Harmony Public Schools approves vendor pool to expand pre‑K via daycare partnerships, keeps oversight role

Harmony Public Schools’ board voted Feb. 28 to approve a vendor pool and contract awards for RFP HPS2627, authorizing the district to form pre‑K partnerships with private daycare providers and to negotiate and execute contracts for the pilot program.

The administration presented the model as a way to expand access to pre‑K where Harmony lacks classroom space. According to the administration, students would be dually enrolled with Harmony and the daycare operator; the daycare would provide daily instruction while Harmony would maintain oversight, attendance reporting and enrollment lottery processes. “The instruction time is between 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.,” the executive director of early learning initiatives said while describing the partnership sites planned for El Paso, Laredo, Austin and Houston.

Board members pressed administration on how state funding would flow. Administration said current practice tied to the law typically routes roughly 85% of ADA funding to the daycare operator and leaves about 15% for the charter as an administrative fee, and that a TEA waiver could change that share. The executive director said Harmony will insist on quality thresholds for partners (the presentation referenced selection preference for three‑ and four‑star Texas Rising Star centers), require compliance with TEA curriculum expectations, and conduct announced and unannounced site visits.

An administrator known in the meeting as Joe placed the model in regulatory context, saying the arrangement layers a Harmony‑managed pre‑K over daycare sites that are licensed and overseen by a separate regulator (Texas Workforce Commission/childcare licensing). “You do have oversight and some control of the operations because these are your students. It is a site of your school offsite,” Joe said, noting the contracts include insurance, identification of Harmony students and provisions that allow the district to terminate or change partners if performance is inadequate.

Administration told the board about procurement: more than 40 daycare providers responded to the RFP and an evaluation committee recommended higher‑scoring providers for the vendor pool. The administration also said complaint channels would include the daycare operator initially and that parents could appeal to the charter if issues are not resolved because the children remain Harmony students.

A motion to approve the vendor pool and related contract authority was made and seconded; the board approved the motion by voice vote. The action authorizes the CEO and staff to finalize agreements, amendments and renewals through the term described in the agenda materials.

The administration described the program as a pilot and said Harmony will monitor quality and may wind down relationships that do not meet performance expectations. Next steps are contract finalization with selected providers, site onboarding and the administration’s planned oversight and performance reporting to the board.