While no official action was taken at its meeting April 16, the school board directed L.J. Hart, the district's bonding firm, to develop a two-part plan to be revisited April 29. First, the $3.5 million authorized by taxpayers will be broken into two separate sales: $2.7 million in bonds placed for sale immediately to local investors and $800,000 held in reserve for later sale. The $2.7 million in bonds will be repaid with accelerated principal payments for an estimated $200,000 in savings to taxpayers, according to school officials. The $800,000 will be set aside as the estimated amount that could qualify for 0 percent interest under the new federal stimulus package's Qualified School Construction Bond (QSCB). Superintendent Chris Gaines supports the board's approach, noting that it is "certainly a benefit for the district and taxpayers." While the federal stimulus money has already been released to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, only preliminary guidelines for its dispersal are available at this time, Gaines said. Firm guidelines for the issuance of the stimulus money should be issued in about five or six months. If $800,000 in bonds actually qualifies for the 0 percent interest rate under the QSCB program, the savings to taxpayers would be $400,000, according to Heather Mudd of L.J. Hart. Thus, the bond structure and marketing which the school board directed the bonding company to pursue could result in a total savings of $600,000 to taxpayers. "The best case scenario from the proposed bond structure and marketing is a substantial savings to taxpayers," Mudd said. "The worst case scenario is that there is no change from the bond issue passed by voters." Board member Alice Klem further explained that the proposed structure will preserve the bonding capacity of the district so it will retain the opportunity to construct a new high school in perhaps 15 years. "We want to preserve the district's long-term bonding capacity for the future," Klem said. The funding approved by voters will air-condition the remainder of the high school and the elementary gym, along with making several improvements to the athletic facilities at the high school, including the construction of an eight-lane, all-weather track.