BY TOM FONTANA
Correspondent

Susquehanna Community School District has retired its general obligation bonds, and declared itself debt-free.

At their monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 18, the school board approved the early payoff of the bonds in the amount of$1,643,243.

According to district business manager Gary Kiernan, the move will result in a large savings to the district.

“First of all, by paying off early we save $120,000 in interest payments,” Kiernan explained. “And we free up $300,000 a year, which we were paying our debt service.”

When asked how the district was able to acquire the funds for the early payoff, Kiernan said it was the result of “years of frugal cutting.”

“We were very careful with our budgets each year,” he told the Independent. “So we were able to grow our fund balance by taking whatever was left over from budget lines and putting it into our fund balance.”

Kiernan said when he started his job about 10 years ago, the district already had a $4 million fund balance, “and it just kept growing over time.”

“We decided we’re in a place now where we might as well pay off early and save money,” Kiernan concluded. “Most school districts are buried in debt or flat broke. Susquehanna is debt-free.”

He asked the board to seek bids for fuel oil for the 2015-16 school year, with an increase of 3,500 gallons for the high school over the current school year allocation.

“A pattern of colder temperatures started last winter and continued this winter,” Kiernan stated. “The newer boiler in the elementary school is much more efficient than the old one in the high school, so the high school uses more oil.”

In comparison, he said the elementary school uses about 15,500 gallons of oil, whereas the high school goes through about 45,500. However, he feels even purchasing a greater gallon amount shouldn’t increase the fuel budget much because of the current lower oil prices.

Superintendent Bronson Stone told the board that if newly-elected Governor Tom Wolf has his way, the district could benefit.

“His budget proposals turned heads,” Stone said. “The district could get as much as $262,000 from the state. But we can’t budget that yet, because Wolf is asking for quite a lot. It would probably require tax increases, and that would need to be approved.”

The board accepted retirement intentions at the end of the 2014-15 school year of district employees Charlene Brieden (high school special education teacher), Elizabeth Tingley (elementary teacher), and Donald Norris (maintenance supervisor).

It was announced that the Susquehanna Community Education Association fundraising even, “The Pampered Chef Bingo,” held at the elementary school on Sunday, March 1, raised $2,500, with 53 players attending. The money will used to provide scholarship funds to graduating seniors who qualify for the competitive award.