School Board Questions Feasibility of Local Vendor Preference

School Board members heard a presentation during the Jan. 12, 2021 workshop about providing preference to local vendors during the bid process.  By the end of the presentation though, the school board members were leaning towards not requiring a local vendor preference because of the amount of additional staff hours involved to facilitate the requirement.  
At the end of the discussion on Jan. 12, the board agreed to move forward with a meeting with school district members and local businesses to discuss the topic at a later date. 
The vision of the meeting with local businesses is to pair purchasing professionals from area schools in the district to discuss each school’s unique needs and how to address them by designating local businesses as preferred vendors.  Conversely, businesses’ concerns about the district’s processes will be answered by the appropriate members during this meeting.
Gus Guadagnino highlighted the issue of local businesses’ lack of bids, stating that he has spoken with local businesses that are unaware of how to start and progress through the bidding process.