Board to consider approving current counsel for 2025–26 and issue RFQ for 2026–27 legal services
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Summary
Board discussed legal counsel procurement and agreed staff will present a March recommendation to retain Lane & Waterman for the remainder of 2025–26 while issuing a request for qualifications (RFQ) to solicit firms for 2026–27, citing cost and local availability as factors.
Board leadership and staff discussed whether to reapprove the district’s current legal counsel for the remainder of the 2025–26 year and whether to issue a request for qualifications for the 2026–27 year.
Speaker 5 described a common RFQ process used previously: issue a qualifications request asking for services, costs and presentations, invite shortlisted firms for interviews, score the results and bring a recommendation to the board. The speaker said Lane & Waterman was selected in an earlier process because they are local and avoid higher travel fees that larger nonlocal firms charge; the board also cited Allers and Cooney as a large firm that works with many Iowa school districts.
The board reached consensus to bring a recommended action to approve Lane & Waterman for the remainder of the 2025–26 year at the March meeting and to run an RFQ in spring or early summer 2026 to compare firms and costs for 2026–27. No formal selection vote occurred at this meeting.
Next steps: staff will prepare recommended action for March and draft an RFQ schedule to be shared with the board.