SAN BENITO — School board members are getting a crash course in purchasing practices following a $223,800 forensic audit’s findings of possible Texas Government Code violations.
During a presentation, Eddie Cavazos, the school district’s purchasing director, gave board members information on procurement methods including competitive sealed proposals, requests for proposals and requests for qualifications.
“I was extremely impressed with our purchasing director’s presentation on procurement and the law,” board member Orlando Lopez said Wednesday. “That’s exactly what we’ve been following this whole time.”
Board member Ariel Cruz said the CSP method is “preferred” for construction contracts.
“There may be one better than the other,” she said. “You can use all these methods of procurement and as long as they’re executed correctly neither is wrong as long as the board agrees on the method of procurement.”
Board President Ramiro Moreno did not respond to a message requesting information.
District starts requiring RFPs, CSPs
Last month, Superintendent Theresa Servellon said the district would begin requiring methods including RFPs and CSPs.
“We have these different ways of going into any sort of procurement practice including construction because we are trying to protect the taxpayer dollar because we are a government agency,” she told board members during a workshop Tuesday.
Outlining four purchasing methods
During his presentation, Cavazos said the Texas Government Code outlines four purchasing methods.
“All district contracts for the purchase of goods and services, except contracts for the purchase of produce or vehicle fuel valued at $50,000 or more in aggregate for each 12-month period, shall be made by any of the following methods that provide the best value for the school district — competitive bidding, competitive sealed proposals, requests for proposals (and) interlocal agreement,” he told board members. “A CSP is normally used for any and all construction projects.”
CSPs and RFPs advantages
Last month, Servellon said the district will start requiring officials request CSPs for construction contracts.
“The RFP is a proposal that has very specific criteria that needs to be met,” she told board members during Tuesday’s workshop. “As for the RFQ, it’s just for the qualifications of the consultant or the person.”
During his presentation, Cavazos said CSPs and RFPs offer more leverage during negotiations.
“The RFP and CSP gives the district more flexibility, more negotiating power to bring the price down,” he said.
Meanwhile, RFQs are used to gauge specific qualifications, Cavazos said.
“A request for qualifications is generally used for professional services when the respondents are evaluated solely on their qualifications to do the work,” he said.
Audit recommendations
During discussion, Servellon said the audit conducted by the Fort Worth firm of Weaver and Tidwell recommended the district use the CSP or RFP methods.
”That way we can get the most competitive price and have the negotiating power that we need,” she told board members. “We had a forensic audit that indicated we might not have received the best price because we should have gone about it a different way.”
Background
In September, Weaver and Tidwell released its audit, aiming much of its focus on a $40 million bond-funded construction project, which led auditors to raise questions.
The audit also focused on credit card expenditures, purchasing and procurement practices, federal funds and grants, payments to vendors and contractors for construction projects and facilities along with payments to consultants and professional services firms from Sept. 1, 2016 to Aug. 31, 2021.
