Board presses district to prioritize local partners in mentoring program RFP

Trustees used a policy discussion to press district staff for details about a mentoring-program request-for-proposals process that produced a short list of vendors. Several trustees urged the district to favor community-based organizations that have existing ties to Moreno Valley students and families.

"We want mentors for our kids. We want people who know our community, not people from the outside of the community to come in to mentor our kids," Trustee Williams said during the board's discussion of vendor selection and service models.

Staff replied that the RFP included standard nonnegotiables (curriculum, insurance, paperwork) and that final vendor contracts will come to the board for approval in a future meeting, with an item potentially scheduled for Sept. 8. Staff also said they will report which finalists are locally based in a Friday memo and that several local providers that worked with the district last year (Family Is All That Matters, Empowered to Flourish, Youth Writers Camp) are on the list.

Community concern: trustees and public speakers cautioned that some smaller community organizations find district RFP processes burdensome and asked staff to consider ways to include smaller, local providers or pilot programs so students can receive culturally and locally aligned mentoring.

Next steps: staff will return with the contract list and include information about vendors' ties to Moreno Valley in the Friday update and in upcoming contract approval items.