South Conway County School District

South Conway County School District is located in Central Arkansas in the town of Morrilton along Interstate 40 West. Thanks to coordinated planning and implementation between the School District, the City of Morrilton, and Conway County, they are striving to make vast improvements in their Community, with each entity doing their part in those efforts. Through this campaign and projects, the District’s goals were to improve the facilities, infrastructure and educational environment in each school within the District and potentially restore the enrollment the District has lost over the last 20 years. Their revisions included strategies that significantly improve the safety and security at each campus by enclosing existing open-air spaces, creating focused and controlled points of entry, and adding safe rooms.

The Solution

First Security Beardsley was able to work with the Administration, Board, and Design/ Construction Teams to develop a 5-year plan to fund these projects by refinancing their existing debt and providing new funds for the needed additions and improvements. We functioned as the financial advisor for the District and worked with them to determine the most efficient process to secure the necessary project proceeds. We also worked hand-in-hand with them on their campaign to pass the 3.9 additional debt service mills necessary to support repayment of the bond issue. These bonds are secured by ad valorem tax revenues produced by the new mills.

The Difference

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

  • Working with the Board on multiple funding scenarios taking into account facility needs and construction timelines.
  • Our team includes a retired Arkansas public school superintendent and long-time employee of the Arkansas Department of Education School Facilities Division, which gave the District additional resources in developing the project.
  • Helping the District’s plan take into account the economic development plans of the City and County.