A suburban school district outside of Dallas, Texas, sold $267 million in bonds to finance upgrades to its buildings.
The bonds, issued by Wylie Independent School District (ISD), mature between 2025 and 2054, yielding between 2.57% and 3.92%. They received an enhanced rating of Aaa from Moody’s Investors Service, which assigned an underlying rating of Aa1.
“The Aa1 issuer rating reflects the district’s strong operational history leading to strong reserves equal to about 50% of revenue, and reduction in balance sheet leverage driven by the early defeasance of debt on a regular basis,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
The district’s enrollment has grown by almost 50% since 2012, putting pressure on the school district to adjust to a larger student population. The district will use the bond proceeds to improve its facilities and buy school buses.
Wylie ISD is about 24 miles northeast of Dallas and enrolls 19,231 students, according to the official statement accompanying the sale of the bonds. The bonds are direct obligations of the school district, payable by property taxes.
Jefferies, LLC served as lead underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for $298.8 million. The price reflected a premium of $33.2 million and a discount of $1.1 million. PFM Financial Advisors LLC acted as municipal advisor.