School Board adopts revised DJED procurement policy addressing bid thresholds and emergency purchases

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board voted on Jan. 19 to adopt a revised procurement policy (DJED: Bids and Quotations) that the minutes show covers advertising and contract requirements for public works, bid security, materials and supplies procurement thresholds, emergency procurement definitions, bid advertisement procedures and bidder disqualification standards.

Dr. Curt Green requested approval of the revised policy. The motion to adopt the DJED revisions was made by Ms. Debbie Schum, seconded by Mrs. Sherry DeFrancesch, and passed on roll call with 10 yeas and 1 nay (Morris).

Key points in the recorded policy text include: the requirement to advertise and let by contract all public work estimated to exceed $250,000; requirements for bid bonds or certified checks (up to 5%); written contracts and performance bonds for awarded construction work; rules prohibiting artificial division of projects to evade bidding; provisions allowing electronic submission of bids; procedures and timelines for bid addenda; and disqualification or rejection grounds tied to specified Louisiana statutes (multiple La. Rev. Stat. citations are recorded in the minutes).

The record includes redlined or edited numeric references in the materials/supplies section (for example, both $20,000 and $60,000 appear in the text). The minutes record the policy language as part of the official record but do not supply a separate plain-language summary of which numeric edits represent the final adopted values beyond the embedded text. The board adopted the policy as it appears in the minutes.

Why it matters: The revised DJED policy governs how the district procures construction and supplies and defines thresholds and processes that affect contract awards, vendor competition and emergency response for district facilities work.

The board proceeded to award contracts and other business after adopting the policy.