LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday approved moving forward with a multimillion dollar bond sale in order to pursue a district modernization plan.

In November, district voters approved the $17 million Measure T bond with a 65.9 percent yes vote, as Lake County News has reported.

The bond proceeds will be used for upgrading buildings, creating 21st century classrooms, replacing portables, renovating Westshore Pool, constructing a new library/media center at the Terrace Middle School, constructing a food service dining area for high school students, making Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility upgrades, and improving playground equipment and sports fields, among other projects.

The resolution the board members approved Thursday authorized the issuance and sale of the first series of general obligation bonds, with the amount not to exceed $6 million.

In a brief presentation, bond consultant Greg Isom of Walnut Creek-based Isom Advisors congratulated the district on its success in passing the bond measure and led board members through the next steps.

He explained that the resolution and bond purchase agreement have lots of blanks in them.

“You have to approve this shell of a document and over the next month and a half it all gets filled in,” he said.

The next important step comes next week, on Feb. 17, when the bonds will be rated and given a credit score, Isom said.

He said he hopes that Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg and Linda Slockbower, the district business manager, will make the trip down to San Francisco to help make the case for good bond ratings, noting that face-to-face meetings with the individuals doing the ratings help.

Once the district gets a rating, depending on what it is there will need to be a determination to see if they will pursue insurance to push the ratings higher, Isom said.

Isom said the majority of school districts have an “A+” rating, and the district may want to buy insurance to get into the “AA” category.

Once the ratings are done, the information about the bonds will be marketed nationwide to banks, hedge funds and insurance companies, he said.

The bonds will be pre-priced on March 18, at which time Isom said they will have a conference call to discuss the current state of the market and lock in the interest rate. The day after that, the bonds will be placed on the market and sold.

Once the bond's preliminary official statement is finalized, the district should have about $6 million in its building fund, Isom said.

The board unanimously approved the resolution approving the bond issuance and sale.

Board members followed up by considering and approving a list of community members to serve on the Measure T Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.

Based on California Education Code, the committee must have at least seven members to help oversee how the bond proceeds are spent.

Members must include parents of students attending schools within the district, a parent actively involved in an organization supporting the district, a business representative, a taxpayer organization and senior citizen actively involved in a senior organization.

Smith-Hagberg took to the board what Board President Phil Kirby called a “rather impressive” list of nine community members wanting to serve.

Oversight committee applicants included Dan Buffalo, Dan Camacho, Jennifer Hanson, Judy Luchsinger Mann, Traci Champion Meade, Larry Powers, Karyn Rasmussen, Dennis Rollins and Nelson Strasser.

The board unanimously approved all nine applicants to serve on the committee.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.