Partnered Right®
- Scintilla Charter Academy is a public charter school educating 700 students in Valdosta, GA.
- Aim to provide a deeper learning experience in which each child is empowered through creativity, collaboration, inquiry, and critical thinking to achieve his or her unique potential and acquire a love of learning, along with a strong sense of community and character.
- Initial charter granted in 2014, the school received a renewal in April 2023 extending the charter through June 2028.
- The school is projected to grow and serve over 1,000 students in K-12 by 2027-28.
- The school is undergoing a construction project in order to increase capacity as well as build new on-campus amenities including: gymnasium, modular classrooms, driveway expansion, cafeteria, multi-purpose space, and a new high school facility.
- The construction project will be executed in two separate phases with the high school being built later in 2024.
Structured Right®
- The Series 2023 tax-exempt Revenue Bonds were structured as draw-down bonds in order to provide flexibility to the school and reduce interest cost associated with the portion of the Project that would occur in 2024.
- $17.26 million of the total not-to-exceed amount of $23.495 were issued in bond proceeds upon closing and will be used to refinance pre-existing publicly held debt, pay off an existing construction loan, fund a debt service reserve fund, and pay for costs of issuance.
The bonds were structured with a 10-year final maturity and with a 6-year call option at a 101% redemption price.
Executed Right®
- Scintilla Charter Academy was able to execute a term sheet with an institutional investor that provided certainty of execution at a locked-in rate for both immediate capital needs and the proposed high school facility in 2024. This was important given increasingly tougher financial markets and the lack of GMP for high school facility.
- The tax-exempt bonds feature a 6.25% interest rate.
- HJ Sims was able to quickly navigate the financing process and close the transaction within 90 days.
Financed Right®
- On June 29, 2023, HJ Sims closed on the $23.495 million Series 2023 Bonds with approximately $17.26 million being drawn at closing, leaving a remainder of approximately $6 million to be utilized for future construction costs related to the new high school facility.
- Scintilla Charter Academy is now on its way to completing the necessary campus additions/upgrades for its increasing student body and eventually serve over 1,000 students in Valdosta.
For more information, please contact:
Seth Wagner
804.691.6645