UCPS committee refers sole-source purchase of four battery kits for Forest Hills High automotive program to full board

Union County Public Schools curriculum committee members voted Jan. 28 to send a sole-source procurement request to the full school board for approval of four battery kits from Switch Vehicles for the Forest Hills High School automotive program.

Dr. Rogers introduced the item and said staff had submitted a memo requesting the purchase. Brian Davis, identified in the meeting as the district’s director of career readiness, described the instructional benefit: "This what these are, these kits really are, opportunities for them to have more hands on opportunities to work with the batteries versus just having to tear down and rebuild the battery pack in the car itself." He said the kits will let students work directly with battery components outside the vehicle.

Committee members had no follow-up questions. A board member moved to send the item to the full board for approval; another member seconded, and the committee approved the referral by voice vote ('Aye'). The motion to refer was procedural only; the full board will make the final purchasing decision.

The memo accompanying the item (referred in the meeting) contains cost information that was noted as available to committee members but was not read into the record during the discussion. That cost information was not stated aloud in the meeting transcript.