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Education Department amends Tennessee Pulse contract with PCG, adds roughly $2.5 million for customizations

3426630 ยท May 21, 2025

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Summary

The Fiscal Review Committee approved an amendment to the Department of Education's contract with Public Consulting Group to revise the scope of Tennessee Pulse and add about $2.5 million for customizations.

The Fiscal Review Committee approved an amendment to the Department of Education's contract with Public Consulting Group, LLC for the Tennessee Plans for Learning Success and Excellence ("Tennessee Pulse") that revises the contract scope to support additional customizations and increases the maximum liability by about $2,500,000.

Jennifer Jordan, assistant commissioner of special education, told committee members the platform was procured competitively and launched in the 2023-24 school year, but the department needs additional customizations to meet federal guidance and state laws (including TISA) and to respond to district feedback. Jordan said the amendment will allow faster, district-driven upgrades and revise how much can be spent on customizations each year.

Committee members probed whether the system is now so customized that the state would be locked to a single vendor in future procurements and asked why unused budgeted dollars from fiscal 2024 could not be applied immediately for custom work. Jennifer Jordan and Deborah and finance staff explained that the original contract language limited custom work (a one-time $560,000 cap) and that the amendment will change the contract terms so that up to $750,000 per year (rather than the prior one-time cap) may be used for customizations going forward. Department staff also said an RFP was issued previously and that a future competitive procurement at contract end remains their intention.

Representative Bricken questioned a specific Fiscal Review note about $4.3 million allocated in fiscal 2024 of which about $2.1 million remained unspent; staff said the funds were in the budget but language in the existing contract prevented their immediate use for additional customizations, and the amendment addresses that constraint.

The committee moved and approved the amendment by voice vote.

All direct quotations are from testimony in the Fiscal Review Committee meeting.