Bentonville School District - Crews & Associates, Inc.

Bentonville School District is located in the growing Northwest Arkansas corner of the State. The District. The District is located entirely in Benton County and serves children who live in 8 municipalities and unincorporated parts of the County. The District has seen tremendous growth over the last 20 plus years, primarily due to the growth of Walmart’s headquarters located in the District. The District has doubled in the number of children in the last 15 years and now serves approximately 17,200 K-12 students. Due to the growth the District has built multiple new elementary, middle, and junior highs as well as a second high school. The District continues to need to build new schools to accommodate the growing number of students it serves.

The Solution

Our team worked with the Administration and Board to develop a 5-year plan that would provide financing for 2 new elementary schools, a middle school, a junior high and to purchase land. Voters were asked to approve 1.9 new mills for 33 years.to support $392,045,000 in Refunding and Construction bonds.

The Difference

First Security Beardsley worked hard to serve our client in extraordinary ways by:

Worked with the Board on multiple funding scenarios taking into account projected student growth and facility needs. The 10-year horizon was reduced to 5 years to more accurately project student growth and the need for new facilities.

Structured the millage request for 33 years, but no bond issue will have more than a 30-year term. This staggered approach allowed the District to receive voter approval for 5 years’ worth of projects at one election and to fund projects for a 30-year term as each new school is funded.

Worked with the District and Moody’s Investor Services to have the District rated for the first time. The Bonds carried both an Aa2 underlying rating and Aa2 enhanced rating based on Arkansas’s State Aid Intercept Program.