FLVS leadership seeks board approval to shift driver’s-ed vendor, renew behind‑the‑wheel contracts and extend vendor agreements

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) staff on Feb. 25 asked the Board of Trustees to place several contract actions on the March 25 quarterly meeting agenda, including awarding an online driver‑education integration contract to Nucleus Driver Tech, extending the existing DriversEd.com contract during a vendor transition, exercising optional renewals for United Safety Council’s behind‑the‑wheel services and reviewing a market increase request from Teleforce for call‑center services.

The requests were presented by Joya Anserra, who asked the trustees to approve the award and to authorize the chief executive officer to execute the Nucleus Driver Tech contract if the board approves it at the March meeting. “We posted the RFP 06/18/2024 … the evaluation committee selected Nucleus Driver Tech as the top ranked respondent,” Anserra said, describing the vendor selection and the proposed three‑year term with three optional one‑year renewals. The integration would connect FLVS’s online driver education to state motor vehicle departments for students to complete required tests, and the vendor’s platform would include teacher and parent dashboards and pilot driving simulations, she said.

Board member Dr. Tony Arsa pressed staff on procurement choices, asking why the board would exercise optional renewals rather than issue a new RFP. Anserra said United Safety Council’s existing contracted rates are well below current market prices and that renewals were contemplated in the original solicitation; she added staff would consider going back out to market in the future. “We are looking at options to potentially bring that in house or look at another provider,” she said regarding the Teleforce call‑center contract.

Anserra told trustees FLVS plans a two‑year extension of the current DriversEd.com contract to run concurrently while the Nucleus pilot and implementation occur. For United Safety Council, staff requested an additional spending authority of $4,125,000 for each optional renewal year; Anserra said FLVS is reimbursed 100% of those funds by local counties using local funding (as stated in the workshop).

Other consent items Anserra previewed include a proposed one‑year master license agreement (with three optional one‑year renewals) to continue licensing courses from ACT (described in the workshop as “formerly in Maui”) and routine updates to FLVS employee contract templates. She said the ACT agreement and a vision insurance contract (separately presented in the benefits discussion) were still in negotiation and would be brought for board action in March if negotiations conclude.

None of the contract items was voted on at the agenda‑review workshop; staff requested that the board consider the motions at its March 25 quarterly meeting. The workshop adjourned by voice vote at the end of the session.

Pending actions to be placed on the March 25 agenda include the award and CEO‑execution authority for the Nucleus Driver Tech contract, exercising optional renewal authority and increased spend caps for United Safety Council, approval of the DriversEd.com extension, Teleforce market‑increase approval (if requested), the ACT master license agreement, and updates to employee contract templates.