District 211 Bond Rating Upgraded by Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a nationally recognized statistical rating organization that issues credit ratings for both public and private sector entities. Since 2001, District 211 has maintained an “AA” credit rating from S&P, while prior to 2001, the District utilized the rating services of Moody’s Investor Services for credit analysis. In 1998, the District’s credit rating from Moody’s was down graded to “Aa2” from “Aa1.” For purposes of comparison, the Moody’s downgrade of “Aa2” in 1998 was equivalent to a rating of “AA” from S&P.

Due to the District’s favorable change in financial performance and reserve levels over the past few years, a rating was sought by S&P on January 25, 2008. Board President Robert LeFevre, Superintendent Roger Thornton, and Associate Superintendent David Torres participated in a financial analysis review with two credit analysts from S&P. On February 6, 2008, the District was informed by S&P that District 211’s credit rating was upgraded to “AA+,” restoring the District’s credit rating to the 1996 level. The rating upgrade was based primarily on a recognized material change in the District’s financial performance over multiple-year projections, fund balance levels, debt service management, and continued strong economic factors in our area.

A complete copy of the S&P rating publication was presented to the Board of Education at its February 14 meeting and is available at: http://www.d211.org/pdf/s-p_rating_rationale.pdf.