Schools director began contract talks before starting job #PerformanceMatters #JackRSmith #NoBid

Montgomery County Public Schools spent $1.5 million on a no bid Performance Matters contract in FY18.  

MCPS Superintendent Jack R. Smith brought in a no bid Performance Matters, LLC contract along with a consultant connected to Performance Matter, LLC.   

Two MCPS administrators were on Shawn Joseph's (Nashville) transition team. 

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Schools Director Dr. Shawn Joseph began talks with a Utah-based technology company about a potential no-bid contract two weeks before he formally took command of the Nashville school system, emails uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates reveal.

The emails, obtained through the Tennessee Public Records Act, show that Performance Matters had discussions with Joseph about how to “extend our partnership,” suggesting the company’s contract with Shelby County schools could be a “purchasing vehicle” for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

That process, known as “piggybacking,” allows companies to get government contracts without having to compete with other vendors.

“We may be able to discuss a pilot this year [if] the costs are right!” Joseph said in a follow-up email two weeks after he became director of schools.

Instead, less than six months into Joseph’s tenure, MNPS signed two no-bid contracts with Performance Matters, totaling $1.8 millon.

As a result of questions raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, the district admitted this week that it broke state law in awarding a $1 million, no-bid contract with Performance Matters for a student assessment platorm, piggybacking on a contract with Orange County, Florida, schools.

State law only allows piggybacking on in-state contracts.

The district signed a second, $845,000 contract with the company that was piggybacked on the Shelby County contract, although Metro changed the terms. Experts say that also violates state law...

...In a written statement, Metro Schools suggested that the Performance Matters contracts originated in 2016 after “a transition team made up of local, state and national experts shared that Nashville needed to focus on student achievement – with a sense of urgency.”

Joseph’s transition team did not release its final report until February 2017...

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/schools-director-began-contract-talks-before-starting-job?fbclid=IwAR1NktNHmZ1Bo_ZKtfeDJJZK-UAkTPmahLjAp8R2aPdsqctG_nX6AzZ92qo