Board agenda review highlights technology, vendor pools and property purchase ahead of March 20

District staff presented a slate of procurement and capital items for the March 20 regular board meeting during the March 5 agenda review committee.

College and career readiness vendors: The Office of College and Career Success recommended authorization of a new agreements pool of 24 vendors for college- and career-readiness services, spanning May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2027 with a total not-to-exceed amount of $4,500,000. Services would be available K–12 and offered on an opt-in basis to schools; the office said it will leverage the equity index to encourage use in high-need schools and will provide monitoring and quarterly reviews.

Network upgrades (Sentinel Technologies Inc.): The information-technology presentation sought board authorization for a new agreement with Sentinel Technologies to upgrade wired and wireless network infrastructure across more than 500 district buildings as part of a five-year program. Staff said the program uses E-Rate (USAC) funding and requested authority up to $46,000,000; failing to sign the agreement would jeopardize roughly $19 million in E-Rate funding. The district said the RFP process targeted MBEs/WBEs and reported historically high supplier participation on recent bids.

Nutrition point-of-sale (Heartland): Nutrition Support Services requested the first renewal of the district’s meal-management point-of-sale agreement with Global Payments Inc., DBA Heartland Payment Systems LLC, citing a two-year not-to-exceed amount of $2,330,000 (approximately $1,165,000 per year). Staff said the renewal covers software, hardware refreshes to Windows 11 and a pilot for cashless a la carte payment options.

Facilities and supplies: Facilities requested amendments to prequalification pools. For emergency restoration services the department proposed adding three vendors to a seven-vendor pool (Homecoming Restoration LLC, Midway Restoration Inc., and PMJ Enterprises) for time-sensitive responses to fire, flood and vandalism; staff reported 94 incidents across 80 locations over five fiscal years and asked to retain the existing authority ceiling ($4.5 million over the term). The department also proposed adding Home Depot and Thermo Systems to the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) supplies pool to increase competition and marketplace “punch-out” ordering; staff reported $15.32 million in MRO spend over five fiscal years.

Furniture and real estate: Capital staff recommended a single-source agreement for AllSteel (HNI brands) systems office furniture (three-year authority request of $30,500,000) to enable reuse and reconfiguration of existing AllSteel inventory. The board packet also includes a proposed amendment to increase Public Building Commission authority for the Kenwood link and mechanical project (TIF-funded; new authority $13,950,000) and two real-estate items: renewal of a five-year lease for a 5,000-square-foot pre-K space in the Bay building at 8300 W. Addison (rent currently $156,224.49/year, proposed to remain flat), and a recommended purchase of the former Wright College South property at 3400 N. Austin Ave. from City Colleges of Chicago for $3,500,000 (appraised value cited at $6,585,000; staff said the purchase price equals roughly 3.6 years of the current annual rent of $910,490).

Board members asked clarifying questions about vendor pricing structures, whether services extend to parents, timing of network upgrades and E-Rate implications, and the capital-funding source for the property purchase. Procurement and program staff said many vendors have variable pricing models and that the college-and-career office will follow up with a vendor-by-vendor scope and with metrics on school take-up. For the Wright College South site, capital staff said work is planned to address roofing, mechanical and ADA needs and that capital dollars will be used to fund acquisition and planned repairs.

None of the procurement items were voted on at the March 5 agenda review; they are slated for consideration on the March 20 regular board meeting.