ALICE ISD trustees approve three‑vendor pool of roofing consultants to speed high‑school repairs

The ALICE ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a three‑vendor pool of professional roofing consultants under RFQ 2601 at a specially called meeting, a step district leaders said is intended to speed damage assessments and repair work at Alice High School and other campuses.

Dr. Medina opened the meeting by saying the special session was called to accelerate work on the high‑school roof and begin the district's collective response to long‑standing storm damage. "The purpose of today's meeting ... is for our collective bargaining process beginning the work at Alice High School on the roof," she said.

CFO Melissa Santos told trustees the district issued an RFQ to create a pool of consultants rather than select a single firm, and that five firms responded. "We did put out an RFQ for professional roofing consultants. We wanted to create a pool of consultants instead of selecting one individual consultant to do the evaluations of our roofs throughout the district," Santos said, and recommended B Professionals, Armco and MTech for the three‑year pool.

Santos said the consultant pool gives the district flexibility: teams can work concurrently on different projects, the pool remains available for up to three years, and the district will negotiate scope and pricing for each individual project before returning to the board for approval. She said the district hopes to start work "maybe as early as May and then work throughout the summer" to avoid interrupting the 2026–27 school year.

Board members probed the scope of consultant assessments, asking whether firms would evaluate entire roofs or only damaged sections. Santos replied consultants will inspect conditions and determine whether partial repairs are sufficient or a full re‑roof is necessary — for example, if multiple prior roof layers exist in damaged areas, a full replacement may be required.

Responding to questions about funding and urgency, staff noted inspections trace some damage to a major storm about a decade ago and said the district has received money from a legal/insurance recovery to address roof and property damage. "The insurance company provided ALICE ISD with $2 million to repair roofs," a district official said; Santos added the funds are isolated in a capital projects account and are not drawn from the district's general fund.

Santos explained the RFQ process timeline, saying the RFQ must be posted for two consecutive weeks before committee scoring and board action, a sequence that could take three to four weeks. Establishing the consultant pool now, she told trustees, saves time on future procurements because the district would not need to repeat the RFQ for each campus assessment.

Trustees also noted leak‑related collateral damage — damaged carpeting and auditorium and band room areas — and staff confirmed quotes from non‑roofing vendors (carpet, wall repair) will be part of the broader remediation and paid from the litigation recovery funds allocated to capital projects.

On a motion by Mr. Reed, seconded by Mr. Dunwoody, trustees voted recorded ayes from Mr. Iannone, Mr. Peña, Mr. Reed, Mr. Dunwoody and Mr. Starr; the motion passed. Board and staff said the next steps are to contract the selected consultants for an initial evaluation of Alice High School, return with cost estimates and timelines, and then proceed with separate RFPs for actual contractor work if replacement is required.

The meeting adjourned at 5:30 p.m.