Issue link: https://trevordayschool.uberflip.com/i/1529130
A clever understatement—at that point, we were unclear about how were going to pay for this. Jeff Miller, Sylvia Appenzeller, and I had begun creating various scenarios based on our projections for the various parameters—enrollment, staffing, financial aid, building costs, etc. Most of these were presented to the board with worst case, best guess, and best case. During the period between October 1990 and September 1991, I believe we created well over 100 of these scenarios as new information came in and numbers were revised. That turned out to be overly optimistic; the bonds were finally issued in August of 1991. The IDA had to approve the bond issue due to its tax-exempt status. Funding a school takeover wasn't normally something they did, but an exception was made for this deal. To understand the risk better, it should be noted that these discussions were taking place shortly after the Black Monday stock market crash in October of 1987, when the Dow fell 22.6 percent in a single day. This event had seriously shaken many people in the investment field. 2 3 4 5 and underwriters for the proposed bond deal. Issuing the bonds would be a time-consuming process, and, at best, the deal wouldn't close until April or May. 3 So there remained a non-zero possibility of no bond, and if the deal went forward, TDS would be on very shaky ground, short on cash, and running a large deficit. But Jeff felt strongly that the odds of getting the financing were good enough that we should proceed. The board set their January 11 meeting as the final date when the deal would either be approved, or it would die. Events between the last meeting and the decision day didn't solve everything but there was significant forward movement. The severance issue, while not solved, had been clarified in a positive manner. In the meeting Jeff described the current financial status. Progress had been made on the bond issue; Barclay's Bank, the underwriters, continued to be positive about its prospects and had agreed to do a formal credit analysis that could be presented for approval in about three weeks. After that, the next hurdle would be obtaining governmental approval from the Industrial Development Agency (IDA). 4 That, at best, would add at least two months before the bonds could be issued. Jeff was straightforward about the risk; while he felt the odds were good that the deal would go through, there were no guarantees. 5 It was entirely possible that market volatility could drastically change the lending markets in the intervening months. The board agreed that they could not kick the can down the road one more time. Provisional contracts had been sent out to NWL families; faculty who wished to be hired by TDS were being evaluated. The board either had to commit (despite the risk) or walk away. Reading the minutes from that meeting, one can sense the weight of the decision they had to make. Clearly, the uncertainty level was high—if the financing didn't come through, yes, the school could open, but it was unclear how long it could continue to run with the inevitable sizable deficits that would most likely unfold. After a long discussion, Cynthia suggested that, despite the risk and uncertainty, the resolution should be moved and passed. The minutes record that all of the board members present voted in favor. The die was cast: TDS would accept NWL's assets and the new high school would open in the fall, financing or not. Solid good news was finally reported The IDA had passed the inducement resolution, giving us loan approval for $5.5 million, and Barclays Bank had verbally given us a letter of credit for $7 million. in the March 14 meeting. Although we would have to commit a fair amount of money in advance to pay off the NWL liabilities, the projections from Jeff and others on the finance team indicated that we could weather the short-term demands on our cash flow. After the $7 million came, we could project being able to pay off all transition costs and still have roughly $1.5 million in cash to put into our endowment. Although it would be many months before everything legally closed, the trustees could breathe a sigh of relief as the new N–12 TDS was almost certainly fully funded for the next several years. The asset transfer agreement was The teachers and staff could start the process of building a high school without worrying about whether it would have enough time to fulfill its promise. 1933 (Preschool) 1965 (Nursery–4th) 1972 (Nursery–8th) 1980 (Nursery–8th) 1985 (Nursery–8th) 1990 (Nursery–8th) 1991 (Nursery–12th) 1992 (Nursery–12th) 2000 (Nursery–12th) 0 200 400 600 800 Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Enrolled Trevor Day School Expansion Over the Decades TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 83