Laredo ISD business committee reviews budget amendments, multiple procurement recommendations and vendor renewals

Laredo ISD's Business & Support Committee on Sept. 4 reviewed a set of budget amendments and recommended procurements that the committee is forwarding to the full board for action.

Committee highlights included three general-fund budget amendments and one food-service amendment. Staff reported BA# 25-26-06 at $142,402 (inter-fund functional transfers), BA# 25-26-08 at $34,165 from board discretionary funds, and BA# 25-26-09 at $1,294,016 to appropriate remaining E-rate balances. A food-service amendment (BA# 25-26-10) totaled $1,300,000 to fund a central warehouse freezer replacement ($800,000) and cafeteria equipment for schools ($500,000); staff said use of those funds is contingent on approval by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Procurement recommendations and renewals presented by procurement staff (Hector Mejia) included a multi-vendor renewal for athletic equipment and apparel (RFP 23-022); unemployment compensation insurance through TASB Risk Management Fund (estimated $92,868); cooperative contract purchases for testing materials and instructional supplies across grade levels (multiple vendors recommended); a student-attendance data-management system from RAWE K12 Solutions (estimated $54,490); and cleaning supplies (Unifirst Corporation) and geotechnical/materials engineering vendors for RFQ services (six vendors listed). Committee members asked for more granular breakdowns for testing and assessment expenditures by level (elementary, middle, high) for the full board packet.

Why it matters: the E-rate appropriation and the food-service freezer request represent multi-hundred-thousand-dollar budget moves that could affect capital and operational planning. The testing-materials pool covers standardized exam materials and supports instruction across grades; trustees asked staff to provide level-by-level detail at the board meeting so members can evaluate tradeoffs.

Follow-up items: staff said the college-readiness and testing selections were reviewed by executive directors for elementary, middle and high schools and that the district will seek to limit testing to necessary grade levels to reduce cost. Committee members asked procurement to provide campus-level breakdowns at the full board meeting and to confirm whether the attendance-management system can be configured to capture casework interruptions (for example, when attendance staff are serving students in the office and cannot perform scheduled outreach).