The sale of about $150 million worth of bonds by Denver Public Schools ended Tuesday — the first round of sales to raise capital for a $454 million construction program the city’s voters approved in November.

“It was a very successful sale, with the high quality, nationally known name like Denver Public Schools,” said Trinidad Rodriguez, senior vice president in George K. Baum & Co.’s Education & Non-Profit Finance Group, who handed the sale.

Rodriguez said bidding for the bonds was “very strong,” with 50 institutions submitting bids — a relatively high number for typical bond sales.

That’s particularly striking in light of the number of municipal bond sales taking place this week, Rodriguez said.

“The municipal market was very heavy in terms of supply,” he said. “There were 12 bond issues being marketed this week, with sizes of over $100 million to California with $4 billion.”

The bonds were sold at a yield, or interest rate, “in the low 5 percent range,” Rodriguez said. “It was approximately what we were expecting.”

Standard & Poor’s gave the district and the bonds a “AA-” credit rating, with a stable outlook, on March 18.

The rating service cited Denver’s “broad economic base,” the district’s “good general fund balances and financial management practices,” and a low overall net debt burden as reasons for its rating.

“We are very pleased with the results of the sale, and look forward to putting these funds to work for the benefit of our students and the communities across Denver,” said DPS COO David Suppes via email Tuesday.

The district will begin seeking bids on many of the projects the bond money will pay for “immediately,” Suppes said, adding that he expects to bring bids to the district’s board in April and May for approval.

Initial project designs are nearly done and a pre-bid meeting is scheduled for March 26 at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, 2250 S. Quitman Way, in Denver, according to a presentation given to the district’s board on March 19. Additional workshops for “doing business with DPS” are scheduled for April 14, May 12, and June 9 — although no location was given.

Projects on the 2009 list include asphalt paving, replacing lunchroom table and lights, and starting the construction of a new Green Valley high school.

Rodriguez said there were six companies acting as underwriters on the transaction. George K. Baum’s fee for the sale was 0.45 percent of the bond issue amount. The final maturity date for the bonds is 2029.