00111, 2026 meeting agenda. There being no objections. The February 11, 2026 meeting agenda is adopted. If there are no corrections, the January 28, 2025 meeting minutes shall be approved as distributed. There being no corrections, the minutes are approved. So now we'll move on to public comment. And there are 4 public comments for tonight's meeting. Um… We will start with… Zinnamma Esparza Acero. Advocacy for immersion programs. Oh, Ms. Dimena, are you there? Yes. Hello? Yeah. Um, is my camera on? No, ma'am, we can't see you currently. Sorry? No worries. Uh, Miss Conley, can you queue up our, um… Next to speakers. Yes, ma'am. So that they can… Um, okay, um, is it on now? No, ma'am. But we can hear you. Alright, I'm sorry that my concern, I think I'm having some, um. Um, technical issues,
002but I'm sorry. Alright, um… Alright. Um, thank you for allowing me to speak at this meeting, and good evening, members of the Prince George County Board of Education. My name is Ximena, and I am a student of both of Mandarin Chinese and the Spanish immersion Proems. Here are the possible closure of these province worries me deeply. Because immersion education is not just… How about learning a language, but it is also about opening doors to the world. Through immersion, students gain fluency, cultural awareness. and real-life opportunities, especially in a globalized society, speaking more than one language. creates access to international careers, higher education opportunities, and strong communication skills. Girls like hours also allows students to end. The Maryland State Seattle and take exams such as the STEM AP. And AP which recognizes years of hard work
003and dedication. Personally, this program gave me a sense of belonging and allowed me to study abroad and. grow academically, closing the immersion process will take away these life. 10 opportunities from future students. And I respectfully ask you to reconsider and protect this province. for the next generation. And if you love what you do, sorry. Also, I, um. I speak in Spanish, I will really… Um, well, thank you for that. educacion al condode de Prince George. Y hoy hablon nosro por mi, sino por muchosientes queen encontera nuesros programas una… cultural pensamiento critico y una vision global del mundo. y profesionales alargo plazo. examine es como el apros que representa anos forces decacion. Prami esta programa hacie una oportunidad unica para creciones sera los programas de emeraciones investigar. experiencia transformador. nuestra comunidad cultiva. Which will assist. I
004just wanted to ask for my English program gave me a sense of belonging and allowed me to study abroad and grow academically. And I think closing the immersion product will take away these life-changing opportunities from future students. I respectfully ask you to reconsider and protect. These prones for the next generation, and, um, thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Acero. Next, we have… Jillian Brockwell? And currently, I do not see her listed. At the moment… We will come back, um… Wait a stalker? She is here, let me queue her up. Alright, there we go. Ms. Wade, it is all on you. And you're currently on mute if you are speaking. Alright, sorry! I thought I had unmuted it. Thank you for allowing me to participate this evening. I am a retired public school teacher.
005With over 40 years of experience, who's now working with. little pre-K kids. But I am so impressed with this Chinese immersion program. That this is a program. that needs to be continued. It needs to start there at Paint Branch. Maybe you need to make a lottery system. Maybe you need to schedule the classes a little bit better. With your English and your Chinese teachers, maybe that needs tweaked. to help with the budget. crisis. But it needs to continue. to Greenbelt Middle. And then, why isn't it centrally located at Eleanor Roosevelt? Which is a STEM school, and this is ideal to continue this. Right now, this budget. You are investing. 3,423.42. into 500. And 55 children. If this were more centrally located paint branch. Greenbelt Middle, Eleanor Roosevelt. I think you would attract so many more
006high school. students. This gives many children. After 13 years from kindergarten to 12th grade. They can go out in the world, and they could get a job. and be translators, working with. all kinds of companies. I have a neighbor whose son works for a Tesla. subsidiary in Atlanta. He's in his mid-20s. He is making over $100,000. thousand dollars. working to translate and communicate. with world leaders, business leaders. financial leaders around the world. Why? Because he can speak. Chinese and Japanese. And this is critical. We always use that phrase. It's for the children. Well, this is for the children. So, I am urging you, please keep the program. Thank you. So… Thank you. Next, we have Karina Lawrence. Okay, it says that… She has declined, but Miss Karina. Please make sure to accept the panelist request.
007So you were able to share. Your comment… Um… while waiting, did… Did we get, uh, Jillian? She's still not on the meeting, I do not see her. Or is she still not here? Unfortunately. And… Ms. Karina has not accepted the… request to speak. Okay. Well, with that, we will move on to our presentations for the evening. Uh, the chair recognizes. Mrs. Howe, Chief Financial Officer. For the student-based budgeting and minimum school funding update. Thank you, um, Committee Chair. going to McCants, um, welcome to board members and community. Um, I am going to turn it over to Director. Siobhan Smith, who will walk us through an update of the school budgeting process, along with the amendment update discussion. Thank you, Chief House. I'm going to share my screen. All right, can everybody see my screen okay?
008Yes, okay, thank you. So, good evening, as she pau mentioned, my name is Siobhan Smith, Director of Budget and Management Services, and I'm going to give two presentations. We'll start with a budget update, particularly surrounding. Um, minimum school funding, um, and our student-based budgeting process. So… And some of these slides may look familiar. Bringing Up Blueprint again. So, as you know, I want to make sure that it's clear. how our schools are funded. Um, and so, as you know, we receive. funds from MSDE. Um… Based on our wealth equalization, and so, um, it is important that when we receive our preliminary state aid, when we factor into our revenue calculations. We have, uh, that wealth equalization data. Um… along with our enrollment counts and our per-pupil amounts, and you know that that will total. Um,
009our revenue per program for Blueprint, um, and those programs include foundation. Um, it includes SR-based funding for every eligible student, and just a friendly reminder, when we say eligible student. Those are our certified enrollment counts as of September 30th, 2025, for school year 26-27. Um, we also get funding for our farms. students, um, and that is for our compensatory education program. Um, our ML students, our special education, our pre-K. Um, and so the transitional supplemental instruction, I want to remind everybody that that is going away. Come July 1, so this. fiscal year 26 is the last year that we get funding. Um, restricted funding for what we call TSI. Um, we will still receive funding for our college and career readiness. Um, and then, of course, concentration of poverty that is for our community schools.
010It's important to know that Blueprint mandates a. a local share. We are finding that, as of right now, Prince George's County is no longer, um. a minimum contribution, I mean, we get… we are now a maintenance of effort county for fiscal year 27, as it stands right now, based off of. Um, the Wealth Equalization data that came through. Um… Friendly reminder that minimum school funding is based off of. A certain percentage must follow the students, and so for our unrestricted programs, all that we talked about. foundation, comparable wage index, Comp Ed, ML, Special Education, and our. Pre-K. 75%, the public pre-K, 75% of the funds that we receive must follow the students to the school. On our restricted side, since we no longer have TSI, it's just our college and career readiness, 75% of those
011funds must follow the students to school. And then lastly, we have our concentration of poverty, 100%. Must follow the students of school, and we say PPA, remember that is our per-pupil amount. Um, and that is for our traditional schools and our charter schools. Um, and so we're going to kind of talk a little bit about how. these allocations are calculated. My office, we are in the process. of calculating. The school allocations. So, Blueprint dictates the revenue, what that total allocation is. However, the student-based budgeting is a portion of that total allocation. It does not represent the full allocation. The student-based budgeting is the discretionary portion. of the allocation that principals can now. plan and budget for. But there are some funds. That are locked. So we have two types of locked funding. We have our
012school-based. And then we have our centrally managed. The school-based lot, whether it's positions or discretionary. It follows, it goes down to the school. It's already allocated to the school, it's just that principals don't control it. They can see it. But they don't control it. They don't control how it's spent, they don't control the amounts. Um, and then we have our centrally managed locked funding. And that is managed through central offices. But it stays in a central office call center. Um, and so one of the challenges, we've talked about this in the past, one of the challenges that we face is ensuring that. we have some type of allocation process to pass those fundings, get it out of central office call centers, and allocate it down. to our schools. Um… So that when we are trying
013to meet minimum school funding, it is taken into account all costs that support each individual school. That net allocation… That represents our student-based budgeting. And so that is what principles are anxiously awaiting to receive at this present point in time. And so, this just represents. our process, the planning process. Right now, we are asking principals to think about their budgets, even without having your allocation, what you do know. You know your building, you know your programming, and you know your enrollment, you know your current enrollment, and you know your projected enrollment. And so with that, you should be able. To kind of map out, alright, if I get on or about. the same allocation I got last year. This is how many positions I purchased, this is what discretionary funds, this is how I allocated
014my discretionary funds. this is what I think I'm going to need. If I have to be… if I have to reduce. This is where I'm going to reduce. Um, and you want to review those budgets with your ID. So we're asking principals. To, once they receive their allocation, and we'll go over the timeline in a second. Um, review… their plan with their ID, and then, ultimately. the budget tool, which we call APEX, will go live, and they'll be able to enter those individual line items into the tool. Um, and then ultimately, they will be ready for implementation. And so when you see the timeline here, I mean, this is basically the timeline that went out to every principal. Um, at a high level. Um, but when we talk about planning and reviewing. their budgets… We
015want them to show up to their school budget work sessions, or clinics, as we call them. ready to go. Budget is loaded into the tool. Um, they've already discussed. With, um, their IDs. On top of that, they've already had meetings with their HR partners. They understand their staffing. Um, and there are prepared and ready to go. Um… the tedious part is once the tool is live, they're gonna originally, when they get their allocations, it originally will be in a workbook. And then once the tool is ready to go live, they will transfer that workbook, the budget plan in the workbook, into the tool. That's the most tedious part. Um… and then ultimately, we are hoping to have everything finalized no later than April 21st. So with that being said, that's just a very high level,
016um, where we are in the budget process. So, as you know, proposed budget, um, budget book is out, and now we really need to focus on our individual schools and making sure that they can plan out their budgets. For the following fiscal year. So, I will stop here, pause, before we start talking about the board budget amendment process. Board members, do we have any questions? Seeing none. We will move on to the amendment process. Okay, thank you. Okay, so… As we know that the Board of Education, um. may have changes that they would like to make to the superintendent's proposed budget for fiscal year 27. Those changes primarily are maybe based off of, um, public feedback. Um, that they're receiving, whether it be individually or collectively within their districts. Um, and so with that being
017said. Um, in the past, we've tried to have a very, um… Specific process, um, but every board member works different, feedback comes different, and so we wanted to be a little more high level this year. Um, being that we try on the front end to do a lot of work to make sure that our board members. really understand the, like, the changes, the reductions, the accelerants. What we're asking for, what we've reduced, and why. However, if there is. A proposed amendment, an idea, and it doesn't have to be fully fleshed out, but if there is an idea or a conception. We ask that the boards just don't wait. Start submitting it through their tracker. Um, but if you do, please make sure that you select. the Business and Management Services Division. Um, just so that
018we can make sure that it gets routed to the Budget Office, even if the amendment is concerning. a specific division, please always select BMS so it will come to the Budget Office, and we will then, from there, you know, if we need to collaborate with other divisions, we can. Um… and as much as possible, add as much detail as you can. The purpose, the rationale, the physical impact, if you know it. Um, any implications that you know? If it's a reversal of a specific reduction or just something. Different. Um… If it's dealing with staffing, or if it's strictly discretionary, um, just as much. information, as you know. Um, and of course, we can work with the board office, um, through the board office to make sure that, um, board members. their ideas and their amendments
019are clear. Um… but also, please just keep in mind, because. Of the state of our economic affairs right now. any change that maybe adds funds back to the budget, we will have to find. and offset somewhere else. We can't afford to add to the budget. Um, so we would… we would have to find a trade-off. Um, just wanted to make sure that that was clear. And so, as you receive. public commentary, um… And as amendments are being considered, you may want to. Think about maybe how we're going to factor that into our work sessions, particularly if the board is. Um, really would like for all of their amendments to be incorporated. Before adoption of the budget, um, or at least a request for adoption of the budget happens on February 26th. Um, and so it
020may just be, and again, even if it's conceptual, just allowing that discussion. Um, and then when the board will be able to vote on those amendments. So that we can make sure that we are incorporating any changes to the budget that the board would like to make. Um… Before they adopt the budget. as their requested budget. Um, and so we're going to stop there. We're back to, kind of, questions. I know we have not talked about the amendment process this cycle. Um, this year, so… I figured this could be a good dialogue for us. Thank you for the presentation, Director Smith. Board members, do we have any questions? Committee Vice Chair Brown? Thank you, Chair Goins-Mcance. Uh, thank you so much for the presentation. to the Budget Office, um, of course. Always, Ms. Smith, very
021helpful, um. with the PowerPoint and helping us understand, I think, um, for the public, just as a board member, for me. Um, because we have to go into a deficit. I don't… I can say right now, I don't plan on putting any amendments or asking for any additional. things, because I wouldn't want the. budget to be compromised, in a sense, where, um, it's already kind of compromised at this moment. I think the biggest question for me is. even throughout this amendment process, because I'm trying to understand this a little bit better, what you have here. even if we're saying, hey, we want you to follow through, or we support. do we send that to VMS, or we just wait until the 26th as board members? Do we just say, hey, we're just gonna wait to
022discuss it, but… Are you expecting board members to also say, hey. We don't… we do want this to change, we are in alignment with that… with the administration based on. Um, constituent feedback, or is that something we wait until the 26th? to talk about and do. So I think two-fold. So, I think if the intent for you, um. Board Member Brown, if you're like, I don't intend on submitting. Um, an amendment, then yeah, you absolutely can publicly state that during the board meeting on the 26th. Um, if other board members. Potentially are thinking about any changes, whether it be further reductions or some type of add-back. that's when we would… we would hope that, you know, to send something through the tracker just so that we're tracking it. Um, and then also think about how,
023ultimately, you know. how and when the full board would review and vote on any of those changes, what that may look like. Um, over the next 3 weeks. Thank you, doc. So, and just… and just to add to that as well, at the board meeting on the 26th, the board will be voting on. The requested budget that will be transmitted to the county. And it is, in total, but it's also by the 15 state-mandated. expenditure categories as well. And so, if there's going to be a potential amendment. We need to know that in advance, so we have a budget to bring to the meeting for the board members to vote on on the 26th. So if it happens on the floor. we wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to incorporate those recommended changes ahead of time.
024So having it by the 19th. gives us less than a week. To then incorporate those changes, so we can then update the board action summary that would be presented to the public early. Prior to the meeting on the 26th. Uh, board members, do we have any additional questions? I appreciate, um, you all clarifying that even though we're calling this an amendment process, it can be. in addition to the budget or further subtractions. We've had a lot of. questions about that from constituents. So, thank you so much for clarifying that. Uh, seeing… No more hands? Uh, the chair recognizes Chief Howell for the fiscal year 26 procurement reporting. Thank you again, um… Uh, Chair Goins McCants. Um, so this reporting that will be provided by the Purchasing Director, Ms. Danerica Johnson. Um, we'll provide an overview
025of procurement expenditures for. 2025 fiscal year. As well as year-to-date fiscal year 2026. Um, we've had a few different, um… Presentations with the board and governance policy committee. Um, around the procurement process and some of the, um, enhancements that we've been making around the process itself. And that will continue to be an ongoing effort over the next. Um, year or so. Um, it's a huge effort, huge undertaking. But this will provide some insight into, based off of the current board policy. as it stands now, the procurements by the major categories. that requires either approval of the procurement, um, by the authority of the purchasing director delegated to. Um, that role by the superintendent. Or, um… the, uh, approval that's been provided by the board. So, um, with that being said, I'll turn it over to
026Director Johnson. For the procurement update. Well, good after, uh, it's evening, good evening, everyone. I wanted to get started with the presentation. I'm going to, uh, actually share… Share my screen… Right. Okay, can you all… Okay, can you see my screen now? Okay, great. And so, um, just like Chief Howell mentioned, we are going to go over. just a few items that we've been tracking since FY24. I think that was, like, one of the first years that we really did capture data in, um, purchasing, and so I have a quick little agenda, and what we're going to go over is. The review and procurement methods, and then the traditional processes that we use at PGCPS. At the end of the presentation. Fortunately, you all will not be subject matter experts in procurement or in purchasing
027procurement, but however, it will give you a great understanding of what it is. Uh, and how these methods and our processes align with some of the awards that we've been doing. And then we'll go over the procurement timelines, and then we'll show… I think that's the fun part of showing some of the comparison data that we've been collecting since. Uh, FY25… I mean, 24. So, the first slide here, it talks about the procurement methods, and so we use. a plethora of methods that are approved, um… Methods of procurement, and they are invitation for bid. Invitation for bid, just gonna give you a quick synopsis of what they are. Not gonna read everything on the slide, but the invitation for bids are typically. When you know what their requirements are, and price is your indicator of…
028your goods and services. You really just want the best price. When we look at requests for proposals. That means that, um… There is something there that you want to evaluate, whether there's a process, there's something, so you want to evaluate it to make sure that you are getting. Um, the answer. to your situation. Most of those times, they are, um… evaluated, and so you will talk about an evaluation process. Then we go into governmental. Cooperative purchase agreements, and then we call those ICPAs. Some of you all may call them rider agreements, you may call them. Oh, sorry. Um, I got an update. Um, sorry about that. Some of you all may call them ICPAs, you may call them writers, you may call them bridge, you may call them piggybacks. Um, but what they are is
029another entity has prepared a solicitation. They've gone through the competitive bid process. They have made awards, and that they have opened up their contracts so other. users, just like PGCPS can actually use their contract as long as the statement of work and the intent of work is the same. And so, those have been competitively solicited and awarded. And then you also have, um, your procurements. Service agreements, those, um, or agreements that we have that have not been. competitively big, but those are services that PGCPAS cannot provide on their own, and so, therefore, we need the help from others, and those are the professional services agreements. We also had two more categories, which are emergency contracts. Uh, which deal with the life safety of our students and our PGCPS family, and then also we have sole
030sources that we use very rare, because. That means that only one supplier can actually provide us with this service. So those are the methods in which we generally use. Uh, in purchasing. We're gonna talk about the process really quickly. And so, what, um… there's a planning part of the process, because when you think about procurement, you're like, why does it take so long to do a procurement? Well, here's the reason why. Because we meet with every department, and we plan. We make sure that there's solicitation. is what is needed. We're going to review and provide them with guidance and one of those methods that we could use for them. And then we're gonna work with them all the way to the end, and so we're going to plan that out. Then we're going to actually
031prepare the solicitation. They're going to help us with writing the scope of work, the statement of work, the specifications. And any other information that is needed. We're going to issue the solicitation. our solicitations are typically issued on email and Marketplace, which is the state of Maryland. website, and we also receive them on that same website. We also do the same thing on our PGCPS. Um, website as well. The only reason why we really like to steer. vendors to the… EMA website is one you gotta submit your proposal there, or your offer there. But then the second thing is, once we post, you get an immediate notification that it's out there. When you go to our… our portal on the PGCPS website, you don't get immediate notification. So that's why we always say, please make sure
032that you're registered there. So that you can get those immediate notifications, so that you can have enough time, so that you can actually prepare your solicitation. And then there's an award and evaluation phase, and so we are checking to make sure that those are responsive, responsible bidders, and then following those, uh. different award requirements. Based on the solicitation itself. And then we also do in the purchasing department, we do the funding, we generate purchase orders. Um, and then also with the help of BMS, we actually pay individuals. Uh, once we receive the goods and the services. So, let's talk about some timelines. So, we've talked about the RFP, we've talked about. All of the different phases that the RFP would go into. Right now, we are typically around a year to do a. RFP, and
033a couple of the areas in which we are. heavily trending on spending a lot of days and a lot of time is in the preparation and planning. For many years, we've been doing other things as opposed to planning and preparing our solicitations. We want to make sure that we. spend that time there so that we can get good quality vendors and hopefully new vendors, so that they'll know what the expectations are from PGCPS. And then we're just going to spend a lot of time in the evaluation, because we want to make sure that we get it right. Um, that when we are evaluating based on the criteria in which we set in the solicitation. So, um… Who needs to approve? you know, a request for a proposal. And that is, is that if the proposal
034cannot be awarded based. Um, to the highest technical and lowest priced responsible and responsive. offer, that would have to go to the board. If that, um, criteria is met, then the Director of Purchasing can actually. approve that particular solicitation. We also have IFBs for construction and for non-construction. Usually, the IFBs for construction take just a little bit longer than the ones for non-construction, because they need to stay out there, um, being published a little bit longer because of the technical. Um… requirements that they have with making sure that they. submit and review the specifications or provide us with specification and drawings. Remember, I said, with an IFB, that means that price is the determining factor, and so there is no award. I mean, evaluation period for… Uh… ISBs. And then, if an IFB. And a
035bed cannot be awarded to the lowest responsive… responsible bidder, then that has to be reviewed by the board. of education, if we're able to. award to the lowest responsive and responsive bidder, then the purchasing director can. Uh, and does. execute those contracts. Then we had the other two that we have, which are your ICPAs, which are your rider agreements, and then also your professional services agreements. Those typically take us. About a month to review, to process, and then to issue. their contract awards. Those do not require. Um, approval by the Board of Education. So, then we talk about our thresholds. And so, we've talked about small procurements. Small procurements are those that are issued under $50,000. There is this graph here that shows you. What are the required documents that need to be reviewed and
036attached. for our small purchases. Um, if it is, I'm just gonna take one. If it is $15,000 to $14,999. Then, yeah, 3 quotes are required. Um, and then we strongly, highly recommend that one of those quotes are from. Ah, a minority-owned business. Um, we also have, on my right-hand side, we have the state. statues so that you could go back and look at, um, the state statutes when it comes to. Um, and it's also the state statutes is our purchasing manual as it exists right now, and then, uh, the COMAR, and then those. Or they are on the right-hand side. So, now we come to the comparison piece, and I've mentioned to you all that we've talked about FY24, 25, and then mid-year 26. And we've talked about, you know. What is required for board
037approval, what is required that the director purchasing can approve, and then we broke it down by those different contract areas that we've been talking about. So, in FY24, the board actually approved. 20 solicitations, and 25 is 16, and this year, just alone, it's been 47, uh, contracts that the board has looked at and reviewed. We have, um… for IFBs, the purchasing director, you can see that that is a. Beautiful trend upward, because to me, in FY26, that means that we actually awarded 26. I'm sorry, FY24, we actually awarded 26. Formal bid solicitations, and you can see just in FY26 that we've trended and that we've awarded 53, and that is definitely where we want to be. We want to make sure that we're issuing our own PGCPS solicitations. And then, in the emergency contract. in
038FY24, there were 7. Fy25, there were 8, and then so forth, and 26, we've only had one emergency contract. then you can see that for the ICPAs and the riders, we trended around 113, 111, 55 were right on track with what we've done before. But we've got some, um… ways that we want to make sure that we stabilize that number, um, and we could talk about that. That's one of the last things I want to talk about on this slide. And then you have your… your PSAs, your agreements, and so you can see that that number, just looking at it from FY26, that's a little high, so we're going to make sure that we look at that number so that we can see. Why is that number a little high, and so that we can
039try to stay within the trend, or. we can pivot and do something different, so we want to look at that. And we also have the small purchases, and so you can see that we are trending on the same. amount with the, uh, small purchases, and that is a lot of small purchases in which we. actually procure. Then we had, uh, sole sources, and so we have none. To date, um, I'm sure that we will have a couple in FY26. And in this last column, this talks about procurement finalizing for the border. For board approval, and that's 176. So we have been actively working on solicitations to pre-qualify vendors, and so we are finalizing those. And so, those… Um… those proposals, those vendors, that solicitation would generate into 179 contracts. Which would mean that we could
040reduce the number of PSAs. ICPAs and small purchases that we use, because now we will have those vendors under contract. And so that's… that's very exciting for us. And that doesn't mean that we wouldn't do more. in the later part of the year, so we're hoping that that number actually continues to grow. Here is a table when it looks at the dollars that's spent, and so… Um, of course, we are definitely mindful of. the budget and the budget constraints that we have, but in purchasing, we're just looking at, you know. Um, with the requests that come in to us, are we able to issue them using competitively bid processes? And so that is. what we look at as far as a trend, and that. This doesn't relate, you know, one-on-one with the… with the budget.
041Because they have to give us the request before we can actually issue the solicitation. So, as you can see, um… these numbers, um, or for the Board of Education, at first it was 64.9 million in FY20. 26 were trending on 19.3, but then in FY26, it was 17.3. When we talk about the formal bid process. You can see that we trend around $40 million, probably on track for that. the emergency contracts, there's no way to, you know, kind of look at those numbers. And provide some trends for those. Um… the ICPAs, that number. Um, is there… not sure if it will grow or not, because we want to make sure that we're really looking at the next column, which is your public, I mean, procurement service agreements. And so we really want to make sure
042that we are. are turning those non-competitively bid. procurements into a competitively bid. procurement, which is in the form of a formal bid or an ICPA. So that is one of the focuses that we have. And then, as you can see, that we didn't have any sole sources, but those that I was saying that we're finalizing for the board approval, that's, um, $15.5 million, and so, uh, that… That we have, so we're looking at just trying to, uh, increase. that number, because that gets you in those categories of being formally bid. procurement. So, let's talk about FY25 in review. And so, we have the data for FY25, we've shown the data here as it relates to the divisions. Um, that we have. Uh, and so you can see that. You know, we have a lot of
043contracts and a lot of dollars. that go to academics. operations, and then to schools, and then a couple in some of the other areas. But running a school district, that's what you would definitely trend in that you would think that you would see. So that is what we've seen in FY20. 5, and then in… for mid-year, we wanted to show that, and so right now. We are trending with. Um, those areas which I mentioned, which are still. Um, a lot of the procurements that we. actually execute. And, um, the dollars that are associated with those particular departments. I think that we are at the… oh. Oh, this is actually a very important slide, and I wanted just to say that I don't do this by myself. I do this with my team. I have a
044very good team. We, um, work very well together, but I also want to just. that you all know that 98% of the staff have earned either their certification. from the university public procurement Certification Council that is nationally recognized. The NIGP Institute for Public Procurement, which is nationally recognized as well. or the state of Maryland Procurement Academy, which is state recognized in some of. the team members have more than one certification, and so I wanted to make sure that you all knew that, um. That… that fact about the tape. And I think that I can turn this back over to Chairperson McCask, if there are any questions. Thank you so much for the presentation. I see Board Member Brown's hand is already up, so we will start with Committee Vice Chair Brown. Thank you so much,
045Chair Goins McCants, and thank you so much, Ms. Johnson, for the presentation. Thank you so much. My husband is a contracting officer in procurement, so… a lot of the language I was very familiar with, but I am not a subject matter expert. by any means. Um… I did want to have a couple of questions that I wanted to ask. The first thing I wanted… because we are… looking at deficits, what are they doing to drive the price down. during this solicitation process. So that's actually a really good question, and so we are entering into negotiations with these firms, and so we are asking for best and finals. most of the time to see if they can provide us with a lower cost. But then, if not, then we're negotiating. Now, are… do we do, as
046a… school system? Do we do firm fixed pricing, or do we do more labor hour contracts? We do a mixture of all. And it just depends on what the service is. Okay. Okay, and I only ask because we know that, like, firm fixed pricing will put. you know, we'll put more… financial pressure on the vendor, right? But, however, in labor hour. potentially cuts more into strain… it will strain the school system, and that's why I asked. When we're thinking about, you know, monitoring our funding. you know, I'm asking these questions to make sure that we're getting, obviously, the most fair, reasonable price. down, um, and the cost down as much as possible. So, that was the reason why I was asking that question, because I am concerned that. Um, you know… people may be asking
047for more than what they… what they can actually provide. So, um, I just want to make sure, like. we are… when it's cut off, it's cut off, and this is what we're going with moving forward. So, um, but no, I thank you so much, because you guys do ask for 3. three, you know, when you do… when you do the solicitations, you are asking for multiple bids, um, which is a good sign, and so I just wanted to, um, discuss that. But thank you so much, Ms. Johnson. Thank you. Yes, good evening, everyone, and apologies I'm unable to be on camera. Um, so I just had a quick question. In the same vein, um, just… In light of the… budget cuts that we know are… are upon us. Um, I'm aware. One moment. I'm aware
048that there are… Um, changes that are being made to, um. to our purchasing, um, policies to vendors that we currently work with, some of which I'm sure in an effort to cut costs. Most of which in an effort to cut costs. Um, I don't know if this… Question should be directed towards you, Chief Howell, or, um, to someone else. But can someone just, for the public, speak to. what the changes, um, are that are currently. Um, being put in place, whether temporary or otherwise, to. Um, decrease the number of vendors, and I'm assuming potentially reassess? Um, our vendor, um, and purchasing relationships. Sure, I can speak to it at a high level, and then Director Johnson can add anything additional that she'd like to be able to. to share. Um, currently, right now. Our primary
049focus is to ensure that the procurement relationships that we have with vendors are with the district. and vendors, and not individual schools or offices and vendors. Obviously, we have over 200 individual schools, um… And we need to make sure that as a district. that we are abiding by and in compliance with our own board policy. That sets spending thresholds. for a particular vendor. And if we're below that threshold. Director Johnson has the authority to sign up on those. contracts with those vendors. If they're above those thresholds, we want to make sure that we are. Going through a competitive bidding process and leveraging our purchasing power. To negotiate the best terms and conditions on behalf of the district. Um, sometimes you may have a need or a service for goods, um, or services that is specific
050to one individual office. But when it comes to our schools, oftentimes. it's going to be a benefit to more than just one school. So we have to make sure that we're evaluating that collectively. to ensure that we're getting the best terms and conditions on behalf of. Um, the district as a whole. But also making sure that we're in compliance with the established board policy. So it's really working towards. Um, having these, uh, consistent, um. contracts with vendors on behalf of the districts, and following the correct procurement. method in order to arrive. Um, at those contracts. Thank you, Chief Howell. Board members, do we have any additional questions? Seeing none, thank you so much, Director Johnson, for your presentation. Paragoin's been canceled, I do see, um… Yeah. I'm sorry, if I can, and I don't know
051if we're going into the second round, I just had a follow-up to that question. So, just to conf… if I may. Dr. And if all? Okay, yeah, so the follow-up to the question, thank you, Chief Howell, um. is… so, does that mean that. current vendors that we have current vendors who maybe we've had over time. Where, again, perhaps temporarily. We are, you know, ending. contracts with vendors to reassess. Is that… is that correct? Is that what you're saying? So I can speak to the process that we're going through. Obviously, as a district, we have to ensure that operations can continue. And so you can't just shut off goods and services and be left with a solution that's not going to be amenable to support what we need. Um, so, uh, Director Johnson and her team.
052have been working through a process, and it varies depending on. The vendor, the service, the good… to establish short-term contracts. with vendors that will allow us enough time. to enter into, um, and to complete a procurement process that would take a little bit longer based off the timelines that you've seen. Some of those other procurement methods may involve. Um, a writer, which, as you saw, doesn't take as long as a full-blown RFP. Um, but sometimes it could be an entire RFP process, it could be one vendor. We could go through an RFP or competitive bid to pre-qualify several different vendors. Um, but it's basically a two-step process. Enter into short-term contracts. With vendors to allow for services and operations to continue. Until we're able to get to a longer-term procurement. Um, method that's complete, and
053to be able to transition our vendors over from the current process to. to longer contracts. Um… But it's a process, and some are just sort of continuing with the current contracts that they have as we're sort of navigating through. this change. Thank you so much, that's helpful. Thank you. And now we'll move to, uh, recognize Dr. Coleman, our Chief Operations Officer. For the EFMP and Educational Specifications presentation. So, thank you, and good evening, Committee Chair Goins McCants, Vice Chair Brown, Board Members, and community stakeholders. Uh, the Prince George's County Public School System is in the most active. period of school construction and renovation since the 1970s. Since the approval of our current educational facilities master plan in 2017. PGCPS has delivered 17 major projects, with 12 more underway. This evening, Associate Superintendent of Supporting Services,
054Mr. Jason Washington. and the director of the Office of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development, Mr. Sean Matlock. will provide school construction updates, including upcoming summer school moves. and the status of the new Margaret Brent Elementary School and the new Templeton Elementary School. At this time, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Washington. Good evening, everyone. Let me load the presentation. And I have the pinwheel of death, uh, from, uh, Apple. Um, here, so… Hopefully. If you pull down, I can try to share on my end. Yep, hold on. That's the problem, is that it's frozen. Of course. Uh… Um… See if this helps. I had it on full screen, so maybe… I've been given the ability to do so, so… There we are. All right. I think we may have lost Mr. Washington for
055a moment. No, I'm here. Uh… Yeah, I'm here. I don't see the presentation, so does anybody else see the presentation? I'm sorry. Oh, you are? Can you see the screen? Yes. Everyone else… Yep. Yeah, you can see it. Yes, we… We're on slide 2. summer relocation plan for 2026. I think he actually disappeared this time. Alright, so why don't we go ahead and get started? So, as a part of our aggressive school construction program. Including both blueprint schools, as well as the CIP schools, we will undertake the most aggressive summer relocation plan. in the history of PGCPS. So, you can see here the number of schools that are moving. We will have 7 school moves. this coming summer, Spring Hill Lake Elementary School will be moving to the. What is now the Door Kennedy French
056Immersion site. Dora Kennedy French immersion will be moving to the Robert Goddard site to be co-located with the Montessori program. James Duckworth Regional School will be moving to the original Kenmore Middle School site. Templeton Elementary School will be moving to their new Templeton Elementary School. Glenridge Elementary School will be moving to the Margaret Brent. elementary school, John Hanson Montessori School will be moving to the. currently vacant Potomac Landing School and Schmidt Center is not moving off of their location, but we're going to be. moving internally in that space as they conclude their capital, uh. project. So, at the same time, we will be relocating at least 3. administrative facilities, 1601 McCormick Drive is currently under. a letter of intent. We are finalizing the lease, and we'll be able to move staff. into that new facility
057to help offset the building concerns that we have from staff in substandard work locations. So all of these relocations will be completed by early August. And our goal is to have no disruption to school activities. And I'll turn it back over to Mr. Washington to pick it up with the timeline. You're on mute. Yeah, uh, thank you, sir. Um, so, right now, we are in the middle of. selection of move managers. Uh, we have finished a procurement for task orders, uh, and now are reviewing the, uh, respondents. Uh, in this particular case, to kind of spell it out, we, uh. created a, um, a pre-qualified list of a small group of move vendors. to allow us to identify vendors quicker as we prepare to support. for schools and their moves. Um, we've also worked with
058the schools to identify move coordinators. And, uh, all departments are now doing an audit of materials in the school. Uh, this will happen throughout the winter. We've done most of it, and so now we're moving into facility coordination meetings. development of mood management calendar and purge… and the most important part is purging and packing of materials. Um, one of the big things is, is that since we are two schools moving into new facilities. They have all new FF&E. And so, a big push, as well, is working with the. warehouse to move furniture around that is in steel, uh, still good and useful, uh, condition. Uh, as a way of saving costs as well, to prevent the need of buying additional new FF&E for schools. Finally, this summer, uh, we moved forward with move activities. All
059of our moves are scheduled to be completed. by the 1st of August to ensure that there is no disruption. Uh, in the, uh, educational program. Uh, at each school, uh, and they will be staggered to ensure, uh, maximum. Uh, effort to get the schools moved in on time. Uh, in some cases, schools will have to adapt, uh. registrars to different facilities for the summer, and they will instruct. They will instruct each school community, uh, when to do so. Next slide. Uh, and now I turn it over to Mr. Matlock to give us an update on the, uh, two upcoming schools. Uh, good evening, board members. Uh, we have, uh, two schools that will… new schools are opening under P3 program. Uh, and, uh, the first of which is Margaret Brent Elementary School. Um, this is
060an overview of the schedule. So, as you can see, we're through design permitting. Uh, we started to work on the superstructure, we started building the envelope. Uh, we completed that, um, we started building systems, that's just about done. And now we're going into the interior finishes, so roughly 70% done. Uh, on this building, and we're going into the… to the part where we're. Finishing interiors and really making the site look like a school site. Uh, next slide, please. So, again, we're working on that exterior facade, um, the brick installation's roughly about 80%. complete. Our MEP wall, in-wall, and overhead rough-ins are happening right now, so we're closing in. Uh, a lot of the pipe work, uh, site work, site roads, curbs, gutters, that's all being installed now. And, uh, utilities, the permanent power is energized.
061We got water and sanitation lines that are tied into the main. Uh, gas lines or installations completed, telecommunications conduit and installations are all completed. Next slide, please. Uh, here are a few photographs of the school in progress. Next slide, please. Uh, as you can see here, here's the exterior facade. You can see the brickwork that's going up on parts of the building. Next slide, please. This is the overview of the site. As you can see how, well, the parking lots and entrances and exit are being laid out for this school. Next slide, please. So, next up is Templeton, which is also at 70%. I'm not going to go through each one of these, because we're basically at the same spot we are. With, um, uh… Margaret Brent. Uh, and next slide, please. So, we got
062the Building and Foundation superstructure complete, the geothermal wells and vaults. And both schools have… are getting geothermal and, um. Uh, solar, so they will both be roughly net zero. Uh, the building envelope and roofing installation is being completed, the exterior facade, again, 80% complete, the ME wall and everything like that is going in. And in the kitchen walk-in cooler and hood installations are in progress now at this site. And this is an overview, an aerial view of the school as it looks now. You can see it looks like a school now. Uh, next slide, please. These are some of the interior work, these are your cafeteria spaces. Next slide. Uh, these are some of the finishing work that's going on in some of the classroom spaces. Uh, next slide. And with that, we are open
063for questions. Thank you, board members, do we have any questions? Yes, thank you so much, Dr. Coleman, and. Uh, so Jason, I really appreciate you all's time and, um. And Mr. Matlock, as well, for giving the presentation. I did have a question about, uh, Dora Kennedy. Of course, I feel like. Um, they've been a little… for a number of years, um, they have made requests. Obviously, to be in a new building, um, that has been the number one request. I do not believe Goddard was… An ideal place, I think that's the best way for me to say, um, for them is, I guess, the requests. for them, um, did we think about other options? Um, and why was Goddard the only place that we. solidified the space ad, um, because even though it's not in
064my district, I do have a lot of families that send their kids there. Thank you so much. No, I have to say thank you so much. Sure. No, go ahead, sir. Board Member Brown. So, when we started this process and looking at, uh, the long-term facility plan. Actually, Dora Kennedy was slated to go to Kenmore. Uh, middle school. That was the initial, uh, I identified space, uh, because it was a… singular school, um, and, uh, had a footprint big enough for the campus. Uh, that was resoundingly rejected by the community. So that, so… and then… We went back to the drawing board, and the only option that became available at that point was Robert Goddard. And what helped to get to that point is, prior to moving into their current. Old Greenbelt Middle School site,
065they were co-located at Goddard with Robert Goddard Montessori. So, so this was more of a. going back to where they were. Um, then, uh, just put upon them, so to speak, in terms of. of the facility. as it relates to, and we've talked to the PTSA at Dora Kennedy, um, and they have started to engage with the Department of Capital Programs as we talk about. last, um, Obafa, we were talking about the EFMP and the long-term planning. They have engaged, uh, the planning department at Capital Programs. to advocate for a new facility. I think the bigger. the bigger challenge for this particular school is that it's regional, so it's around finding a location. Uh, if we are… if it gets down to that point, is… is that of identifying what's possible. Um, but… but that's…
066the history of how we ended up, uh, landing at Robert Goddard. Thank you. And I wasn't sure, and Dr. Coleman, if you had anything additional you wanted to add. No, I think Jason covered it. Um, he gave a very comprehensive response. Thank you. Are there any additional questions? Um, I do have one. I think in a similar vein. It comes up often, like, one of my schools that is. In the situation of needing to move. It comes up often, like, how are these buildings. selected, how are we picking where schools go, where students go. What is the overall process for that? So, I… so what we do, first and foremost, is we look at. available buildings and facilities. Uh, to take a step back. I want to say, in the last 4 years, uh, PGCPS
067has had 7 building failures. So, what we've had to urgently move out. uh, facilities, schools, etc. So, for instance. Templeton Elementary School. And, uh, new feral wood. We're not part of Phase 2. They were added because of building failures, and we condemn those buildings. And so, so what ended up happening was that we had additional free buildings that are now occupied. And so, what we look at is available, uh. stock of schools. At the time, with the recognition that we want to. keep open swing space opportunities for unfortunate incidents, like. uh, school failures or issues like that, and also for school personnel. and administrative staff. So we have administrative staff in two. recently closed schools that we wanted to close, but we can't because we now need that for admin space. And so, what we
068start with is. What, uh, facilities are available in our portfolio. Uh, because we do not have the funding to just look at leasing. Uh, as an option, uh, that's there. We start with our, what do we have? And then, uh, proximity, uh, to, uh, the school locations. And then many times in this case with one school in particular. that school reached out to us and asked to move to a specific building, because they knew it was vacant. And so, so what we start with is, what is our, um, our need, what is our available, uh. portfolio of buildings. And then, uh, working to see if it makes sense, and. Um, that's really… that's really the process. Uh, I can say starting next school year, we will have no available. building. For swing, for emergency, and
069we never want to be in that position. And so, so that's where we are moving aggressively to build as quickly as possible. So that we can free up. Uh, because next summer, we will have. three school facilities that open back up. That gives us some flexibility. And so that's, that's really how it… how it works. These are not in… 80% of the time, it's not a convenient location. Like, it literally is trying to factor in what's… what's… approximate distance, uh, what makes sense from, you know, delivering the program. Uh, and in certain cases, it does. include potentially renting space. So, Hyattsville Middle School, we are renting St. Mark's. um, Catholic school, because it was in the area. And it did not create. a burden on transportation and the community, because it's a mile away. Uh,
070and we had utilized that site for another school. Um, so, so that's, uh… factors that play into it, but we have a long-range plan that we try to stick to. Uh, and identify available space. Yeah, and if I could just add, you know, Mr. Washington did a great job of outlining. kind of the operational constraints and variables that we have to consider with respect to school moves. I just also want to highlight that we also are in direct communication throughout the process. with the academic and instructional team, the school administration, to consider what the potential impact will be. on the instructional program, which is the whole. purpose and goal behind what we do. Uh, we will not place students into spaces that are not conducive to supporting the instructional program, and we can say that
071with confidence because we do. communicate in, uh, throughout these processes with the academic team. with the school administrations to ensure that we're not compromising what needs to happen for children. Thank you so much, Associate Superintendent Washington. And Dr. Coleman, as always, for your presentation. Uh, Director Matt Luck. Um, I think we've lost, uh… Director Smith, but Chief Howe as well, thank you all for. Uh, giving us these updates this evening. And… with that… I want to remind everyone to please join us for our budget work session tomorrow, February 12, 2026. Be sure to sign up on the PGCPS website if you would like to share feedback via the public comment, or excuse me, public hearing portion of tomorrow night's. Meeting. Please be advised, the next virtual operations budget and fiscal Affairs Committee meeting will be
072on March 18th. 2026. Continue to check the Prince George's County Board of Education website for meeting information and updates. And with that. Thank you all again for being here. There being no further business. The time is now 6.48 PM, and the February 11th, 2026 Operations, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee meeting is adjourned.