By Adam Pagnucco.
Back in September, I reported that MCPS was planning a massive boundary review contract stemming from three events: the reopening of Charles W. Woodward High School in North Bethesda, the opening of a new Crown High School in Gaithersburg and the expansion of Damascus High School. Together, these three projects affect 19 of MCPS’s 25 high schools and a similar proportion of its middle schools. Studying this many boundaries simultaneously is a HUGE project.
MCPS had one responsive bidder to its RFP: FLO Analytics, which has offices in Portland, OR; Seattle, WA and Beverly, MA. FLO is a GIS and data analytics company whose services include but range far beyond school district boundary studies. FLO reports having worked for Portland (OR) Public Schools and New Lenox (IL) School District 122 while MCPS notes that it has worked for school districts in Philadelphia and Harford County, MD.
The contract resolution states this about the contract’s price:
Resolved, That Montgomery County Public Schools enter into a contractual agreement with FLO Analytics to conduct and facilitate a school boundary review in the amount of $605,677, plus an allowance of $400,000 for additional or optional services, as required or requested, based on the unit rates provided by FLO Analytics.
The fact that MCPS had to extend its RFP deadline and still got just one bidder pretty much confined it to hiring FLO or doing the study internally. Neither the contract resolution nor the presentation to the school board indicate whether the study will adhere to its initial tight timeline, a subject of concern for the county’s PTA organization. However, these two slides from the school board presentation confirm its hulking scope.
The school board is due to vote on the contract on Thursday, November 21.