Midland board hears three firms’ bids to lead facilities assessment, strategic planning and bond outreach

The Midland Public Schools Board of Education heard presentations Oct. 17 from three finalist teams competing to conduct the district’s facilities assessment and help shape strategic planning and any future bond campaign.

The presentations — from Barton Malow (with K12 media and Byron Fisk for polling), a GMBB/Clark/Three Rivers team, and a Woolgast/Collaborative joint venture — emphasized integrated engineering reviews, curriculum-driven educational planning and targeted community outreach. Board leadership said administrators had reviewed 10 RFP submissions and recommended three finalists to present before a planned Monday decision.

Barton Malow highlighted a multidisciplinary engineering assessment that would include mechanical, electrical, structural and roofing consultants and tie findings into the district’s strategic plan. Barton Malow said its team would produce an engineering conditions report the district could share with the public and use to prioritize projects. "We’re going to have, basically, every discipline — mechanical, electrical, structural," the presenter said, describing the planned team.

A Barton Malow education strategist, Dr. Chris Stanley, told trustees the assessment should be curriculum‑driven: educators’ voices and the district’s strategic goals should shape what types of learning environments the facilities must support. K12 Media representatives said they would layer communications and reputation work on top of the assessment, using targeted interviews, focus groups and scientific polling to reach older voters — a demographic the presenters said composes roughly 60.59% of the district’s electorate.

The GMBB/Clark/Three Rivers team stressed local contractor relationships and education-focused planning. Kevin Bushy of GMBB said the team would combine community listening with data analysis to build stakeholder buy‑in. Three Rivers emphasized local ties: the company said many of its workforce members live in the district and noted prior Midland projects.

Woolgast and its Collaborative partners emphasized local presence and a history of K–12 projects across the region. Woolgast representatives said the firm often structures facility-assessment work so assessment fees are deferred or refunded if a bond campaign proceeds, and they prioritized community-driven planning and transparency.

Trustees pressed each presenter on several recurring issues: what the firms would do differently compared with previous assessments; how the assessment would be integrated with the strategic plan; the feasibility of the proposed timeline for a November or May election; and whether pre-election or campaign-related services were charged immediately or deferred. On fees, Barton Malow and other presenters explained that some pre-election services are often deferred until after a successful bond vote but would be billed if the campaign did not move forward.

Board members also asked about the firms’ record in districts that failed recent bond bids and requested examples of mistakes and corrective actions. Presenters described instances where additional field work corrected incomplete assessments and said they would return to verify any items missed in an initial walk‑through.

President Roush said staff would assemble an "apples‑to‑apples" comparison of the finalists’ proposals and cost estimates before the board’s Monday meeting. The administration noted it had received 10 RFP submissions and had invited three finalists to present at this special meeting.

The board did not take a final selection vote at the Oct. 17 meeting; trustees said they expect to act at their regular meeting on Monday.