Fort Worth ISD trustees approved $15M in purchases in July. Here’s what they are buying
The Fort Worth ISD school board listens to a presentation in the Fort Worth ISD Administration Building on July 16, 2024. (Matthew Sgroi | Fort Worth Report)
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Fort Worth ISD trustees approved over $15 million in new spending during its July 23 board meeting, targeting areas such as special needs services, dual credit education programs, and security and facility enhancements.
Other purchases include investments in educational resources such as professional development and curriculum support, including textbooks and software for the coming school year.
Here’s what trustees approved during their July 23 meeting. Trustees Anne Darr and Kevin Lynch were absent.
Services for students with special needs
What is it? Trustees approved the district to authorize and negotiate with 10 vendors to provide specialized educational services for students with special needs. These services include diagnostics, occupational, physical, speech language and music therapy and will be tailored to any district student.
What’s the cost? $2,000,000
Who’s the provider? SHC Services; Accountable Healthcare Staffing; Sweet Pea Pediatric Therapy; The Stepping Stones Group; Soliant Health; Clearly Speaking; Ideal Personnel Services LLC; Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services; Pristine Rehab Care LLC; SpringHealth Behavioral Health
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous
Partnership with Fort Worth nonprofit Tarrant To & Through Partnership
What is it? The board approved a contract with Fort Worth nonprofit Tarrant To & Through Partnership to support the district’s goals for college, career and military readiness, providing students with structured pathways to achieve their post-secondary plans.
What’s the cost? $1,458,750
Who are the vendors/providers? Tarrant To & Through Partnership
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous
School supplies for elementary schools
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of school supplies for all elementary students across the district, ensuring every child will have immediate access to the tools needed for instruction.
What’s the cost? $1,365,000
Who’s the provider? Educational Products Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous
Dual credit courses and OnRamps with University of Texas at Austin for 2024-25 school year
What is it? The board approved an agreement with the University of Texas at Austin to implement an OnRamps program for the 2024-25 school year, offering college courses to high school students through a dual-enrollment model.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $1,000,000
Who’s the provider? University of Texas at Austin
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous
Contract with Jet Security for security patrol services
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with Jet Security for unarmed security patrol services for campuses and other facilities. Services include security guards, fuel and vehicles for night patrol during the school year and 24-hour patrols during summer months, as well as standing guards for facilities on an as-needed basis.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $728,100
Who’s the vendor? Jet Security
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Agreement with Education Service Center Region 11 for Texas instructional leadership training
What is it? Trustees approved an agreement with Education Service Center Region 11 as the vendor to provide training and support to 13 district schools that have been awarded a grant by the Texas Education Agency. The grant will be spread across two years to enhance teaching and leadership at these campuses.
What’s the cost? $698,425
Who’s the provider? Education Service Center Region 11
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Textbooks for dual credit courses and other Tarrant County College resources
What is it? The board approved the purchase of dual credit textbooks for students participating in dual credit courses offered through the Tarrant County College district and their high school during the day.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $650,994
Who’s the provider? Tarrant County College and Barnes & Noble Bookstore
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Agreement with Texas Tech University for the Principal Fellows Program
What is it? Trustees approved an agreement with Texas Tech University to provide the district a 15-month Principal Fellows Program, which will allow the district and the university to work with six current campus leaders who aspire to be principals. Those selected will earn a master’s in education administration. The agreement comes after a grant was provided to the district by the Texas Education Agency as an opportunity to increase the number of instructional leaders by building sustainable leadership pipelines and growing principal residency programs.
What’s the cost? $626,500
Who’s the vendor? Texas Tech University
Where’s the funding coming from? Texas Education Agency Cycle 7 Grant ($450,000) and general fund ($176,500)
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Social studies instructional materials
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of physical and online textbooks and program resources currently in adoption across the state for sixth through 12th-grade students.
What’s the cost? $560,379.18
Who’s the vendor? Cengage and National Geographic, Houghton-Mifflin and McGraw Hill
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue and general fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Middle School site
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of a property located at 3200 Pecos St., Fort Worth, for necessary improvements to the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Middle School site.
What’s the cost? $410,000 (plus closing costs)
Who’s the provider? Moises Diaz and Micaela Diaz
Where’s the funding coming from? 2021 bond program
What was the vote? Unanimous
Physical security equipment, licensing and services
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of camera, access control equipment and installation services for the district’s safety and security department.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $400,000
Who’s the vendor? Digi Security Systems and Mobile Communications America
Where’s the funding coming from? TRE
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract renewal for teacher evaluation services
What is it? The board approved a contract renewal with the state’s Education Service Center Region 11 for Eduphoria STRIVE and Aware Premium to provide the district a solution for managing the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System and to create teacher assessments.
What’s the cost? $395,452
Who’s the vendor? Education Service Center Region 11
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract for professional development of district leaders
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with Lead4ward, who will provide services to support the work of campus leaders by helping them understand state and federal assessment and accountability systems.
What’s the cost? $395,295
Who’s the provider? Lead4ward
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Curriculum support services
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of the TEKS Resource System, which provides curricular and assessment resources aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Components of the system provide resources that support teachers with providing data-driven standards-aligned instruction.
What’s the cost? $385,689.90
Who’s the provider? Education Service Center Region 11
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
World Languages Institute school site
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of a property located at 4905 Benbrook Highway, Fort Worth, for necessary improvements to the World Languages Institute school site.
What’s the cost? $375,000 (plus closing costs)
Who’s the provider? Interior Fabrics
Where’s the funding coming from? 2021 bond program
What was the vote? Unanimous
Literacy instructional support and progress monitoring tool for Spanish bilingual and dual language programming
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of a Spanish supplemental literacy instructional resource and progress monitoring tool to ensure that dual language programs provide high-quality instruction.
What’s the cost? $360,200
Who’s the provider? Istation
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contracting services for Trimble Technical High School
What is it? The board authorized a contract with Waltz Construction for contracting services related to the district’s Trimble Technical High School in supporting a renovation to the school’s welding lab.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $340,000
Who’s the provider? Waltz Construction
Where’s the funding coming from? 2017 bond program
What was the vote? Unanimous
Contracting services for Applied Learning Academy
What is it? The board authorized a contract with Morales Construction Services Inc. for contracting services related to the district’s Applied Learning Academy in supporting theater classroom stage lighting improvements.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $303,000
Who’s the provider? Morales Construction Services Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? 2021 bond program
What was the vote? Unanimous
Data governance platform for capturing district-wide data
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with Qualtrics at Carahsoft for a data governance platform with a K-12 service navigator that has previously “proven to be essential” in capturing district-level data for the “various strategic plan priorities, initiatives and action steps.”
What’s the cost? $298,421.05
Who’s the vendor? Qualtrics at Carahsoft
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Subscriptions for music software
What is it? Fort Worth ISD purchased music software subscriptions to gauge knowledge, skills and the growth of each music student over the instructional year. The platform embeds materials, graded repertoire and sight-reading, as well as graded assessment tools. The platform also measures the impact music educators have on their students.
What’s the cost? $244,633.20
Who’s the provider? MusicFirst
Where’s the funding coming from? Federal pandemic relief funds
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Industry-based certification preparation materials, practice tests and exam licenses for Career and Technical Education students
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of certification preparation materials and practice tests for all certification exams for students enrolled in the business, engineering, architecture, visual and audio arts, and computer science programs.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $238,071
Who’s the vendor? Certiport
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract to keep My Brother’s Keeper and My Sister’s Keeper in FWISD schools
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with Fort Worth nonprofit Strategies to Elevate People of Color to keep the My Brother’s Keeper and My Sister’s Keeper programs in operation within district schools. The two programs aim to empower students to become informed about educational equity, participate in school-related activities and community service projects.
What’s the cost? $237,000
Who are the vendors? Strategies to Elevate People of Color
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? 6-1, with trustee Michael Ryan against
Renewal of program and professional development training for district AVID teachers
What is it? Trustees approved the renewal of a contract with AVID Center to provide professional development training for district AVID teachers. The AVID college readiness system provides support for prospective first-generation college students.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $200,000
Who’s the vendor? AVID Center
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue ($66,944) and general fund ($121,328)
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract to provide community-based supported employment training for students with disabilities
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with Fort Worth nonprofit Amplify to provide students with disabilities the opportunity to gain real-world work experience in a variety of settings outside the school environment.
What’s the cost? $196,350
Who’s the provider? Amplify Fort Worth
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract for social-emotional learning and academic curriculum for special education students
What is it? Trustees approved a contract with RethinkEd, a web-based program providing a suite of tools designed for students in specialized classrooms. The focus is to address loss of learning, increase rigor and support their social-emotional learning and mental health.
What’s the cost? $170,100
Who are the providers? RethinkEd
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Music instructional materials
What is it? The board approved the purchase of music instructional materials through a customizable digital platform offering on-demand access to standards-aligned music education for pre-K through eighth-grade students.
What’s the cost? $130,725
Who’s the provider? QuaverEd Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? Federal pandemic relief funds
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Software for coordinating student assessments
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of TestHound, a K-12 assessment coordination software designed to streamline the management of student testing accommodations, campus testing schedules and materials tracking for state assessments.
What’s the cost? $125,052
Who’s the vendor? Education Advanced Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Software to manage district mobile devices
What is it? The board purchased software from Apple to manage district mobile devices, enforcement of policies, deploy applications and monitor device health.
What’s the cost? $118,503
Who’s the provider? Apple
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Online student learning resources and professional development for Leadership Academy Network schools and instructors for the 2024-25 school year
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of online learning resources and professional development from Renaissance Learning Inc. for the district and Texas Wesleyan University’s Leadership Academy Network, designed to accelerate student achievement related to reading, as well as build the instructional capacity to drive student achievement.
What’s the cost? $105,239.90
Who’s the vendor? Renaissance Learning Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Cybersecurity curriculum for students in cybersecurity program
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of curriculum for students enrolled in the district’s cybersecurity program, which will prepare them for the CompTIA Security+ industry-based certification exam.
What’s the cost? Not to exceed $102,690
Who’s the vendor? Coherent Cyber Education
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Renewal of software system to create, monitor and evaluate campus improvement plans and district improvement plans
What is it? The board renewed a service agreement to obtain a software system to create, monitor and evaluate school improvement plans.
What’s the cost? $101,200
Who’s the provider? 806 Technologies
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Nonviolent crisis intervention and de-escalation training
What is it? The board approved the purchase of training services to train a core team of personnel at each campus in behavior management and the use of restraint and time-outs. The training will cover prevention and de-escalation techniques, positive behavioral supports and alternatives to using restraint.
What’s the cost? $99,273
Who’s the provider? Crisis Prevention Institute Inc.
Where’s the funding coming from? Special revenue
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Art instructional materials and professional learning for art educators
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of resources provided from PRO Learning, which allows for targeted support for each visual arts teacher and develops skills needed to provide appropriate instruction for artistically trained teachers.
What’s the cost? $88,603.68
Who’s the provider? The Art of Education University
Where’s the funding coming from? Federal pandemic relief funds
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Support for district Wi-Fi
What is it? Trustees renewed a contract to ensure that no district network system bears too much demand so that users are not waiting in queue to access district applications.
What’s the cost? $65,087.60
Who’s the provider? Netsync
Where’s the funding coming from? General funds
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Agreement for parking at Young Women’s Leadership Academy
What is it? Trustees approved the district’s month-to-month lease agreement with the property at 210 E. 7th Street for parking at Young Women’s Leadership Academy.
What’s the cost? $61,091
Who’s the provider? 210 E. 7th Street LLC
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Contract renewals for On Data Suite and Texas Student Data System
What is it? The board approved contract renewals with the state’s Education Service Center Region 11 for On Data Suite and Texas Student Data System to support the submissions of student data, such as student demographics and academic performance, as required by the Texas Education Agency.
What’s the cost? $57,009
Who’s the vendor? Education Service Center Region 11
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Online student assessment platform
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of TEKS Banks, a state-hosted online student assessment platform designed to facilitate the creation of state-certified assessments as it offers a collection of high-quality assessment items.
What’s the cost? $53,295
Who’s the vendor? Education Service Center Region 11
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Directory software
What is it? Trustees renewed the software that provides automated backup and restoration of the district’s directory.
What’s the cost? $52,701.44
Who’s the provider? Mobius Partners
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Agreement with University United Methodist Church for visitor parking for Paschal High School
What is it? Trustees renewed the district’s agreement with University United Methodist Church to provide 32 parking spaces during the school hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for students and staff at Paschal High School.
What’s the cost? $52,000
Who’s the provider? University United Methodist Church
Where’s the funding coming from? General fund
What was the vote? Unanimous; the item was on consent agenda.
Edward J. Briscoe Elementary School site
What is it? Trustees approved the purchase of a property located at 1356 E. Roberts St., Fort Worth, for necessary improvements to the Edward J. Briscoe Elementary School site.
What’s the cost? $40,000 (plus closing costs)
Who’s the provider? M. Flores Company LLC
Where’s the funding coming from? 2021 bond program
What was the vote? Unanimous
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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