LANSING – The Department of Education announced Friday that the Genesee Intermediate School District won the $5 million grant to run a pilot program providing technology services to at least five schools, not the company run by Budget Director John Nixon’s brother.

iSchool Campus had pitched the idea to the Legislature of placing some funding in the 2013-14 K-12 budget, subject to competitive bidding, where the winning bidder would implement the “whole-school” technology program. William Nixon, Budget Director John Nixon’s brother, is the CEO of iSchool Campus.

John Nixon said earlier this week when asked about the issue that he took several precautions to avoid having any role in whether the item won inclusion in the budget and had the Department of Education handle the procurement process instead of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, of which he is the director. He had alerted Governor Rick Snyder’s legal counsel and several legislators although Democrats criticized him for not informing all members of the Legislature.

Nixon advised the chair of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, as well as the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees on K-12 schools, of the conflict when the topic arose at a budget meeting. All four of those lawmakers are Republicans.

In a statement today from the Department of Education, officials said the Genesee ISD had the top-rated application in its standard competitive bidding process, which it noted conceals from the grant-scorers the names of the applicants. At the time Gongwer News Service reported the connection between John and William Nixon, the final results were being tabulated and moving through the department’s process, the statement said.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan said in the statement that after learning of the concern about William Nixon’s company’s bid, he called departmental staff together to ensure the process had “maintained its fidelity and integrity.” Flanagan decided to expedite the announcement of the grant award to “put to rest any suspicion of impropriety,” the statement said.

The announcement had not been expected until December.

“The grant scorers had no idea whose application was whose,” Flanagan said. “In their scrutiny, the scorers determined that Genesee ISD had the best proposal at the lowest per-pupil cost; and that was determined before the controversy this week.”

Department spokesperson Bill Disessa said iSchool Campus placed fourth. The top two finishers were close, he said, but other bidders were further behind. On Tuesday, the department had indicated there were six bidders. Friday, it signaled there were five, and the discrepancy could not be immediately resolved.

Flanagan said when he read in news stories the precautions John Nixon took to distance himself and his staff at the Department of Technology, Management and Budget from the grant process, and after speaking to Department of Education staff working on the project, he was satisfied that the process was conducted properly.

“I think DTMB and Budget Director Nixon did the honorable thing, in completely separating themselves from this competitive bid process,” he said. “We all can move forward now and focus on the education aspect of this technology grant.”

Nixon said in a statement of the decision: “As I’ve said all week, this issue was handled with honesty and the procurement process has been totally clean. I feel like I acted in the exact way you would want a public official to act in this situation – with integrity, honesty, and in a very forthright manner.”

Senate Democratic spokesperson Robert McCann said the awarding of the bid to Genesee ISD does not change the questionable way this project ended up in the budget (PA 60 of 2013).

“While I’m glad to see this this grant stay in Michigan rather than be given to an out-of-state company run by the budget director’s brother, it’s still concerning that this company was able to have that level of influence in the budgeting process in the first place,” he said in an email. “One is only left to wonder if this decision would have been different had the administration’s connection to iSchool Campus not been made public by the media.”

The next step with the grant is for Genesee ISD to select at least five schools to participate, choices made in consultation with the Department of Education.

iSchool Campus officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Earlier this week, they had said William Nixon had no role in lobbying for the Legislature to add the $5 million and that they met only with legislators, not Mr. Nixon, his staff nor the Snyder administration. They said the program was designed so anyone could win the bid.

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