The Mount Vernon City School District Board of Education on June 23 approved a set of contracts and service agreements for the 2025–26 school year, including awards for landscaping, computer services, food-service consulting and insurance brokerage.

Trustees approved a bid to award landscaping services (Bid No. 2025/26-02) to Felicia Work Group for the 2025–26 school year. The landscaping contract was discussed at length by trustees who asked whether the expense had been included in the district’s adopted 2025–26 budget and whether district buildings-and-grounds staff and equipment would remain in place. The board described the contract amount during discussion as about $1,600,000 and said the contractor would supply its own equipment per the bid documents.

District officials said that the buildings-and-grounds crew could not cover all required services and that outsourcing certain tasks was part of a budgeted strategy tied to workforce and cost-savings decisions made during the district’s 2025–26 budget process. Trustees asked for and were told they would receive a clearer cost comparison between the prior vendor and the new contractor. The prior vendor named in board discussion was Picture Perfect; the board said that contract had expired and the new award was the result of a competitive rebid.

The board also authorized a five-year contract with Southern Westchester BOCES for provision of computer services and renewed a data-and-network services agreement with Custom Computer Specialist Inc. Superintendent Dr. Smith said the computer-services work provides second-level engineering support and cybersecurity monitoring in addition to help-desk services provided by BOCES.

Trustees approved an RFP award for food-service consulting to HMB Consultants for 2025–26; the board said consultant fees will be paid from the district’s cafeteria fund (the "C fund"). The district stated the consultant is intended to provide additional oversight of the district’s food-service operations and to help the district maximize federal reimbursements and hold food-service management contractors accountable.

The board also approved a broker renewal agreement with Brown and Brown Insurance Services Inc. and an extension of the summer transportation contract. Where individual trustees asked for budget comparatives or detail on prior-year spending, administrators said they would provide the requested figures.

Less-critical details: trustees recorded several abstentions on some contract votes; administrators said the landscaping company’s scope and equipment responsibilities are set by the bid and that district equipment can be sold or auctioned if the board chooses.