Council approves $28,300 award to Raw Academic Services to finish summer REED academic sessions

The City Council approved a $28,300 contract award to Raw Academic Services Inc. to provide academic and social-emotional instruction for the final two weeks of the city———summer REED program. Procurement staff said the city issued RFP 1192-25-3 to secure academic and social-emotional youth services; the solicitation produced four responses, but three were deemed nonresponsive for failing mandatory criteria and one firm was found responsive. Assistant Procurement Director Stacy Garza told the council the evaluation committee selected Raw Academic Services, a Riviera Beach-based provider, to complete the program through Aug. 1, 2025. A public commenter questioned the timing and cost, asking how $28,300 was needed for the last 10 days of programming and noting the city had budgeted $250,000 for the read program. Staff said approximately $60,000 had already been committed for earlier weeks of the summer program and that this award covers the two-week conclusion so there would be no gap in instruction. Council members who spoke in favor emphasized the need to get academic supports to students as quickly as possible and described plans to use remaining funds for additional tutoring, ACT/SAT prep and outreach to early-childhood programs. The vote to award Raw Academic Services passed unanimously. The award covers July 21 through August 1, 2025, and staff said any unspent funds would be considered for future programming or rolled forward per budget rules. Procurement retained documentation that three proposals were found nonresponsive; council members asked staff to study whether a cure-deficiency policy (allowing vendors to fix minor omissions) might increase competition for future solicitations.