By JOE BOCANEGRA
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Consolidated Independent School District (SBCISD) Board of Trustees discussed a number of cost-saving initiatives during Tuesday night’s special meeting.
One such item was the consideration to refinance already-existing bonds, according to SBCISD Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón.
“The district has passed several bond elections in the past four years, and interest rates are so low that we can refinance those bonds,” Limón said.
Currently, the district can refinance $8.5 million of its outstanding bonds. Due to the current state of the market, the interest rate has dropped to three percent, he said. The district’s objective is to refinance, thus saving over $500,000 a year.
SBCISD Board Member Oscar De La Fuente, Jr. agrees with Limón. “The refinancing can save the district money, and it would be in the best interest of the board to approve the measure,” he said.
Fellow trustee Oscar Medrano declined comment and deferred the News to Board President Yliana G. Rodriguez, who was unavailable as of presstime.
In an unrelated item also discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, the board considered implementing fees for use of personal electric appliances and various usage of other personally-owned equipment at all school district campuses.
According to Limón, many teachers and school faculty who own small refrigerator units bring them to work and use their personal appliances instead of what the district supplies at campus lounges.
“There are about 300 small refrigerators in the district, each one is using about $4.00 to $5.00 a month (in electricity),” Limón said. “What we want to do is to charge the owners $25.00 a year to help pay for the electric bills.”
He also said that a smaller $15.00 fee will be charged for any of the 250 personally-owned microwave ovens that are used throughout district campuses.
The superintendent added that the fee, if approved, will be mandatory. “Either they pay the fee, or they can take the units home,” he said.
Visit www.sbnewspaper.com for more on what the board decided.
To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the Aug. 31 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.
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