Hillsborough County issues ITB for Head Start educational partners; bids due Nov. 21

Hillsborough County's Head Start Department held a pre-bid conference on Oct. 27, 2025, for ITB 25-00275, inviting licensed child-care providers to submit competitively sealed bids to serve as educational partners for Head Start and Early Head Start. Dawn D'Amina, the county's chief buyer, opened the session and reminded attendees that "this meeting is not mandatory" and that only written addenda will change the solicitation.

County contracts manager Maggie Jones said the solicitation seeks partners that meet Head Start Performance Standards and state and local licensing requirements, and she urged bidders to review the solicitation attachments, including classroom materials and the Head Start calendar. Jones said contractors must provide classrooms of at least 750 square feet and allow a minimum of 35 usable indoor square feet per child, with Head Start classrooms sized for 20 children and Early Head Start classrooms sized for eight.

Dane Telfer, manager of fiscal services for Head Start, said site visits will play a critical role in the selection process. "I strongly encourage everyone to look towards exceeding the expectation, not just to to meet it," he said, adding that the county will evaluate facility layout, playground quality, parking, drop-off/pick-up procedures and ADA compliance during on-site inspections. He noted the county prefers modern playground surfaces and described the outdoor space requirement as providing a minimum of 100 square feet of usable playground space per child with rotation so the outdoor area accommodates roughly half the enrolled children at any…