Trustees of the San Antonio Independent School District have approved a request to exempt district officials from the usual competitive bidding process when purchasing heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.
SAISD attorney Pablo Escamilla said Monday the vote will allow the district to make purchases more quickly when problems arise.
“Normally, when you procure HVAC equipment or boilers, you have to go through a tender process or an RFQ, and that takes months. It takes a long time,” Escamilla said.
“Now staff can quickly source and install the services they need or the HVAC equipment they need. And if the cost exceeds $250,000 – that’s the amount that’s allocated to the trustee – they just come back to let you know,” Escamilla told trustees.
Several SAISD campuses struggled to keep classrooms cool during the first week of school last week.
SAISD officials predicted that heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems would fail during the August heat waves, so they created a plan to relocate students to other campuses if necessary.
In a letter to families the week before school started, Superintendent Jaime Aquino said the district would have to ask voters to approve a bond to raise the $575 million needed to completely repair and upgrade the district’s heating and cooling systems.
