Politics & Government

Moody's Annouces Stable Outlook for WCASD

The credit rating agency lists the school district's Aaa rating as stable.

The following information comes from the West Chester Area School District

A decision by Moody’s Investor Service will benefit the financial profile for the foreseeable future. The organization tasked with evaluating the financial health of school districts, in terms of investor risk when selling bonds to raise money, completed the review of the District’s status and determined that the Aaa rating outlook on WCASD bonds should be listed as stable. A determination resulting in a negative outlook may result in higher costs when borrowing money.
 
School Board President Vince Murphy hailed the positive news, saying, “the maintenance of a solid and reliable financial position is one of the primary responsibilities of a school board. With this Moody’s finding it is clear the financial community has an additional measure of security when considering our District’s bonds for investment.”
 
“This is great news for our school district,” said Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon. “Maintaining our Aaa bond rating is a priority for our school board and allows us to get the lowest competitive interest rates for bond financing, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of dollars”
 
The stable outlook on the District’s rating, revealed in early December, potentially saves taxpayers a large amount of money any time a bond sale is required, such as when a building renovation becomes necessary. After placing a negative outlook on the District’s Aaa bond rating in October, Moody’s evaluated that rating related specifically to the impact of cutbacks in federal government spending to District finances. They also measured exposure based how much the local economy relies on federal government employment, federal government contract spending, and Medicare/Medicaid payments to area hospitals. Moody’s also considered the District’s interest rate exposure based on its percentage of variable rate debt and fund balance. After completing the review of economic data, Moody’s revised the rating to stable.
 
Sean Carpenter, Chair of the Property and Finance Committee, said, “the stability conveyed by the Moody’s decision helps with our ability to accurately plan on the future financial impact of any bond sale this Board may undertake, and is also a valuable tool for those evaluating our District’s bonds as an investment. It is certainly of great importance to the taxpayers we represent.”
 
Moody's Analytics and Investors Service is a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized ratings scale. Moody's was founded in 1909 by John Moody.


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