Cupertino Unified School District is developing new rules for how it selects contractors and other companies for Measure Z projects, as tens of millions of dollars in bond-funded work prepares to move into design.
The Board of Education discussed the new procurement manual at its Sept. 24 meeting. Measure Z, approved by voters in November 2024, authorizes $347 million in bonds for school facility improvements. The manual lays out how the district will choose architects, engineers and contractors for Measure Z projects, including how companies are evaluated and how the board and other district officials oversee those decisions. District staff and its construction management firm, TBK Construction Management, said the manual is intended to make the selection process more consistent and transparent.
The district needs to move quickly to spend the bond money; the first $75 million bond series was sold in May 2025, and roughly $40 million to $50 million in projects need to begin design within 120 days to help meet federal requirements for spending the bond proceeds. The district also wants to move projects forward before construction costs increase further, according to TBK Executive Vice President Ryan Hullman.
The manual was developed after board members raised concerns that the district’s previous methods for selecting and scoring companies could be unclear or subjective, Hullman said.
Under the new process, the selection method will depend on the type and size of the project. Architects and engineers can be selected from lists of companies that have already gone through a screening process. Larger projects may involve requests for proposals, interviews and detailed scoring.
Contractors may be selected through competitive bidding or other methods allowed for public construction projects, depending on the project.
The manual also sets standards for evaluating contractors, including safety records, experience, claims history and the qualifications of key employees.
For example, the proposed safety standards include an experience modification rate of 1.0 or lower, no workplace fatalities in the previous five years and no willful or repeated OSHA violations in the previous three years.
The district will continue to have several layers of oversight. District staff said contracts will continue to come before the board for approval, while the district’s fiscal management team will review contracts and payments. The Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee will continue to receive reports on the bond program.
The district also plans to provide weekly project updates to staff, give board members an opportunity to ask questions before contract approvals and provide at least quarterly updates to the board. Changes to an approved project’s scope or budget will also return to the board for approval.
The question of whether the board could reject the company recommended by staff and choose another bidder remained unresolved.
Hullman said he believed rejecting the recommendation could require the district to restart the procurement process, but said the district would confirm the matter with legal counsel.
Staff said the number of Measure Z procurements is expected to increase significantly in the coming months as the district works to meet the spending requirements for the first series of bonds.