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Union raises conflict-of-interest concerns over Formative contract and enrollment projections
Summary
Union negotiators told MPS officials that a quarter-million-dollar contract with Formative Technologies employs the superintendent’s former chief of staff, raising conflict concerns; the district said the contract was procured through a cooperative RFP, disclosed to the board, and provided enrollment projections showing a projected 439-student decline.
Union representatives raised conflict-of-interest and procurement concerns during bargaining after naming a quarter‑million-dollar contract held by Formative Technologies and noting that the superintendent’s former chief of staff, Mary Dillon, works for that vendor.
“Formative Technologies is where the superintendent’s former chief of staff, Mary Dillon, is employed,” a union negotiator said, pressing the district for details about how the contract was awarded and whether there had been a competitive solicitation. The union said principals are seeing enrollment projections that do not align with local data and that inaccurate projections could compound budget stress.
District staff responded that the Formative contract was procured through the district’s contracting office via a cooperative RFP process, which they described as an accepted practice to achieve competitive pricing and training; the district said the board had been informed about Mary Dillon’s prior role. “Everybody on the board knew Mary Dillon was my former chief of staff,” a district speaker said, noting the matter was disclosed and the contract was vetted through committee processes.
District staff also described the purpose of the Formative engagement: to obtain cohort-based enrollment projections and training so the district can run its own projections. The administration provided districtwide projection figures in the session, saying projected enrollment would fall from 57,204 to 56,765 next school year (a decline of 439 students), with 59 schools projected to see declining enrollment and 56 projected to increase.
The union asked whether the contract had been competitively bid; the district said it followed the cooperative RFP process and said it would provide additional procurement documentation and clarifications in follow-up communications. Both sides committed to exchanging documents: the union will send its contract list and the district will provide procurement details and projections.
