Pulaski County School District No. 1 will ask Arkansas officials to approve a $266 million facilities improvement plan financed primarily with $200 million of school construction bonds.
Trustees have adopted a plan that calls for reducing campuses to 13 from the current 21, with the surviving schools being either new or significantly expanded and renovated.
The district serves most of North Little Rock.
Trustees also authorized the use of up to $10 million from existing resources to begin engineering and planning work on the new schools. The district expects to issue a $10 million bond tranche in the fall to reimburse itself for the preliminary work.
Voters in February approved a 7.4-mill property tax increase to support the school bonds. The district will also realize operational savings of $8 million a year with fewer schools.
District officials said the Arkansas Education Board will decide in August on the plan to sell $200.5 million of general obligation bonds. If the bonds are approved, they would be issued in July 2013.
The first phase of the five-year plan includes the construction of four new two-story elementary schools.
Pulaski County School District No. 1 has an issuer rating of Aa3 from Moody’s Investors Service based on coverage by the state’s enhancement program.
