Through a competitive bid process, the District issued Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) in the amount of $125 million dollars. The District was able to achieve a favorable net interest cost of 0.51%.  TANs are short term notes issued by school districts and other governments to fund operational requirements due to timing of the receipt of property taxes.  This occurs annually during the first half of the fiscal year.

The District closed on $198.205 million Certificates of Participation (COPs), Series 2016A and $18.735 million, Series 2016B.  Proceeds from the transactions were used to refund, on an advanced basis, a portion of the School Board’s outstanding COPs, Series 2008A and 2009A.  The District was able to achieve a True Interest Cost (TIC) of 2.87%, while locking in $24.2 million of Net Present Value (NPV) savings, or 10.4% of refunded par.

Through a competitive bid process, the District issued Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs) in the amount of $125 million dollars.  The District was able to take advantage of the continued low interest rate environment and achieved a favorable net interest cost of 0.070755. TANs are short term notes issued by school districts and other governments to fund operational requirements due to timing of the receipt of property taxes.  This occurs annually during the first half of the fiscal year.

The School District issued the first of the expected five (5) series, within the span of the next five (5) or six years (6), of General Obligation School Bonds.  This first issuance, the District issued $155,055,000 par amount of bonds from the voter approved amount of $800 million.  Broward County Public Schools has committed to investing to enhance students’ learning environments by focusing on improvements in Safety, Music, Art, Athletics, Renovations and Technology, known as the “SMART Initiative”.

In an effort to capitalize on the existing low interest rate environment, the District refunded its outstanding Certificates of Participation (COPs), Series 2005A, 2006A, and 2007A.  Market conditions were favorable for the District at the time of pricing in early January 2015, and was able to refund the old bonds (Series 2005A, 2006A, and 2007A) under new COPs, Series 2015A and Series 2015B.  With this refunding, the District realized a net present value (NPV) savings of more than $52 million.

By an overwhelming support of 73.7% of the voters, a $800 million General Obligation Bond (GOB) referendum was approved on the November 4, 2014 ballot.  Proceeds from the bond issue will be used to modernize and improve the safety of outdated educational facilities and upgrade instructional technology.  This approval of the GOB will allow the District to enhance student’s learning environments by focusing on improvements in safety, music, art, athletics, renovations and technology to achieve its long term goals.  The District is in process of amending the DEFP for the inclusion of the GOB.

Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth largest public school system in the United States and the second largest in the state of Florida. BCPS is also Florida’s first fully accredited school system since 1962. 

BCPS is the first Florida school district selected to partner with the national organization, Code.org, to increase students’ access to computer science in schools.  In the 2015/16 school year, all BCPS high schools offer computer science, and computer science programs are expanding among elementary and middle schools.

BCPS is home to many of the best high schools in the nation and state.  In 2015, U.S News & World Report ranked 14 BCPS high schools among the Best High Schools in the country.  In addition, The Washington Post ranked 29 BCPS high schools among “America’s Most Challenging High Schools.”

BCPS is a leader in the nation for providing innovative educational initiatives, such as offering scholastic chess to all second and third grade students in the District.  Scholastic chess helps improve students’ critical thinking, problem-solving and social skills.  

BCPS offers Montessori, Cambridge-AICE, International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and the largest JROTC cadet program in the nation.

All BCPS high schools provide students with advanced academic programs allowing them to earn college credits in high school.