DELTA SCHOOLS ISSUE APPROVED

DELTA -- Delta School District received the go-ahead from voters in a special election Tuesday to purchase $200,000 in general obligation bonds and begin several immediate capital projects.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller said the unofficial vote was 236 for the proposal and 32 against. The proposal received nearly 87 percent of the vote, about 20 percent more than the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bond issue.

The Delta Board of Education asked voters' permission to issue the bonds for various improvements in the district, including repairing and replacing eight gymnasium heating units and purchasing a new bus and furniture for the elementary school. Other repairs that would be financed by the bond issue are the replacement of the bus garage and the gymnasium roof.

The school district's insurance carrier recommended the bus barn be torn down and replaced because of its age and poor condition.

Board members plan to refinance the $985,000 in bonds currently held by the district and use the savings to cover the cost of new projects without affecting the school district's 56-cent debt-service tax levy.

Many school districts have refinanced callable bonds in recent months to take advantage of lower interest rates. For Delta School District, the move will allow the board to cover the cost of the new projects without a tax increase or time extension on the old bonds.

School officials paid about $1,000 to finance the special election in order to complete as many projects as possible before school begins. Superintendent Tom Allen said the unplanned expense will not hurt the district's budget because allocations for planned elections were overestimated.