What is the source of funding ($8 million) for the Lake Charles Charter Academy on Power Centre Parkway?

The source is a $15.5 million bond issue.

The Louisiana Public Facilities Authority in August gave preliminary approval to a proposal to issue up to $18 million in bonds for the school, which is owned by the Lake Charles Charter Academy Foundation and run by Charter Schools USA.

The State Bond Commission OK’d the plan a month later, and the LPFA formally approved the financing arrangement — bonds at up to a 10 percent fixed rate and a 30-year term — in October.

The investment banking firm Ziegler, which acted as a facilitator, announced in a news release in December that it had completed the transaction — “the first bond issue for this borrower and the fourth bond issue Ziegler has underwritten for schools managed by Charter Schools USA.”

The LPFA issued $15,175,000 in tax-exempt bonds — $5,215,000 at 7.75 percent and $9,960,000 at 8 percent — and $340,000 in taxable bonds, whose proceeds will be used to cover interest and issuing costs for the nontaxable bonds.

Most of the money will be used to build and equip the new school, but some will be used to cover costs at the foundation’s current, temporary school site.

According to the 320-page bonding document, the new school, serving grades K-8, will have 43 classrooms, including computer, science and art labs and a music room. Additionally, it will have a gym, athletic fields and a playground.

It will be able to accommodate 860 students, “which management of the Foundation anticipates will be reached by the 2013-2014 school year,” the document reads.

According to the bond papers, the foundation’s agreement with building contractor The Lemoine Company of Lafayette guarantees a maximum price of $9,462,000. But foundation head Gene Thibodeaux has said it will cost $8.5 million to build the school.

The foundation expects to have the school completed in time for the next school year.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in December approved the foundation’s application for a second charter school, the Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy.

But under its loan agreement, the foundation can’t hold a charter for another school, nor can it apply for anymore charters.

The second school, initially for grades K-6, will likewise be operated by Charter Schools USA. But Thibodeaux said Friday that it will be governed by a group called the Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy Foundation.

“It’s a mirror image of the Lake Charles Charter Academy Foundation,” with same the board, ethics agreements and bylaws, he said.

The Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy is scheduled to open in August, in the current home of the other charter school. It will reportedly later move to a permanent site on Nelson Road.

Online: www.lpfa.com; www.charterschoolsusa.com; http://emma.msrb.org.

Lake Charles corn bread too sweet for reader

The Informer often receives questions that, for various reasons, it simply can’t answer. One such question was submitted Wednesday.

“I’d like to know why, especially in Lake Charles, all corn bread has to taste like cake? There’s too much sugar,” said the reader, who left a voice message.

“When I grew up my mother made corn bread in a black skillet. She may have put in a tablespoon of sugar, but … it was bread. It was good with beans and anything, but it did not taste like cake. Why is it in the Lake Charles area all corn bread tastes like cake?”

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

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