School District Gets High Bond Rating

Standard & Poor’s gave the Oxnard School District the highest possible bond rating for short-term debt Tuesday, as the district moved ahead with plans to borrow $4.75 million for fiscal 1998.

Analyst Elizabeth Isaacs said the elementary school district was given the “SP-1 plus” rating because of its “strong capacity to pay [back its debt].”

The district, which serves students through the eighth grade, has had a history of sound financial performance and has kept its general fund reserve above the state-required 3%, she said. Also, the school district estimates it will have at least $2.1 million in alternate liquidity, Isaacs said.

The school district, which operates year-round schools, needs the $4.75 million for cash flow, said Sandra Herrera, the district’s assistant superintendent of business and fiscal services. The funds will be used for such needs as payroll until state funds are received.

A separate $57-million bond issue passed in June will be used for construction, Herrera said.

The school district plans to sell its tax and revenue anticipation notes to investors on Thursday. The transaction is expected to close Aug. 14, and the school district must pay back the money plus market-rate interest in August 1998.

Isaacs explained that many cities and school districts take out notes, even on a yearly basis, because they “need the money now to deal with the unevenness of cash flow over the course of the year.”