Moody's Upgrades Hopkins Public Schools Credit Rating

Budget discussions can be dreary affairs, especially when the state is in the midst of a budget crisis. But Thursday’s discussions kicked off with some good news: Hopkins’ credit rating had been upgraded.

The new Aa2 rating is the third-highest rating. There are just nine districts in the state with a better bond rating than Hopkins.

More importantly, it will save the district thousands when it issues bonds—perhaps between $200,000 and $400,000 in the life of a bond issuance that the district approved Thursday, said Joel Sutter, an Ehlers financial advisor who worked with Hopkins on the rating upgrade.

The upgrade is the result of a trip that school district leaders made to Moody’s in  Chicago last week. The officials presented district finance details to staff who then took that to another committee that set the new rating.

Moody’s said the upgrade was justified by the district’s strong management policies, financial flexibility and sizeable general fund surplus, Sutter said.

Hopkins actually was aiming for a two-rating upgrade to Aa1—unusual, but not unheard of. Outside factors kept this from happening: , shrinking enrollment and declining taxable value.

Still, Sutter remained optimistic that the district will eventually get a coveted upgrade.

“Everything that they (the district) control, they couldn’t be doing a better job,” he said. “You will get there if you continue down the current course.”