School Awaits Allotment

The $98.6 million of bonds approved this month by voters in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District will be sold only if it receives state debt-service assistance.

Julio Cavazos, superintendent for business services at Harlingen CISD, told the committee overseeing the bond program that the district has applied for an instructional facility allotment from the Texas Education Agency.

The state would pay half of the $6.2 million of debt service on the bonds if the request is approved, Cavazos said. If it is not approved, he said, the bonds would not be issued.

The decision on the allotment is expected in August, Cavazos said. District voters approved $80 million of bonds in 1999 and $20 million in 1989.

The district’s GOs have an unenhanced rating of A2 from Moody’s Investors Service and AA-minus from Standard & Poor’s. Its debt is enhanced by coverage from the state’s Permanent School Fund, which offers a triple-A wrap.

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