Why The School District Of Lancaster Is Financially Thriving When Similar Districts In Pennsylvania Are Failing

Times are tough for urban school districts in central Pennsylvania.

Saddled with stagnant tax bases and serving large numbers of low-income and special-needs students, they’re struggling to stay afloat in the face of steep cuts in state and federal education funding.

But School District of Lancaster isn’t experiencing the economic woes of its neighbors.

The school districts in York city and Harrisburg have been declared “financially distressed” by the state, which appointed financial recovery committees to develop radical plans to keep them solvent.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/842996_Why-the-School-District-of-Lancaster-is-financially-thriving-when-similar-districts-in-Pennsylvania-are-failing.html#ixzz2RoBpQLeT

Altoona Area School District Finalizes Bonds

Map of Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Altoona Area School District recently refinanced a bond series of $46 million for a net interest savings of more than $2 million.

The district’s favorable A-plus credit rating achieved by years of good financial management, a Standard and Poor’s rating services report stated, is one reason the district was able to reduce the original 4.36 percent interest rate and obtain the savings.

Market conditions providing 40-year low bond interest rates were another reason.

“The savings are higher than the estimate we had in September,” Business Manager Michelle Krebs said.

Read more:  http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/566933/Altoona-finalizes-bonds.html?nav=742