CHICAGO (Standard&Poor's) May 1, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services has raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) on Greene County School District R-II (Willard), Mo.'s general obligation (GO) debt to 'A+' from 'A', reflecting consistently positive operations, maintenance of strong financial reserves, and solid tax base growth. The outlook is stable. At the same time, the rating service assigned its 'AA+' enhanced rating and 'A+' ICR to the district's $2.72 million GO refunding bonds series 2008. The 'A+' ICR reflects the district's participation in the diverse Springfield, Mo. metropolitan area economy; solid growth in assessed value (AV) and increasing student enrollment due to the significant amount of available land combined with the residential demand; strong voter support of levies
