Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement Digital Resources topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance committee approves sole-source contracts for IEP support and online course content
Summary
The committee approved sole-source requests for Goalbook (IEP creation support) and discussed Apex/Canvas digital learning licenses; officials said the contracts address special-education compliance and district online learning needs and are funded through textbook/digital resources and other restricted funds.
The Public Schools of Robeson County finance committee approved a sole-source request for Goalbook, a tool the district uses to help special-education teachers write IEP goals, and discussed related digital learning contracts for Apex and Canvas.
Why it matters: District staff said Goalbook assists newer and lateral-entry exceptional-children teachers in writing IEP goals aligned to standards and can reduce legal risk tied to improperly written IEPs. District leaders framed the sole-source procurement as a cost-management step to avoid larger legal costs.
"This resource has allowed us with our brand new EC teachers... This helps us write effective goals for IEPs to prevent us from writing goals that are not aligned to the standard," Dr. Carr, an exceptional-children staff presenter, said. She added that Goalbook provides assessments, goals, resources and strategies to support teachers.
Procurement and funding: Staff said the Goalbook contract has been funded in the past with ESSER and that current textbook and digital-resources allocations (PRC 131) can cover the item because that line specifically covers textbooks and digital resources and cannot be used for staffing. "Textbooks and digital resources have a unique focus. There's no flexibility there," Erica, a district staff member, said.
The committee also discussed Apex Learning and Canvas licenses. District staff said Apex provides prebuilt content and is used across the district for credit recovery, PSRC Online (which serves 200–600 students per semester depending on term), middle-school tutorials and ACT review. Apex was described as a three-year contract while Canvas was described as a one-year learning-management-system contract. Staff clarified that the 300 quantity shown in a procurement paper represents teacher licenses, not student licenses.
Action recorded: Committee members made and passed a motion to approve the sole-source requests during the meeting; the recorded rollcall was by voice and the chair announced the motion passed.
Discussion vs. decision: The committee discussed legal risk for EC compliance, limits on state textbook funds, and license scope; it voted to approve the sole-source request (voice vote).
