The Saint Tammany Parish School Board committee approved the screening and evaluation committeerecommendations to hire design teams for 26 capital projects tied to the 2025 bond referendum on Aug. 7, 2025, following extended discussion about the rubricand local firm participation.

The vote to accept the committeerecommendations passed, 7 yays, 2 nays and 1 abstention. The motion, made by Miss Moore and seconded by Miss Hanson, directed staff to proceed with contracting the highest-scoring firms and to use the listed second-place firms if any recommended firm cannot accept the work.

The committee recommended licensed architectural firms for each specific project after evaluating 45 submitted qualification statements. Miss Tipton, a staff member who presented the recommendations, said the RFQ was advertised beginning 05/28/2025 with a 07/01/2025 submittal deadline and that each of the 26 projects was scored separately, including criteria for key personnel, project experience, consultant qualifications and local experience. "These documents ultimately become the contract for all aspects and considerations of a project," Tipton said, describing the selection process.

Why it matters: the professional teams selected will design projects that together represent the school systemcapital work plan for the bond referendum, and those designs create the documents contractors will bid from. Board members said the selections will shape which firms do the work and how quickly projects move into construction over the coming years.

Board members and public commenters pressed several practical questions during the discussion. School Board Member Mister Green said he was concerned that "close to 40% of these projects are going to firms that are headquartered outside of Saint Tammany," and argued the district should prioritize local firms when qualifications are otherwise comparable. Several other members asked whether the rubric and committee process already factor local presence and capacity; Tipton replied that location and related questions were built into the rubric as specific scored items and that the overall rubric totals 100 points.

Staff said the rubric included points for whether a firm is physically based in Saint Tammany Parish, whether the lead project personnel live in the parish, whether more than half the firm's employees live in the parish and whether the firm has a local office. The committee also considered recent workload and project history with the district to avoid overextending any single firm, Tipton said.

Committee composition and transparency: Tipton described the committee as a mix of district construction and administrative staff and community members with relevant experience. Members named during the meeting included Ron Randolph, purchasing director; community participants such as Kyle Cooper and Dennis Glass (general contractors); Maureen Clary (property and construction management); and representatives invited for larger projects from Southeastern Louisiana University, Northshore Technical Community College, St. Tammany Health System and the St. Tammany Economic Development Corporation. Tipton said all committee members scored independently and that scores and the process were recorded in public meeting minutes.

Timeline and next steps: staff estimated the combined design, permitting and construction program could span roughly five years, depending on each project's complexity and permitting requirements. The district noted that the state public bid model governs how contractors will later be selected for construction, but that for large or special projects the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) procurement is an option under state public bid law.

The committee recommended the highest-scoring firm for each project, and named the second-highest scoring firm as a backup if a selected firm cannot take the work. The board approved the recommendations and directed staff to finalize contracts and begin design work as resources and schedules allow.

Ending: Board members said they expect staff to monitor workload, encourage subcontracts with local firms where practical, and return to the board with construction bids and contract awards for each project in the standard approval process.