Committee reviews multiple high-value procurement requests, including $3M manipulatives contract and police radio dispatch upgrade

Miss Renette Apodaca and procurement staff presented several district purchase/expenditure requests equal to or exceeding $500,000 at the Aug. 27 finance committee meeting. Miss Apodaca described an as‑needed contract for classroom manipulatives that would be established for up to eight years and estimated at $3,000,000 using operational and grant funds so schools can purchase materials without issuing separate quotes or bids each time.

Doctor Gonzales (staff presenter) and Dr. Richard Bowman, the district’s chief technology officer, described other procurement items. The telecommunications service request and a bulk fuel purchase each were presented as following district procedural directives and the state procurement code. For police radio dispatch equipment, Dr. Bowman said the purchase would enable district radios and dispatch to connect with city, county and state public-safety radio systems and would give dispatchers the ability to prioritize and override radio traffic during emergencies. "This purchase will enable us to connect our radios to the state and the city and the county radio systems, and it will enable our dispatchers to be able to override, the radio waves to make sure that messages in an emergency are able to be sent appropriately," Dr. Bowman said.

Board member Josefina Dominguez asked how vendors are selected for the manipulatives contract and whether the procurement process supports local and small businesses. Staff said the bid used a catalog discount approach and that New Mexico resident, veteran and Native American-owned businesses receive procurement preference points when they register with the State Taxation and Revenue Department. "Small businesses, New Mexico business, veteran business, Native American business, they get, like, extra points within the procurement code," a staff presenter said.

Committee members asked questions but did not block placing the procurement items on the consent agenda; staff said the procurements complied with district procurement rules and state code and stood for questions.