APS board agrees to seek new governance‑coaching RFP after week‑long feedback window
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Summary
After debate over timing and evaluation criteria, the Albuquerque Public Schools board authorized issuance of a new RFP for student‑outcomes‑focused governance, asking members to submit edits within one week for executive‑committee compilation; staff estimated the full procurement timeline around 61 days.
The Albuquerque Public Schools board voted Feb. 18, 2026, to proceed with a new request for proposals to hire a vendor to provide coaching and professional consulting to support student‑outcomes‑focused governance.
Board members debated whether to finalize evaluation criteria at the meeting or allow more time for new board members to review materials and provide input. Board member Jackson said he supported moving forward, arguing coaching "would protect us from drift and distraction" and would accelerate onboarding for new members (Board member Jackson). Procurement staff advised that a new RFP was required because the prior evaluation committee no longer reflected the current board and that a typical timeline would be "around 61 days" from posting to selection (Procurement staff).
Several board members pressed for technical clarifications and proposed edits: updating the district strategic plan name to "APS Rising," adding explicit vendor expertise in facilitating large‑scale community engagement and data synthesis, and giving Martinez‑Yazzie/DEI proficiency its own weight in evaluation scoring. Other members favored keeping the existing template but changing weighting and clarity around transparency and scoring.
The board agreed to a process: board members will submit edits to the evaluation template within one week (deadline set to Feb. 25); the executive committee will compile and reconcile suggested changes for staff to bring back. A roll call vote authorized staff to proceed with the RFP process including the 15‑day feedback window. The board did not select a vendor or adopt final scoring weights during the Feb. 18 meeting.
Next steps: staff will post the RFP after the executive committee finalizes the evaluation criteria; procurement estimated vendor selection would follow the posted timeline once criteria are set.