Board pushes purchasing-policy rewrite back for clearer policy/regulation split after debate over thresholds
Summary
Board members debated a condensed purchasing policy that would raise small-purchase thresholds and combine policy and regulations; the board agreed to pull the item and return it to staff for revision that separates governance (policy) from operations (regulations).
The Clarke County Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to send a revised purchasing policy (DJE) back to staff after objections from several board members about merging the policy and operational regulations and unclear procurement thresholds.
Board members and staff discussed a rewrite that condenses a roughly 12-page policy/regulation package into a single shorter document and raises the district's small-purchase threshold from $3,500 to $10,000 to align with the federal micro-purchase guideline. Proponents, including finance and purchasing staff, said the change would reduce paperwork for bookkeepers and purchasing staff and would match many neighboring districts. Purchasing supervisor Miss Jackson said the change 'would alleviate a lot of work' and could increase opportunities for minority vendors because schools would handle vendor outreach at the local level.
Opponents raised two separate, substantive concerns. Several board members said combining the policy and regulations risks blurring governance and operations, which the board identified as a cause for prior accreditation scrutiny by Cognia. Linda Davis and others argued the board's role is governance, not day-to-day operations, and asked staff to preserve a clear separation in wording so the board cannot unintentionally overstep operational duties.
Board members and legal staff also flagged inconsistent or missing procurement thresholds in the draft. Attorney Mike Pruitt told the board the state statute governing public works bidding changed in the most recent legislative session and that the district's rewrite appears to have omitted or muddled the multi-tier thresholds that the board expects: (a) two written quotes for purchases above a lower threshold; (b) an intermediate threshold for formal invitations to bid or requests for proposals; and (c) board approval for purchases above the large-dollar threshold (previously $50,000 in the draft). Pruitt said the statutory threshold for formal sealed bids for public works was raised by the General Assembly (to $250,000) and that the policy language needs to reflect statutory thresholds and distinct procedures for public works versus other purchases.
Staff said the draft set the $10,000 figure to match the federal micro-purchase guideline and local practice. CFO Griner and staff said the district planned to keep a three-tiered approach in practice (two quotes, then a discretionary procurement step, then board approval above a high threshold) but that the consolidated draft inadvertently obscured the tiers.
After discussion, the board's consensus was to pull the item from the consent agenda and return the document to staff with direction to (a) separate policy (governance-level statements of purpose and limits) from regulations (operational procedures), and (b) correct and clearly present the procurement thresholds and corresponding procurement methods (quotes, invitation for bids/RFPs, sealed bids, and board approval). The board will reconsider the revised policy/regulation split at a future meeting.
Why it matters: The purchasing policy controls how the district spends operating funds and how it engages vendors. Administrative thresholds determine how often the board reviews and approves supplier contracts and how accessible the procurement process is to small or minority-owned businesses. The decision to return the draft preserves the board's governance/operations boundary and aims to prevent ambiguity that led to prior accreditation concerns.
What comes next: Staff will revise DJE to separate policy from regulations, explicitly list thresholds and procedures, and return a redlined version to the board for further review before final approval or placement on consent. The board asked staff to provide examples from other districts and to clarify how minority-vendor participation will be supported under the new thresholds.
