Financial Crisis Now Striking Home for School Districts

Because of a production error in last week’s issue, the inside portion of this front-page story was omitted.

The crisis besetting U.S. and world financial markets is hitting school districts hard, as they struggle to float the bonds needed for capital projects, borrow money to ensure cash flow, and get access to investment funds locked up in troubled institutions.

•In Cumberland County, N.C., school officials froze plans to build a $20 million elementary school in the 53,000-student district after a neighboring county failed to find buyers for $454 million of...