S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Stephenson County School District (SD) No. 145 (Freeport) , Illinois’ limited-tax general obligation (GO) bonds and GO bonds two notches to ‘BBB’ from'A-‘. At the same time, we assigned our ‘BBB’ long-term rating to Stephenson County SD’s $4.1 million series 2026A, $445,000 series 2026B, $3.5 million series 2026C, and $18.4 million series 2026D taxable GO limited-tax school bonds. The outlook is negative. The downgrade reflects our opinion of Stephenson County SD’s considerably weaker fiscal 2026 year-end result than we previously anticipated and what we think will be substantial deterioration in reserves and liquidity in fiscal 2027. Stephenson County SD's debt service extension base (DSEB), limited as to
