District records show a certified small business won the prime construction contract for Seagoville Academy. However, the publicly identified firms are not based in Seagoville or southeast Dallas.
Dallas ISD says small businesses have received more than 61% of construction spending connected to its 2020 Bond Program, more than double the district’s 30% participation goal.
That districtwide figure suggests small contractors are winning substantial work. However, it does not mean 61% of the money allocated to Seagoville Academy has gone to Seagoville companies.
A review of Dallas ISD board records, vendor listings, project documents, and company addresses found that the Academy’s primary construction contract went to a certified small business headquartered in Dallas. None of the publicly named companies is based in Seagoville or southeast Dallas.
The available records also do not identify every subcontractor working on the project. Therefore, they cannot establish that no Seagoville company has received any project money. They show only that no Seagoville-based business is identified among the publicly disclosed prime contractor, designer, engineer, and program-management firms.
More Than $20 Million Approved
Dallas ISD selected Gilbert May Inc., doing business as Phillips/May Corporation, in August 2025 to provide construction-manager-at-risk services for the new prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade campus.
The district’s vendor database lists the contract as effective from Aug. 28, 2025, through Aug. 28, 2028. It also identifies Phillips/May as a certified Small Business Enterprise.
Dallas ISD subsequently approved at least two guaranteed maximum price packages connected to the project:
- A package not to exceed $4,963,098, approved in January 2026.
- A second package not to exceed $15,755,548, approved in February 2026.
Together, the two board-approved amounts total $20,718,646.
Those approvals should not be confused with the Academy’s reported overall project value of approximately $53 million. The larger figure encompasses the broader campus investment, while the two guaranteed maximum price actions cover specified construction packages awarded through Phillips/May.
Dallas ISD broke ground on Seagoville Academy in May 2026. The new two-story campus is being built near Seagoville Road and East Stark Road and is expected to serve approximately 800 students from pre-K through eighth grade.
Plans include 33 classrooms, six science laboratories, a STEAM lab, a language lab, maker spaces, visual and performing arts rooms, a media center, a cafetorium, an activity gymnasium, career and technical education areas, and outdoor learning spaces.
Dallas Firm Won the Prime Contract
Phillips/May describes itself as a Dallas-based, minority-owned general contractor. Dallas ISD’s vendor system marks the company as a certified small business.
That means the Academy’s largest publicly identified construction award supports the district’s small-business participation program.
It is also local in the broad sense that the contractor is headquartered within Dallas. However, Phillips/May’s office is at 1125 Longpoint Avenue in ZIP code 75247, northwest of downtown. It is not a Seagoville or southeast Dallas business.
Other firms publicly associated with the Academy include KAI Enterprises, Dikita Enterprises, Autoarch Architects, and Jacobs.
KAI, which announced that it designed the new campus, maintains its Dallas-Fort Worth office in Irving. Dikita, an engineering and consulting firm identified as a project-team member, is headquartered in downtown Dallas.
Dallas ISD’s project page lists Houston-based Autoarch Architects as the architect and Jacobs as program manager.
The district’s project page and the newer design-team announcement do not clearly explain the division of architectural responsibilities between Autoarch and KAI. More importantly for local-business participation, none of those published addresses is in Seagoville or southeast Dallas.
What the 61% Figure Really Means
Dallas ISD reported in August that small-business utilization had reached slightly more than 61% in the construction category of the entire 2020 Bond Program. Professional-services participation exceeded 38%, compared with the district’s 35% goal.
Those are programwide percentages. They combine eligible spending across numerous campuses, contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, consultants, and suppliers.
Dallas ISD does not report that Seagoville Academy independently achieved 61% participation. Applying the districtwide percentage to the Academy’s $53 million project value would therefore produce a misleading estimate.
The district’s published Academy records identify Phillips/May as an SBE prime contractor, but they do not provide a complete, project-specific accounting of payments to every subcontractor and supplier.
Without that list, it is not possible to calculate how much Academy spending reached businesses in Seagoville, Pleasant Grove, Kleberg, Balch Springs, or other southeast Dallas communities.
Can Seagoville Companies Compete?
Yes. Dallas ISD does not require a business to maintain a Dallas address before it can compete for district work. A qualified Seagoville contractor, supplier, architect, engineer, landscaper, security company, or other service provider may pursue opportunities as a prime contractor or subcontractor.
Businesses seeking direct district contracts must register through Dallas ISD’s Bonfire Supplier Portal. Companies should select the commodity codes that accurately match their services because the district uses those codes to distribute notices about relevant solicitations.
Registration allows a company to receive bid notices and submit proposals. It does not authorize the company to begin work, guarantee an award, or replace the competitive procurement process.
Companies that qualify as small businesses should also obtain certification through an agency recognized by Dallas ISD.
The district accepts several certification programs, including the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency, the Texas Comptroller’s Historically Underutilized Business program, the Small Business Administration, and other approved organizations.
Certification can matter during proposal evaluations. Dallas ISD’s Small Business Enterprise Manual assigns 20% of proposal-evaluation points to SBE considerations for covered procurements. The district’s aspirational goals are 30% for bond-funded construction and 35% for bond-funded professional services.
Subcontracting May Be the Opening
The prime construction award for Seagoville Academy has already been made. For many smaller local companies, the practical route into the project would be through subcontracting, supplying materials, or providing specialty services to Phillips/May or another project-team company.
Phillips/May maintains a subcontractor-registration process on its website. Potential work could include electrical, plumbing, mechanical, concrete, landscaping, flooring, painting, fencing, technology, equipment rental, hauling, cleaning, signage, and other construction-related services.
Companies should not contact Dallas ISD trustees or project-selection employees during a restricted procurement period. District rules require communications about an active solicitation to go through the procurement representative identified in the bid documents.
Another Seagoville Contract Is Pending
Dallas ISD also solicited proposals during summer 2026 for a separate addition and renovation project at Seagoville Elementary School on North Kaufman Street.
That project carries a construction cost limitation of $10,405,686 and includes a storm-shelter addition, secure vestibule, special-education classroom renovation, restroom work, landscaping, driveway changes, new public-address and fire-alarm systems, removal of portable buildings, and other improvements.
Proposals were due in August, and district documents identified Oct. 29 as the target date for board approval. As of Sept. 9, Dallas ISD had not publicly announced the winning contractor.
That pending award will provide another test of whether a business based in Seagoville or southeast Dallas can move from being eligible to compete to actually receiving a major district construction contract.
For now, the answer is qualified: Seagoville businesses can compete, and Dallas ISD is awarding extensive work to certified small companies. However, the public records reviewed for Seagoville Academy do not identify a Seagoville or southeast Dallas company among the project’s named contract recipients.
