At some point, we all find ourselves in a position where we need a service done, and we just get it done without shopping around to see who is the cheapest, who has the best value for the money, and who does the best job. In our personal lives, it’s usually things like oil changes, haircuts (at least for me), or when you have to run to the store to get an onion for the dish you are making right that very moment.  Sometimes, it’s for more significant items when you are in a pinch, like a surprise tire replacement, a blocked drain, or even worse, a flooded basement. 

While in our personal lives, we get to make the personal judgment call on when we want to comparison shop for goods and services, when it comes to school board service, there are statutory requirements. 

Section 623a, MCL 380.623a, of the RSC establishes the threshold for when ISD’s must solicit bids for the procurement of supplies, materials, and equipment in a single transaction. Section 1274, MCL 380.1274m does the same thing for School Districts and Public School Academies. Additionally, Section 1267, MCL 380.1267 establishes the threshold for bid solicitation for school districts for building construction, additions, renovations, or repairs.  

While those thresholds were initially established at a hard dollar amount, each of these sections requires the state to raise those limits based on the Consumer Price Index to ameliorate increased costs over time. Recently, the Michigan Department of Education released the new threshold amount for FY 2023-2024. For this fiscal year, the threshold has been raised in each case from $28,048 to $29,572. 

If you have any questions on this or other legal matters, please do not hesitate to contact MASB's Labor Relations and Legal Services Department.