The 2006 bond
Has the other bond been repaid? No.
Voters last approved a large SD 308 bond in 2006 — $450 million — to build the current campus footprint. Those buildings are the same ones now called “poor” on a facility index.
What remains
District figures reported locally in August 2025:
- About $185.5 million of outstanding principal
- About $89 million of remaining interest
- Combined old debt service still above $274 million
- Pieces of that schedule run through 2036
- 2016 bonds were refinanced in 2025; refinancing stretches and cheapens payments. It does not retire the obligation.
The pitch translated
Old annual payments are declining, so the district can layer $317 million of new principal under a slightly lower rate and call it relief.
That is how every “no tax increase” school bond is written. You still owe the new mortgage.
Questions the board should answer in writing
- What is the full combined debt-service schedule if $317 million is issued — old bonds + new bonds — through final maturity?
- What is the all-in interest cost on the new money at today’s rates?
- Why was there no funded replacement reserve after a $450 million construction wave?