Travis Unified board approves ELOP plan and authorizes RFP to explore vendors for expanded learning

The board voted to approve the district's current Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) plan and authorized staff to issue a nonbinding request for proposals to assess vendor capacity for expansion.

Nick (speaker 2), describing the state-mandated plan, said the district currently operates programs at Center, Travis and Scandia, serves about 150 students and is proposing an RFP to solicit community vendors to serve all five elementary schools and sixth graders at Golden West. "We are, letter of the law, required to offer an ELOP program to those targeted students at all those schools," Nick said, explaining the district must make a good-faith offer for eligible students (English learners, low-income, homeless and foster youth) to access programs.

Board members asked detailed questions about eligibility, fiscal risk and capacity. Staff cautioned that the RFP itself is nonbinding and does not obligate the district to execute contracts; the RFP's purpose is to gather proposals and cost estimates that staff would return to the board to consider. Nick and other staff highlighted a tiered state funding model and said a governor's proposal could establish a higher fixed rate, which would make planning easier.

The board made a motion to approve the current plan and to allow staff to proceed with the RFP process. The motion passed after a second and an affirmative vote. Board members emphasized that the approval at this meeting was not an authorization of contract funding; any future contracts would return to the board for approval after staff evaluation of proposals and costs.

Next steps: staff will issue the RFP, evaluate proposals against the criteria described in backup materials, and return with contract recommendations and a budget analysis for board consideration.