Savings expected to be $2.1 million.

The recall and reissuance of $8 million in bonds that funded expansion and renovations at Glen Lake School in 1993 was approved Monday by the district Board of Education.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the move, which is expected to save the district nearly $2.1 million in interest, Superintendent Joan Groening said.

Because Groening is a certified public accountant with credentials as a certified managerial accountant, the district was able to secure an independent rating from Moody’s Investor Service. An A-3 rating is typical for school districts, but Glen Lake was given an A-1 bond rating due in part to Groening’s credentials. That translated into a lower interest rate for the district.

The bonds “called in” were at 5.75 percent interest; they were reissued at 3.4 percent, which will save the district $2.1 million in interest over the term of the bonds. They will begin retiring in 2010 and will be completed by 2021.

Brenda Voutyras, from Wachovia, the bond underwriters, stated that about 3 percent savings are realized by most entities when bonds are reissued. Glen Lake’s margin of savings is 16 percent.

“Before the independent rating, our savings would have been about $1.6 million. With the rating, it’s $2.1 million,” Groening explained. “It’s a savings for the taxpayers.”

In other money matters, the board authorized Groening and building and transportation manager Joe Hobbins to seek quotes for a number of items, including the second-phase of a heating, air conditioning and ventilation project (which will focus on controllers); replacement of the roof on the main building; replacement of ballast and light fixtures in classrooms and gymnasium to improve energy efficiency; painting and replacement of carpeting within the school; bleachers for the soccer field; and finishing touches on the baseball and softball fields, which are 80 percent complete.

Groening and Hobbins are expected to share their findings with the board’s building and grounds committee, which will recommend action to the full board.

In unrelated business, the board approved the addition of several courses for the 2008-09 school year presented by high school principal Kevin Kelly last month. They include Advanced Placement environmental science, and business mathematics. The existing biology course offered to freshmen will be broken into two sections: one for college-bound students, the other for those without plans for college.

All of the courses will be offered for two semesters. Single-semester courses will be zoology, forensic science, poetry, personal fitness and outdoor recreation.

Kelly also proposed the addition of a social studies elective titled “grassroots political action” Monday. Adoption of the class will be considered by the board at its March 10 meeting.