At the Jan. 14 work session, assistant superintendent for business and finance mister Flores presented the district’s annual purchasing cooperative fee report, noting the report is required by Texas Education Code section 44.0331(b). He explained the district participates only in cooperatives that have been explicitly authorized by the board and that cooperative participation and vendor fees offset administrative costs associated with procurement.

Mister Flores listed recent eligible rebates reported in the packet: $20,462 from BuyBoard, $11,497 from Amazon, and $2,195 from Choice Partners. He said cooperatives enable the district to use existing contract numbers to speed purchases when campuses need materials quickly while still allowing the district to solicit additional quotes for high-value purchases.

Trustees asked whether cooperatives equate to sole-source procurement and whether the district can prioritize small, women-, or minority-owned businesses. Mister Flores said the district generally avoids sole-source procurement; vendors in cooperatives are vetted and, when the district issues RFPs, the scoring matrix can include extra points for certified small/WMBE firms. A trustee (mister Resendiz) asked specifically whether such vendors receive points; staff confirmed the RFP evaluation matrix allows for that consideration.

Staff said the cooperative list is brought annually and committed to providing the board the page-level details referenced in the presentation. The item was informational; no procurement approvals were voted at the work session.