The Baltimore County Board of Education is scheduled to vote Tuesday, March 6, on a new $140 million computer contract. But some members of the board, as well as local politicians, want to delay a vote on the new contract with Daly Computers.
They say it doesn’t make sense to commit to such a huge expenditure when there are so many questions about how BCPS awarded its contracts. The vote comes during same week former superintendent Dallas Dance is scheduled to appear in court on charges he failed to disclose outside income that came from a firm that helps companies get contracts with school systems.
Additionally, some education advocates have said that BCPS’s plan to provide every student with a laptop will not yield benefits in line with the price tag.
In 2014, BCPS awarded a $205 million contract to Daly Computers in order to give all students laptops, which set out how the expenditures would be disbursed:
That means that BCPS should have spent $113 million through this school year. But according to the new contract proposal, it’s already spent $163 million ($50 million more than expected) and will spend $16 million more in the final months of this fiscal year, bringing the overage to $66 million.
BCPS board member Julie Henn, who is running for re-election this fall to represent the district that includes Towson, said she is concerned about the excess $66 million, and about “BCPS’ interactions and relationships with ed tech vendors and potential undue influence over purchasing.”
Julie Henn
“It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure that we are spending wisely — in the best interest of our students — not for the personal gain of those entrusted to lead our school system,” Henn said in an email.
A BCPS spokeswoman declined to comment on the contract or the expenditures, saying everything would be explained at the Tuesday meeting. The two-page contract proposal says:
“This contract will provide for approximately 133,000 student/teacher/staff devices, through a lease refresh program, in order to provide continued support of all BCPS instructional programs. In each of the next four years, devices will be leased for a four-year period, after which the vendor will be responsible for wiping hard drives and disposing of all devices at the end of the lease agreement. Administrators and teachers will receive new devices in the spring of 2018. Students in the elementary lighthouse schools and high school students will receive new devices in September 2018, while the remainder of student devices will roll out over the course of the next three years and remain in service for a four-year cycle.”
The new contract would replace the one signed in 2014.
Daly is a reseller of HP computers, and HP is a client of the Education Research & Development Institute (ERDI), which acts as a go-between to help its clients get contracts with school systems. Dance’s alleged failure to report income from ERDI was part of his indictment.
Interim Superintendent Verletta White also failed to disclose income from ERDI and said it was an “honest mistake.” She has not been charged with a crime.
There have been calls for an independent audit of BCPS, but it is not clear if or when that will happen.
Ann Miller
Board member Ann Miller said the new computer proposal “calls into question whether the new contract is needed due to the devices becoming obsolete, as the central office has purported, or whether they simply could not continue with the 2014 contract because they have recklessly overspent it. Additionally, the new contract also has a seven year term for devices which typically are phased out in four years. Are they using the long contract term in order to repeat the same pattern of overspending?”
She added that BCPS’ “central office has not even disclosed to the board which device they have selected.”
In an email to the full Board of Education, Councilman Wade Kach, whose district includes Timonium, urged members to reject the contract and put off any decision for at least a year. He cited not only the allegations of wrongdoing involving Dance, but also other needs that BCPS has.
Wade Kach
“As you are aware, BCPS struggles to keep facilities up to date. Many of our over 110,000 students attend spacious new schools. Some older schools, however, are overcrowded and require trailers as overflow classrooms. In some of the schools tap water runs brown. In addition, in budget documents, the district said it lacked the ‘dedicated resources’ for students with disabilities,” he wrote.
“It is never easy to establish spending priorities with limited resources. I believe we can reduce our financial commitment to STAT by revamping the program, while achieving our goal of improving academic performance.” Kach’s full email can be read here.
State Sen. Jim Brochin, who is running for County Executive, told The Baltimore Sun the vote should be delayed. Board member Kathleen Causey, as reported by the STAT-us blog, sent an email to board members and local politicians saying “I think this is rushing a major fiscal decision with no opportunity for all Board members to evaluate the many parameters of a complicated procurement that impacts the entire system. While I agree that developmentally appropriate, equitable, financially-sustainable and effective implementation of technology is beneficial for teaching and learning, I am not convinced that hurtling rapidly down a path set by the former resigned Superintendent is in the best interest of our students, teachers, staff and communities.”
News also broke over the weekend that a high-level BCPS official had been taking bribes. BCPS has said he was not involved in selecting the computer vendors.
-Kris Henry,
The Towson Flyer
Good story! Well balanced and informative. How can the BCPS administration say answers will be provided at the actual meeting where board members are pressured to vote on a $140 million contract. Shouldn’t the board have all relevant documentation, actual RFP and device model selected, beforehand to peruse since this info is clearly available? What about a review by the contracts committee, isn’t that what the committee is for? The bottom line issues at this point appear to be the following. BCPS should explain, clarify and respond to the following: * The proposed $140 million laptop contract would be on top of $163 million apparently spent to date on laptop leases under STAT, expected to hit $180 million by years end. That mean’s more than $320 would go out the door for laptop leases and related–alone. The costs do not include more than $60 million in digital curricula contracts and other costs, including about $4 million annually in related software license fees, records and budget documents show. * The winning bidder, Daly Computers, Inc., was the same provider of the HP Revolve laptops and was again chosen by staff—and recommended by interim superintendent Verletta White—despite ongoing issues related to broken devices, widespread tech service problems, costs that are higher per device than most digital districts, lack of adequate inappropriate-site filters, and ongoing controversy regarding school leader ethics and a lack of objective proven efficacy of the laptop-per-student tech initiative overall. The award is being made in the midst of widespread… Read more »