Summary: Beauregard Parish School Board, Louisiana; General Obligation

S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'A+' rating to Beauregard Parish School Board, La.'s series 2019 general obligation (GO) bonds. At the same time, we affirmed our 'A+' rating on the district's GO debt outstanding. Located in southwestern Louisiana, Beauregard Parish Wide School District has a concentrated economy that is sensitive to changes in commodity prices. The district has very strong financial reserves when taking into account committed fund balances. Although the district reported six consecutive years of spend downs, officials indicate that the spend down was intentional, and that much of the funds were diverted to committed purposes, such as a contingency fund and future capital projects. A low debt burden partially offsets risk from the district's high pension costs,

...S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'A+' rating to Beauregard Parish School Board, La.'s series 2019 general obligation (GO) bonds. At the same time, we affirmed our 'A+' rating on the district's GO debt outstanding. Located in southwestern Louisiana, Beauregard Parish Wide School District has a concentrated economy that is sensitive to changes in commodity prices. The district has very strong financial reserves when taking into account committed fund balances. Although the district reported six consecutive years of spend downs, officials indicate that the spend down was intentional, and that much of the funds were diverted to committed purposes, such as a contingency fund and future capital projects. A low debt burden partially offsets risk from the district's high pension costs, which is not uncommon in Louisiana. The rating reflects our view of the school board's: + Low debt burden; + Recent growth in assessed values; and + Very strong fund balances when including committed funds for stabilization...

Summary