How the district hires outside firms

Key facts

• Big purchases ($100,000 or more a year): must use a method the law lists, such as bids or proposals¹
• Accountants, architects, engineers: must be picked on skill, not on the lowest price²
• Lawyers and money advisers: outside the school bidding rules¹
• Builders for big projects: picked by “best value,” and the rankings must be made public³

In short

Many people expect every public job to go to the lowest bid. Texas law does not work that way. For goods and most services, a school district must use a method like bids or proposals and pick the “best value,” not just the lowest price.¹ For some jobs, such as auditors, architects and engineers, the law bans picking by price. The district must pick the most qualified firm and pay a fair price.² So “it wasn’t bid” is often not a sign that a rule was broken.

Related: bond adviser · internal auditor · demographer · consent votes

Layer 1: The 30-second version

There are three main kinds of district purchases.

• Goods and regular services (buses, food, software, cleaning): the district uses bids, proposals or a buying group. It weighs price, quality and past work.¹
• Professional services (accountants, architects, engineers, surveyors, appraisers): price bids are not allowed. The district picks on skill, then agrees on a fair price.²
• Building projects: the district picks a method, such as a “construction manager at risk.” That builder is picked on best value. The builder then must get bids from the trade firms that do most of the work.³

Layer 2: What the law says, job by job

Job	Rule	What it means
Auditor (accountant)	Gov’t Code §2254.003	No price bids. Pick on skill and a fair price.2
Architect, engineer, surveyor	Gov’t Code §2254.004	Pick the most qualified firm first, then agree on a price.2
Lawyers, money (bond) advisers	Ed. Code §44.031(f)	Outside the school bidding rules. A district may pick a money adviser on skill.1
Builders on big projects	Gov’t Code ch. 2269	Best value from published criteria. Rankings public within 7 days of the award.3
Other goods and services, $100,000+ a year	Ed. Code §44.031(a)	Bids, proposals, a buying group or another listed method. Best value, not just low price.1

How Leander ISD hired some of its firms:

• Bond adviser: picked in 2015 after a request for proposals. Its contract has had no end date since 2020.⁴ See bond adviser.
• Internal auditor: picked in 2023 after a request for qualifications. Three firms answered.⁵ See internal auditor.
• Demographer: picked in 2021 after a request for proposals. Two firms answered, and the winner scored 98.4 of 100.⁶ See demographer.

Layer 3: How to read it (the other side)

• Why ban price bids for some jobs? The idea is that a cheap design or audit can cost more later. The trade-off: without price bids, fees can be harder to compare.
• “Not bid” is not the same as “not checked.” A request for qualifications is a competition. Firms send in their skills, and the district ranks them.
• But the law sets no clock. We found no rule that says how often a district must look at other firms for these jobs. Long contracts can be legal and still be worth asking about.
• Records matter. For builders, the law says rankings must be made public. That lets anyone check how a firm was picked.³

Questions to ask

• Does the district have a written schedule for reopening adviser and consultant contracts?
• Where does the board post its purchasing policy?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What you can do or watch next

• When a contract comes to the board, look for how the firm was picked: bids, proposals or qualifications.
• Ask when the district last looked at other firms for a long-running job.

What we still don’t know

• Whether the district has a written schedule for re-opening adviser and consultant contracts.

Footnotes

1. Texas Education Code §44.031(a) (methods for purchases of $100,000 or more a year; best value) and (f) (does not apply to professional services, “including services of an architect, attorney, certified public accountant, engineer, or fiscal agent”; a district may hire a financial consultant under Gov’t Code §2254.003). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Texas Government Code §2254.002 (list of professional services), §2254.003(a) (no selection by competitive bids) and §2254.004 (architects, engineers and surveyors: most qualified first, then a fair and reasonable price). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Texas Government Code §2269.254(a) and (d) (construction manager at risk: best value; rankings public within 7 days after the award) and §2269.255 (the builder must advertise for bids or proposals from trade firms). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Board packet Mar. 26, 2020, p.108 (packet). ↩

5. Board packet Sept. 7, 2023, p.49 (packet). ↩

6. Board packet May 20, 2021, p.248 (packet). ↩