Two consultants, open questions

Provisional

Parts of this page come from the Oct. 29, 2026 workshop. The minutes are not posted yet. These are open questions. We have not found anything unlawful.

Key facts

• MoakCasey, paid Dec. 2022 to June 2026: about $132,775¹
• MoakCasey board approval found: none in our vote records¹
• PASA (demographer), paid 2021-22 to 2025-26: $552,600²
• PASA’s 2021 contract: one year plus four one-year renewals³

In short

Two firms work for the district without a contract we can see. MoakCasey is now leading the new five-year plan. The packet shows no contract or price.⁴ PASA’s 2021 contract allowed one year plus four renewals, which runs through the 2025 study. We found no new vote.³ Some renewals happen without a board vote, so this is a question, not a finding.

Related: contracts without terms · demographer · money out

MoakCasey

What it is doing: at the Oct. 29 workshop, MoakCasey began the district’s 2027-2031 plan. The item was talk only. There will be three community meetings in November. A draft comes back Feb. 25, 2027.⁴ The presenter was MoakCasey’s chief operating officer. He is not with the firm that audits the district.⁵

What the checkbook shows:¹

School year	Paid
2022-23	$4,600
2023-24	$18,000
2024-25	$86,175 (incl. one $62,175 payment)
2025-26	$24,000

Since June 2024 the monthly bill has been $1,300 for consulting and $700 for “legal advocacy.” State records list the district as a lobbying client of two lobbyists at MoakCasey’s address. They also list it as a client of two lobbyists at Ancira Strategic Partners.⁶

Open questions:

• Is there a written contract, and who signed it?
• What does the new plan work cost?
• What is the “legal advocacy” fee for?

The other side:

• Some deals run through buying groups or are smaller than the amount that needs a board vote. So a contract can exist without a board vote we can find.¹
• Paying for lobbying is legal in Texas. In 2025 the state Senate twice passed bills to ban it, but the House did not vote on them.⁷
• Giving trustees training credit for a led board session is common.⁴

PASA (the demographer)

What we know: in May 2021 the board picked PASA for one year plus four one-year renewals. The item named no price.³ That runs through the 2025 study. PASA presented its 2026 report on Oct. 29.⁸ We found no board vote to renew or rebid. The district has used PASA for about 27 years.⁸

What the checkbook shows: yearly payments rose from $98,000 (2021-22) to $118,900 (2025-26).²

Open questions:

• Under what contract was the 2026 report done?
• Was the job rebid, as the 2021 terms imply?

The other side:

• Staff can renew some deals under a dollar limit, or through a buying group.³
• Steady yearly raises fit a normal renewing contract.²

What you can do or watch next

• You can ask about these questions at public comment or with a public records request.

What we still don’t know

• Whether contracts exist outside the board packets. A records request could answer this; none has been made.

Questions to ask

• Does the district have consultant contracts outside the board packets?
• How can the public request those contracts?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: We changed wording so it says no more than our sources show, and removed a line saying we had asked the district.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We now name the lobbying firms instead of individual lobbyists. The state registration list is still cited so readers can look it up.

Footnotes

1. District check register, Dec. 2022-June 2026 (60 lines, voids left out); our search of board votes found no MoakCasey approval. Register ends June 30, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. District check register, payee Population & Survey Analysts, voids left out. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Board item May 20, 2021; our search of board votes through Oct. 15, 2026 found no later demographer vote. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Packet Oct. 29, 2026, p.25 and p.55 (packet); video 1:18:54, 1:20:05, 2:47:39. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Packet p.25; video 1:19:44. ↩

6. Texas Ethics Commission, 2026 Lobbyist With Clients (printed Oct. 31, 2026): two registered lobbyists at MoakCasey’s address (from Jan. 20, 2026) and two registered lobbyists at Ancira Strategic Partners (from Jan. 27 and Feb. 8) list the district as a client. Search the list for “Leander Independent School District” to see the registrations. ↩

7. Texas Legislature Online bill histories: 89(R) SB 19 (last action Mar. 25, 2025, sent to House State Affairs) and 89(2) SB 13 (last action Aug. 20, 2025, same committee). Checked Nov. 1, 2026. ↩

8. Video 2:57:05. The 27-year figure was spoken; we have not matched it to a document. ↩ ↩²