jiffy mart disc

The first set of bonds to buy new school buses for Henryetta schools were sold Monday afternoon.
At a special board meeting, the bid from BOK Financial Securities was accepted as the lowest to purchase $70,000 in school bonds. Those bonds were approved in September and will be used to replace the school’s aging bus fleet as well as buy a new activity bus.
BOK presented a $4,130 net interest bid that was only $70 below the second lowest from American Bank in Wagoner. The other two bids came from First National Okmulgee jointly with Country Club Bank of Kansas City for a $4,900 net interest and F&M Bank of Edmond with $4,891.
All three are at or below the estimated interest rate that Jordan Smith, financial advisor for the school had presented earlier this year. “This means we can stay at or below the ad valorem rate we promised voters,” he said. More sales will be held from 2020 through 2025.
Smith said the first revenue from the bonds will be in hand either late November or the first of December. That means school officials will sign a lease-purchase agreement at their November meeting and get the new buses on order.
In a separate matter, board members approved the start of the bid process to replace the floor at the gymnasium. That floor was destroyed by a leaking water line last month.
The school’s insurance wrote a check for $414,000 to pay for the work.
Those bids will be the subject of a special board meeting later this month since they will not be received in time for the Oct. 14 meeting. Superintendent Dwayne Noble said it is hoped all work on the gym will be completed by Thanksgiving.
That is expected to cause some minor issues with upcoming games but efforts are being made to change the schedule so home games will be played away.