taxpayers back.”

In 2004, Chowchilla residents approved a $4.4 million general obligation bond for the high school district. The interest rates had ranged from 3.8 percent to 4.4 percent. Interest is now between 0.25 percent to 3.2 percent, which will save property owners $460,000.

The school board approved the lower rate in October. However, the newly refinanced bonds weren’t issued until December, which is why the district chose now to reach out to the public.

“We know that our community supports our schools. We wanted to give back to our community by saving our taxpayer dollars,” said board President Pat DeWall in a press release.

The high school used the bond to upgrade classrooms, construct a multipurpose building with a gym floor and a stage, purchase equipment and make technological improvements.

“It was absolutely important, it was critical,” Seals said.

He said the district’s next project will be to erect baseball and softball fields so all the high school’s teams can play in the same location. Seals said the district will seek grant money for that project.

Seals said the district is ahead of schedule on classroom space needs. The district has an enrollment of 1,000 and a capacity of about 1,600.

“We’re set to take more kids,” Seals said. “We’ve been really level for the last five years. We have the classroom space should we start to grow again.”

Seals said he has been able to meet the needs of the students because the citizens passed the bond in 2004 and the cooperation of the high school board trustees, including DeWall, Mike Cargill, Charlene Espinola, Steve Massaro and Brenton Tatom.

This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Chowchilla high school district bond refinancing will save nearly $500,000."