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Board reviews procurement, data-protection licenses and an Arista shared-savings health plan arrangement while approving grant items
Summary
The finance committee discussed multiple contracting and budget items, including an Arista shared-savings consulting agreement, Rubrik data-protection license increases, competitively awarded service contracts (charter buses, elevator maintenance, pest control, custodial services), and grant awards including a $465,120 Georgia pre-K summer-transition grant and a $13,267 IB exam-fee grant.
At the Muscogee County School District work session on May 11, the finance committee reviewed a set of procurement and budget items spanning human-resources software, consulting contracts, license renewals and grants.
Kia Chambers described an approval request for a three-year contract for FMLA-tracking software ($25,485 annually) and two purchase-order increases related to elevator maintenance. The committee also discussed a purchase-order increase to expand "Just Breathe" mindfulness and yoga services at North Columbus Elementary; staff said the school added service time and the expanded contract exceeded the board threshold.
A significant discussion focused on a shared-savings program run through Arista Consulting Group. Staff described the program as a broker/consultant arrangement that identifies employees who can obtain health coverage outside the district plan; when employees leave the district plan, the district and employees can realize savings, and Arista provides software and consulting to track participation. Board members pressed for clarity about the consultant's fee structure (flat fee versus contingency share) and requested a future presentation detailing realized savings, timing of invoices and historical performance. Staff said prior invoices from 2025 are being reconciled and that Arista has been used by the district in recent years.
On IT and data security, the enterprise-technology division requested renewal and expanded licensing for Rubrik data-protection and disaster recovery software (purchase via CDWG), citing the need to back up cloud-hosted systems (Microsoft environment) and expand recovery capability; staff said the additional licensing addresses cloud backup coverage.
Committee members also heard competitive-bid outcomes: an award to multiple vendors for on-demand charter-bus services; an elevator-maintenance contract to Georgia Elevator (Mobility Specialist) for FY2027 (not to exceed $50,000); a pest-control award to Arrow Exterminators (lowest responsive bid, contract value lower than budgeted cap to allow for trap-and-remove contingencies); and a custodial-services award for the MPEC and libraries (proposed not-to-exceed $250,000 to cover base services plus additional library carpet-cleaning costs).
Grant and budget items included an IB exam-fee grant ($13,267) and a Georgia pre-K summer-transition grant of $465,120, the latter providing summer pre-K programming and summer transportation for participating students.
What happens next: Board members asked for a follow-up presentation on the Arista shared-savings model, including how the consulting fees compare to realized savings and the invoicing schedule; staff agreed to provide additional information. Several procurement recommendations were presented; the transcript records the presentations and Q&A but not detailed roll-call votes for all items in the public portion of the work session.
