A school district in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, sold $92.3 million in bonds to bolster its special education program.
The bonds, issued by the Macomb Intermediate School District (MISD), mature between 2024 and 2044 and pay interest at 5%. They received a rating of AA from S&P Global Ratings.
Proceeds from the bonds will finance a slew of improvements geared at improving the school district’s special education system. These include acquiring new buildings for special education, equipping those buildings with new technology, and purchasing new buses for special education students.
“The MISD takes pride in providing a continuum of services and programs to students with such diverse needs,” the school district’s website reads.
The issuance comes as school districts across the United States seek to accommodate a growing number of students with disabilities participating in public education. The number of students with disabilities in public education has more than doubled in the past 45 years, according to National Center for Education Statistics data compiled by the Pew Research Center. In the 2021-22 academic year, students with disabilities made up 15% of national public school enrollment.
MISD services 19,000 special education students, according to its website. The school district enrolls about 118,000 students, according to the official statement accompanying the sale of the bonds.
MISD services students across three countries north of Detroit. The bonds are general obligations of the school district, backed by its full faith and credit.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as lead underwriter on the issuance.