El Paso ISD board approves leases, software and service contracts as part of consent items

During the June 2 special meeting the El Paso ISD board approved a series of consent items covering facility leases, software subscriptions, assessment purchases and contract extensions.

Joel Valencia, director of operations, said the renewal of the state agency license agreement to lease 135 parking spaces to the El Paso Psychiatric Center generates about $8,000 a month in revenue for the district. Trustees approved the lease renewal.

Other approved items included:

- Renewal of the PDC center lease (training facility) with the city, required for staff and teacher training.
- Purchase of a Plan for Learning and Title I compliance package from 806 Technologies ($110,000), funded with budgeted federal Title I funds.
- Exercise of the fourth and final option to extend the Stepping Stones Group LLC contract for special education‑related services (speech, OT, PT), budgeted not to exceed $127,550; administration said the vendor is used primarily to fill service gaps when staff are on leave and charges are hourly (about $80/hour).
- Purchase of Advanced Placement assessment suite to cover roughly 6,000 students and ~7,000 tests (budgeted up to $684,898).
- Renewal of Checkpoint email security software ($185,926) and continuation of the Zendesk work‑order platform to manage technology and other departmental tickets. Procurement staff said Zendesk use has reduced the ticket backlog from ~10,000 to ~2,000.
- Renewal of the ERP/CIS (Frontline) system used for budget, HR and student information.
- $15,000 for migration services to move archived board records from Novice into Peak for public access.

Administration said most items were budgeted and routine annual renewals or necessary operational systems; trustees approved each item and the chair announced the motions carried 7–0.

Why it matters: The purchases cover day‑to‑day operations, federal compliance, special education contingencies and student assessment infrastructure. In the context of the district’s fiscal review, trustees emphasized continued scrutiny of spending and scheduled additional budget review sessions.

What happens next: Most items will proceed as budgeted; trustees asked staff to continue reviewing contracts and look for cost reductions where feasible.