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Harlandale ISD staff recommend region contracts, special-education vendors, chiller rentals and a juvenile-justice grant application
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Summary
Administrators recommended awarding Region 20 contracts for LASO 4 grant work and STEM scopes, RFP awards for ARD facilitation and speech therapy services, a chiller rental PO, renewal of ParentSquare, and board approval to apply for a $651,359 juvenile justice youth diversion grant.
At the April 15 work session Harlandale ISD staff presented several procurement and grant items for trustee consideration, including recommendations to contract with Education Service Center Region 20 for grant-supported services, award RFPs to outside vendors for special-education support, and apply for a juvenile-justice grant.
Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Miss Casey said the district was awarded LASO 4 grant funds to support instructional leadership and school improvement in 2026–27 and recommended a contract with Education Service Center Region 20 in the estimated amount of $688,700 to meet the grant’s requirement that a minimum of 70% of funds be allocated to a vetted provider. On a related campus-targeted item, Casey recommended a Region 20 contract of approximately $140,000 to implement STEM scopes at Stonewall Flanders; she said the total LASO 4 award for that item is $200,000.
On special education needs, Flores explained shortages in ARD facilitators and speech-language providers. For RFP 260014 (ARD facilitation for about 780 students), staff recommended awarding to Ethos and Larissa Luna LLC; Casey confirmed Larissa Luna previously worked in the district as an ARD facilitator. For RFP 260015 (speech therapy services for roughly 500 students), staff recommended awarding to Speech Specialists of San Antonio, Star Speech Language Services Corp, and Ethos; Flores said proposals were funded by a combination of federal grant funds and the state special education allotment.
On facilities, Flores requested authorization to rent chiller equipment through Choice Partners (estimated $150,000, funded from maintenance tax notes and the general fund) to maintain campus cooling when units fail or are being replaced; he said purchasing a chiller would cost roughly $225,000.
Flores also asked the board to approve a resolution to apply for the Texas Office of the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Youth Diversion Grant Program for FY27, requesting $651,359 to fund an attendance-tracking system and communities-in-schools reengagement staff to support attendance, truancy prevention and mental-health services. Staff said award notices are expected in early June.
Finally, public information director Melinda Garza recommended renewing ParentSquare for 07/01/2026–06/30/2027 at an initial annual cost of $72,921 (up to 3% allowable increases), noting district adoption statistics and that the purchase would be funded from general funds. Employee benefits coordinator Beverly Hubbard presented the spring 2026 employee safety and attendance incentive and recommended Brown Beef Company as a vendor for approximately $65,000, funded through the district’s self-funded workers’ compensation program.
None of these procurement or grant items was approved at the April work session; trustees asked questions and asked staff to provide scoring rubrics and additional details for vendor vetting before formal approval.
What’s next: staff will return these items for formal action at a future board meeting with supporting documentation and scoring rubrics for vendor selection.
