[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6181262,"mediaKeyId","5113411-95113ce1a676d4a64c6e78265f46b098","parentId",5113411,"title","Leasing corporation, school board approve lease schedule; staff outline up-to-$75M financing for school projects","audioSeconds",1804,"startMs",132000,"endMs",1936000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5113411-95113ce1a676d4a64c6e78265f46b098&start=132&end=1936","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5113411-95113ce1a676d4a64c6e78265f46b098/thumbnail_132000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6181262/Florida/Leasing-corporation-school-board-approve-lease-schedule-staff-outline-up-to-75M-financing-for-school-projects","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6181262-42112c7346e28b3786a7f59450ea7b84/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115008&Signature=alYZILuXRXmRO7668UyeSarLmCzXfmTaapubS8bx-sPSkoIP6omDAi087weXEApqzwAvD9gWwMLh1rww~XlkkoTlgaz847HvWhdCmkkHP6eSIbBtcaZkhJiQEDPR0RwskLjzw7WMsmUCeQ9RwsHQWHhHDCtJ~tTsdaeFKFdxzPlI0l7kfVy7bMs1IRfewMF4ECpepkmvJWHHqLJ~A0RGAAIdbKzzmQzEWuoQlBzo-sllBRuBZ11B2E5-GOF4U8d47KRkTLhGpY0-pFYVxgDWMInXLUh0unZcT3rbBnPgzjv2UA2e0Ju~v2f52w5Cy40R0igfZLowFAFuY34CpBgeww__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Escambia School District","date","2025-07-01T04:17:21Z","article","The Escambia County Public Schools Leasing Corporation and the Escambia County School Board each voted unanimously, 5-0, June 30 to adopt a lease schedule and a lease-and-land resolution that allow the district to proceed with a planned debt issuance to fund school capital projects.

The board’s financial advisers and underwriter described a proposed Series 2025A financing with a not-to-exceed par amount of $75,000,000 and a not-to-exceed true interest cost in the resolution; advisers said they expect the all-in cost to be substantially lower than that cap based on current market pricing.

District staff and outside advisers said the financing is being structured to delay principal amortization so the new debt “wraps around” existing obligations funded by a sales-tax referendum that sunsets in 2027. That timing, officials said, reduces near-term debt-service pressure on the district’s operating budget while enabling a package of projects now estimated at just under $60 million.

Raymond James underwriter John Eichelberger, bond counsel George Smith and financial adviser Will Reed (Ford & Associates) answered board questions about market timing and structure. Eichelberger said market timing is uncertain: “If I could predict what was gonna happen with rates, I’d be a very wealthy man sitting on an island somewhere,” and described using a negotiated sale to allow underwriter staff to time the market and drive the all‑in cost lower.

Staff identified key program elements expected to be included in the Series 2025A authorization: performing-arts facility work at Escambia High School and Tate High School; a new auditorium, gym and auditorium renovation at Pine Forest High School; and roughly $3.5–$4.0 million in classroom additions at several elementary schools. Staff said the projects were roughly just under $60 million in total but the resolution uses the higher $75 million cap to give flexibility for market structure and discounting.

Officials reviewed the district’s outstanding debt and timing: the sales-tax revenue bond that funded Beulah Middle School carried an outstanding balance of about $18.2 million at last June and is scheduled to be paid off in 2027; the district’s COPS issue that funded Myrtle Grove closed as Series 2023A with proceeds reported at about $41,000,004.59. Advisers said the district can refinance beginning about 10 years after issuance if market conditions permit.

The Leasing Corporation first adopted its agenda and then approved the lease-schedule resolution by unanimous votes. At a later special school-board meeting the board also adopted its agenda and approved a separate resolution approving the lease and land terms, also by unanimous vote. There were no amendments to the resolutions and no recorded “no” votes.

District staff said the financing will be executed as a negotiated sale to allow the underwriter’s trading desk and sales staff to identify the most advantageous market entry and to aim for lower rates, while the resolution contains “not to exceed” parameters to constrain the final deal.

Board members and staff framed the actions as authorizations to proceed with a structured financing; no final pricing or closing date was adopted at the meetings. The Leasing Corporation portion of the meeting concluded before the district’s budget workshop began.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","ECPS Special School Board Meeting June 30, 2025 - 9am","oneSentenceSummary","The Escambia County Public Schools Leasing Corporation and the Escambia County School Board each voted unanimously, 5-0, June 30 to approve resolutions that allow the district to move forward with a planned debt issue to fund auditoriums, gyms and classroom additions.","taxTitle","Escambia, School Districts, Florida","taxId",15600,"location","Florida","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":46,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6181256,"Budget workshop: Escambia schools face flat FEFP growth, rising scholarships and pressure to ‘right‑size’ facilities",3240,5176000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5113411-95113ce1a676d4a64c6e78265f46b098&start=1936&end=5176","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5113411-95113ce1a676d4a64c6e78265f46b098/thumbnail_1936000.jpg","/articles/6181256/Florida/Budget-workshop-Escambia-schools-face-flat-FEFP-growth-rising-scholarships-and-pressure-to-rightsize-facilities","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6181256-1c29535db3cade28ecd8c333b9ca4c3b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771115008&Signature=JKQzAI34n7q6spX5RBnexXcNLo3ezhnWzZn3snmPOaGTVtJOOwfwm0NB5VvGBtqusc7mHShoZuOnwrgZJNfRoq1Kpg8XaFQIm46gYBh~HghKT1t0bn9I6pFVwZKUIdQhVdeuUD66EdhU3~FdQVJhEOAyAT8S3gMFDoNkust7yKlVde3SnCjmp431mAAEblJVSLV8bsnmsjsvMrUuS6HYmwZs~2opbTKtIDRzAJL0Wc~qYyZWTQaZSK29Pj8DccaR1x~WeEqvtK~O75TBdO--taSncKTCY9T5ogJFE~zPo5cdKM2JTEpLUkeXQRGN4h6bBRHAyVH2YmcwswxIok3Zvw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Escambia County School District staff told the board at a June 30 budget workshop that the first Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) calculation for 2026 shows only a modest 1.37% increase in state funding and that traditional-school unweighted FTE is projected to decline by roughly 536 students while family empowerment scholarship FTE is rising.

The district’s presenter said the FEFP calculation is deceptive on totals because family empowerment scholarships remain in the FTE count but are adjusted out of FEFP revenue. Staff reported 40,993.95 total unweighted FTE in the current year (including scholarship students) and said current-year family empowerment scholarship enrollment was 5,047 unweighted FTE, with the new-year projection just under 6,000 unweighted FTE.

Officials warned the board that the teacher-salary allocation included in the FEFP will be about half the size of the prior year’s allocation: the FEFP-calculated teacher-salary pool for the district rose by roughly $1.2–$1.3 million in the first calculation for 2026, compared with larger increases in past years. The presenter said that, when allocated across the district’s roughly 2,600 teachers, the FEFP-calculated increase equates to under 1 percent of pay and amounts to an estimated “a little over $500 per teacher” from that state allocation; district managers reminded members that the general fund has historically absorbed additional local salary increases via the budget process.

Other cost pressures identified at the workshop included a retirement contribution rate increase (speaker cited a rise from about 13.63% to about 14.0%) that staff estimated would cost the district roughly $900,000, and continuing health‑insurance and employee-benefit pressures. The presenter said the district’s total operating levy assumptions use the statutorily allowable components—required local effort, discretionary millage and up to the full 1.5 mills allowable for capital—and noted the certified tax roll increased about 1.7% in the last year.

Board members asked for school-level cost reports showing revenue and cost by school; staff said those reports exist as part of the district cost reports and will be provided at future workshops once the year-end financials and the fourth FEFP calculation are finalized. Staff told the board that the second FEFP calculation (required-local-effort and other adjustments) will be available in July and that final budget decisions will be influenced by that update.

Much of the discussion focused on enrollment loss to family empowerment scholarships and private providers and on possible district responses intended to retain students. Board members and the superintendent discussed K–8 configurations as a retention strategy; staff said one K–8 (Longleaf) was already approved and will be phased in starting with a sixth-grade cohort, and that converting additional sites to K–8 or adding wings at existing schools could recapture students but would require capital investment and careful planning around transportation, course offerings (for example, accelerated math and eighth-grade algebra) and extracurricular programming.

Staff warned the board that, under the current revenue outlook, the district is not projected to break even in the coming year without internal reductions or other measures. The superintendent and board members discussed “rightsizing” departmental budgets and noted that the district has been holding positions vacant and delaying capital to reduce costs; the superintendent said staff would bring additional proposals and school-level analyses for further board consideration.

The workshop included no formal votes; the board took the workshop as informational and directed staff to return with additional detail (school-level cost reports, updated FEFP calculations and specific right‑sizing proposals).","Escambia County School District staff told the school board on June 30 that the first FEFP calculation for 2026 shows only a 1.37% increase in state funding, while traditional-school enrollment is projected to decline and family empowerment scholarship participation is rising—pressures that complicate next year’s budget planning.","actionData","errors"]

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Leasing corporation, school board approve lease schedule; staff outline up-to-$75M financing for school projects

Budget workshop: Escambia schools face flat FEFP growth, rising scholarships and pressure to ‘right‑size’ facilities