Bond sale will help pay for new school buildings

The bond sale will be Tuesday.
WARREN -- City residents have an opportunity to own a piece of the new school buildings.
General obligation bonds go on sale Tuesday to pay the local costs of building five kindergarten-through-eighth-grade buildings and a high school. The total project is estimated at about $170 million, with the Ohio School Facilities Commission covering about 80 percent. Voters passed a bond issue last November to pay the local share.
"We want to give the community the opportunity to buy in, literally, to the project," said superintendent Betty J. English.
Handling sale
A.G. Edwards & amp; Sons Inc., which has offices nationwide, including one in Hermitage, Pa., is handling the sale. Joseph P. Pezzano, investment broker with the company, may be reached at (724) 983-0400 or 1(800) 332-0455. Although the sale doesn't start until next week, people interested may call ahead.
"They're AAA insured, and that's the highest rating of safety you can get," said Pezzano, a former city resident.
The school district earned an AA credit rating from Standard and Poor's, a leading credit provider. That puts it at the same level as the Dublin and Kettering, Ohio, school districts.
"That's something to be extremely proud of," Pezzano said. "There's only a handful of school districts in the state that have that."
The rating is because of the way the school district handles its money, said Linda Metzendorf, school board president, and Lynn Gibson, board member.
"We've been very prudent with our finances," Gibson said.
The bond rate won't be known until the day the sale starts. "I expect them to be gone in two to three hours," Pezzano said.