60-S6705-25-CP405_ThomasKelly_SoleSource_NMPED - signed.pdf.PDF

2021 Sole Source Form

STATE OF NEW MEXICO

SOLE SOURCE REQUEST AND DETERMINATION FORM

A sole source determination is not effective until the sole source request for determination has been posted for thirty (30) calendar days without challenge, and subsequently approved in writing by the State Purchasing Agent or, for Professional Services Agreements, the Secretary of the

General Services Department. The foregoing requirement is regardless of whether the sole source request for determination has been signed by the Agency and/or the Contractor.

I. Name of Agency: Southwest Regional Education Cooperative (SWREC #10)

Agency Chief Procurement Officer: Lauren Verduzco

Telephone Number: 575-546-5951

Agency Contact for this request: Lauren Verduzco

Telephone Number & Email Address: 575-546-5951 lverduzco@swrecnm.org

II. Name of prospective Contractor: ThomasKelly Software Associates

SHARE Vendor Number (must be active): n/a

Address of prospective Contractor: 1 Sugar Creek Center Blvd, Suite 410, Sugar Land, Texas 77478

Contact Name: Jeffrey Thomas

Telephone Number: 281-220-6949

Email Address: jeffrey@thomaskelly.com

Amount of prospective contract before tax: $290,000.00

Estimated tax amount (tax is subject to change):

Term of prospective contract: 1 year

Note: For terms longer than one year, Request for Policy Exemption from DFA MUST be included.

III. Agency is required to state purpose/need of purchase and thoroughly list the services (scope of work), construction or items of tangible personal property of the prospective contract (if this is an amendment request to an existing contract, include current contract number issued by SPD):

The purpose of this purchase is to fulfill a directive from New Mexico Secretary of

Education, Marianna Padilla, requiring the Public Education Department (PED) to collect and report student-level data on outcomes for out-of-school time (OST) and high-impact tutoring (HIT) programs statewide. At present, PED lacks the internal infrastructure to manage this level of data collection, which is critical for program evaluation, compliance with federal reporting obligations, and data-informed decision-making to support student success.

EZReports is the only vendor capable of meeting these requirements. It is currently in use by PED to manage data for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers

(21st CCLC) program across 127 sites. Leveraging the existing EZReports infrastructure ensures seamless integration, continuity of data, and access to vendor expertise specifically tailored to OST program implementation in public education.

No other platform provides the same degree of alignment with U.S. Department of

Education (USDE) 21APR reporting standards while also offering robust, student-level data tracking designed for OST and HIT initiatives.

The scope of work for the proposed contract with EZReports, managed through vendor contact Thomas Kelly, includes the following services:

• Provision of the EZReports platform to an estimated 290 OST and HIT sites across New Mexico, enabling secure collection, storage, and analysis of student-level data related to participation, attendance, academic progress, and program effectiveness.

• Customization and integration of the platform to meet USDE 21APR reporting standards, including automated data aggregation and export functionality to support federal compliance.

• Comprehensive training and technical assistance for PED subgrantees, including virtual and on-site sessions to ensure effective onboarding, accurate data entry, and consistent program monitoring.

• Ongoing system maintenance, technical updates, and scalability to accommodate evolving programmatic needs and expansion of OST and HIT services.

This sole source procurement is justified based on EZReports’ unique specialization in OST data systems, its proven success with PED’s existing 21st CCLC implementation, and the absence of any comparable platform that could deliver equivalent functionality without significant disruption, development time, or cost escalation.

IV. Provide a detailed explanation of the criteria developed and specified by the agency as necessary to perform and/or fulfill the contract and upon which the state agency reviewed available sources. (Do not use “technical jargon;” use plain English. Do not tailor the criteria simply to exclude other contractors if it is not rationally related to the purpose of the contract.)

The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) developed specific criteria for this contract based on the need to efficiently collect and report detailed information about individual students in out-of-school time (OST) and high-impact tutoring

(HIT) programs across the state. These programs often share the same locations and participants with our existing 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st

CCLC) initiatives, so the criteria focus on ensuring smooth operations, accurate data handling, and compliance with federal rules without causing unnecessary complications or extra costs. We reviewed available options by researching other software providers in this field, including through online searches for similar tools used in education settings for afterschool and tutoring programs. The criteria are directly tied to making the programs effective and easy to manage, not to unfairly limit choices.

Here are the key criteria we established, explained in simple terms:

1. Ability to handle detailed student information: The system must allow us to gather and organize data on each student's participation, attendance, and progress in OST and HIT programs. This is essential because the Secretary of Education requires this level of detail to evaluate how well the programs are working and to make improvements. Without it, we can't track outcomes or ensure resources are used effectively.

2. Compliance with federal reporting standards: The provider must support the specific rules set by the U.S. Department of Education for reporting on 21st CCLC programs, including generating required annual performance reports (known as

21APR). This ensures we meet all government obligations without manual workarounds that could lead to errors or delays.

3. Seamless fit with existing programs: Since many OST and HIT sites overlap with our current 21st CCLC sites (about 127 locations already using one system), the new platform must work without forcing sites to switch between different tools. Using multiple systems would create confusion for staff, increase training time, and make it hard to combine data accurately, which could disrupt daily operations and raise costs.

4. Proven experience with New Mexico's needs: The provider must have a track record of working successfully with PED for several years (at least four) to understand our state's unique requirements, such as local program structures, data privacy rules, and integration with other state systems. This experience helps avoid startup issues and ensures quick, reliable support tailored to our environment.

5. Training and support for program partners: The contract must include hands-on training for our subgrantees (the local organizations running the programs) to help them use the system correctly. This is important for accurate data entry and to build capacity across an estimated 290 sites statewide, so everyone can focus on helping students rather than struggling with technology.

To develop these criteria, PED staff considered the overall goals of improving student outcomes through better data and program management, while keeping things practical for schools and communities. We then checked other potential providers, such as AfterSchool21, EZChildTrack, and general school management tools like those from TransACT or other vendors listed in industry comparisons.

While some offer similar features for after-school data or federal reporting, none fully satisfy all our criteria. For example, alternatives may handle basic reporting but lack the deep experience with New Mexico's specific setup or the ability to integrate without disrupting overlapping sites. This review confirmed that no other source can meet the full needs without significant added effort, cost, or risk to program quality.

V. Provide a detailed, sufficient explanation of the reasons, qualifications, proprietary rights or unique capabilities of the prospective contractor that makes the prospective contractor the one source capable of providing the required professional service, service, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property. (Please do not state the source is the “best” source or the “least costly” source. Those factors do not justify a “sole source.”)

ThomasKelly Software Associates is the sole owner and provider of the EZReports software-as-a-service platform. EZReports operates under a software-as-a-service model, in which ThomasKelly Software Associates delivers both the software and all related services, including training, technical support, and ongoing maintenance.

The vendor does not authorize any third-party resellers or developers, and no other entity is permitted to develop, modify, customize, license, or distribute the

EZReports platform. As such, ThomasKelly Software Associates is the only source from which EZReports can be legally and operationally procured.

VI. Provide a detailed, sufficient explanation of how the professional service, service, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property is/are unique and how this uniqueness is substantially related to the intended purpose of the contract.

EZReports is uniquely qualified to fulfill the purpose of this contract due to its direct alignment with the U.S. Department of Education’s student-level reporting requirements for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program. It is the only platform fully compatible with the federal 21APR reporting system, already in use by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) across 127 sites.

EZReports’ uniqueness lies in its specialized design for managing out-of-school time

(OST) and high-impact tutoring (HIT) programs in public education settings. Over four years of successful implementation in New Mexico have allowed the vendor to develop customized features that address PED’s data, security, and reporting needs, including support for overlapping OST/HIT initiatives at an estimated 290 sites statewide.

This continuity is critical to the contract’s intended purpose: fulfilling the Secretary of Education’s directive to produce actionable, student-level outcome data.

Transitioning to an alternative vendor would disrupt data continuity, require costly re-training, and introduce compliance risks due to incompatible systems. EZReports ensures consistent, reliable, and federally compliant data reporting—delivering the only proven and scalable solution available to meet PED’s immediate and ongoing needs.

VII. Explain why other similar professional services, services, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property cannot meet the intended purpose of the contract.

Other similar professional services and software solutions for out-of-school time

(OST) program management, such as AfterSchool21, Cayen AfterSchool, and

EZChildTrack, cannot fully meet the intended purpose of this contract. The primary goal is to provide seamless, student-level data collection and reporting for

OST and high-impact tutoring (HIT) programs across New Mexico, building directly on the existing infrastructure for 21st Century Community Learning

Centers (21st CCLC) without disruption. These alternatives may offer general attendance tracking or basic reporting, but they fall short in critical areas: they lack proven, long-term experience with New Mexico's unique requirements (including over four years of tailored implementation), cannot integrate effortlessly with the current system used at 127 overlapping 21st CCLC sites, and do not provide the specialized compliance tools for U.S. Department of Education (USDE) 21st Annual

Performance Report (21APR) submissions in a way that avoids cumbersome transitions, additional costs, or data inconsistencies. Implementing any alternative would require dual systems for overlapping programs, extensive retraining, and custom development to align with state-specific needs, ultimately hindering program efficiency, data accuracy, and the ability to scale to an estimated 290 sites statewide.

This would undermine the directive from the Secretary of Education to deliver actionable student-level outcomes without operational burdens.

The table below compares how EZReports fulfills the agency's established criteria against key competitors, based on publicly available information about their features and capabilities. It demonstrates EZReports' unique alignment with our needs.

Criteria EZReports AfterSchool21 Cayen

After School EZChildTrack

Ability to handle detailed student information (e.g., participation, attendance, academic outcomes at the individual level)

Yes - Provides granular student-level tracking tailored for OST programs, including activity metrics, progress monitoring, and secure data management for grant-funded initiatives.

Partial -

Supports attendance and basic student data but lacks depth in OST-specific outcome tracking without custom add-ons.

Partial - Offers attendance and participation tracking but not fully optimized for detailed student-level outcomes in public school OST settings.

Partial - Focuses on childcare enrollment and attendance;

limited for detailed academic outcomes in

OST/HIT

programs.

Compliance with federal reporting standards (e.g., USDE 21APR requirements with automated data generation)

Yes - Fully compatible with

21APR,

generates required reports in a few clicks, and specializes in federal

Yes - Supports

21APR

reporting and federal compliance, but requires more manual configuration

Yes - Includes compliance support and automated data collection for federal reports.

No - Primarily for billing and general childcare; lacks built-in 21APR or OST-specific federal reporting tools.

Criteria EZReports AfterSchool21 Cayen

After School EZChildTrack compliance for

OST grants.

for state-specific adaptations.

Seamless fit with existing programs (e.g., integration without disruption for overlapping 21st

CCLC sites)

Yes - Already in use for NM's 127

21st CCLC sites, ensuring no dual systems or data migration issues for overlapping

OST/HIT

locations.

No - Would require switching from current system, leading to dual platforms, retraining, and potential data silos for overlapping sites.

No - Flexible but no pre-existing integration with

NM's current setup, risking operational disruptions.

No - Geared toward childcare;

incompatible with existing

OST

infrastructure without significant reconfiguration.

Proven experience with

New Mexico's needs (e.g., at least four years of successful implementation understanding state-specific requirements)

Yes - Over four years of partnership with

NM PED, with customizations for local program structures, data privacy, and integration.

No - Used in other states but no documented long-term NM-specific experience or tailored adaptations.

No - General afterschool tool with implementations elsewhere, but lacks NM-focused history.

No - Primarily childcare-oriented; no evidence of NM

OST experience.

Training and support for program partners (e.g., hands-on sessions for subgrantees across sites)

Yes - Includes comprehensive training, technical support, and ticket-based assistance tailored for OST subgrantees.

Partial - Offers user-friendly design and support, but not specialized for large-scale

NM subgrantee training.

Partial - Intuitive interface with support, but limited emphasis on customized training for public school

OST.

Yes - Provides training via parent portals and operations streamlining, but more childcare-focused than

OST-specific.

VIII. Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the procurement, including procedures used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources such as researching trade publications, industry newsletters and the internet;

contacting similar service providers; and reviewing the State Purchasing Divisions’

Statewide Price Agreements. Include a list of businesses contacted (do not state that no other businesses were contacted), date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

Evaluation of Alternative Providers

Based on the research, PED identified three potential alternative providers-

AfterSchool21, Cayen AfterSchool, and EZChildTrack-but determined that none could perform the contract due to critical shortcomings relative to the established criteria. Direct contact with these vendors was deemed unnecessary, as publicly available information clearly indicated their inability to meet the contract’s unique requirements. The reasons are as follows:

• AfterSchool21: While AfterSchool21 supports 21st CCLC reporting and basic attendance tracking, it lacks over four years of tailored experience with New

Mexico’s OST programs and cannot integrate seamlessly with the existing EZReports system used at 127 21st CCLC sites. Implementing AfterSchool21 would require dual systems for overlapping sites, leading to data inconsistencies, increased training demands, and operational disruptions, which would compromise the contract’s goal of efficient, unified data management.

• Cayen AfterSchool: Cayen offers federal compliance features and attendance tracking but is not optimized for New Mexico’s specific program structures or data privacy needs. It has no documented history of implementation in New Mexico, and transitioning to Cayen would necessitate significant reconfiguration and retraining, risking delays and additional costs that conflict with the contract’s purpose of immediate, cost-effective scalability.

• EZChildTrack: Primarily designed for childcare management, EZChildTrack focuses on enrollment and billing rather than detailed student-level academic outcomes or OST-specific federal reporting (e.g., 21APR compliance). It lacks integration with New Mexico’s current 21st CCLC infrastructure and the specialized experience required, making it unsuitable without extensive, costly customization.

Conclusion

No other vendor besides EZReports is capable of performing this contract due to its unique and proven ability to meet all critical requirements. EZReports offers seamless integration with New Mexico’s existing 21st CCLC data platform— currently operating across 127 sites—and brings over four years of experience tailoring its system to meet PED’s specific programmatic and reporting needs. It is the only platform fully compliant with the U.S. Department of Education’s 21APR reporting system, and it provides structured, state-specific training and technical support to PED subgrantees.

Engaging an alternative vendor would result in significant operational inefficiencies, including disruption to current data systems, duplication of effort, increased costs, and the risk of non-compliance with federal reporting requirements. Only

EZReports can deliver the unified, actionable, and federally compliant student-level data necessary to fulfill the Secretary of Education’s directive and to support the effective implementation of OST and HIT programs statewide.

Certified by: Date:____________________

Agency Chief Procurement Officer

Agency Approval by: Date: ____________________

Cabinet Secretary/Agency or Entity Head or Designee

08.13.2025

08/13/2025

ThomasKelly_SoleSource_NMPED Final Audit Report 2025-08-13

Created: 2025-08-13

By: Lauren Verduzco (lverduzco@swrecnm.org)

Status: Signed

Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAAb221IgJ11T9Aw5yZYurGax7zjiyXil5A

"ThomasKelly_SoleSource_NMPED" History Document created by Lauren Verduzco (lverduzco@swrecnm.org)

2025-08-13 - 5:46:31 PM GMT

Document emailed to Valerie Brea (vbrea@swrecnm.org) for signature

2025-08-13 - 5:46:37 PM GMT

Email viewed by Valerie Brea (vbrea@swrecnm.org)

2025-08-13 - 5:55:12 PM GMT

Document e-signed by Valerie Brea (vbrea@swrecnm.org) Signature Date: 2025-08-13 - 5:55:52 PM GMT - Time Source: server

Agreement completed.

2025-08-13 - 5:55:52 PM GMT