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Committee reviews recommended special-education management system and discusses Medicaid billing process
Summary
The finance committee reviewed a recommendation to award a special-education management and Medicaid cost-recovery system to Relay Hub LLC and discussed how Medicaid billing works for services delivered in schools, including parental opt-in and typical reimbursement use.
Procurement staff recommended Relay Hub LLC for RFP 24-25-06P, a software system intended to document special-education student services, track progress and support Medicaid reimbursements and compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The committee heard questions about how Medicaid interacts with district services and how parent consent affects billing.
Procurement presenter Cesar Chavez told the committee the solicitation drew 22 views and resulted in responsive proposals; the evaluation committee recommended Relay Hub. Staff described the software as a documentation and billing support tool for school-based Medicaid-eligible services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology and some mental-health services.
Special-education staff (Mr. Montoya and Shirley O’Brien were referenced during the discussion) explained that when students qualify for Medicaid services and families provide consent, the district may bill Medicaid for services provided at school. Staff said that billing district-delivered Medicaid services does not affect a family’s outside Medicaid benefits. Montoya described reimbursement as depending on service type and said that federal funding supports some district positions such as nurse assistants and therapists; he described reimbursement ratios in discussion as varying by service (staff characterized the ratios approximately rather than providing a single fixed rate).
A board member who identified herself as a parent with a child on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) asked about parental choice; staff confirmed parents can decline to allow school-based Medicaid billing and doing so prevents the district from billing for that child’s services. Staff said parents sometimes change their decision after staff explain the implications; staff reported opting out is rare once parents understand the purpose.
The procurement recommendation for the Relay Hub contract was included in the committee’s consent motion and forwarded to the full board for approval. Staff said further implementation details — including data security, workflow integration and training for providers — will be negotiated during contract finalization.
