Guides · 6 min read
Buying spirit wear without a formal bid: the $100K rule for Texas schools (SB 1173)
Do Texas schools have to bid out custom spirit wear?
Usually not. Texas SB 1173, effective September 1, 2025, raised the threshold at which a school district must run a formal competitive bid from $50,000 to $100,000 in aggregate per vendor over a 12-month period (Education Code §44.031). Most single spirit-wear runs fall well under that, so a booster club or campus can typically buy on quotes and a purchase order — but always confirm with your district's purchasing office.
If you run a booster club, coach a team, or manage a campus activity budget in Texas, the purchasing rules can feel like the scariest part of ordering merch. Good news: a 2025 law change made the common case simpler. Here's the plain-language version — not legal advice, just the rule as written and what it tends to mean for a spirit-wear order.
What SB 1173 changed
Texas Senate Bill 1173, passed by the 89th Legislature and effective September 1, 2025, amended Section 44.031 of the Texas Education Code. It raised the dollar threshold at which a school district must purchase through a formal, competitive procurement method — from $50,000 to $100,000. The figure is measured in the aggregate for each 12-month period: it's the total a district spends with a single vendor on a category of goods or services over the year, not the size of one purchase order.
In practice, that means routine purchases below $100,000 per vendor per year can generally be made without a full sealed-bid or request-for-proposal process — typically on informal quotes and a purchase order instead. The same bill made a parallel update to Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) outreach ranges so they line up with the new number.
What it means for a spirit-wear order
A single spirit-wear run — team tees, a hoodie order for a club, a homecoming batch, staff polos — is almost always well under $100,000. So for most boosters and campuses, buying custom merch doesn't trigger a formal bid at all. You get quotes, pick a vendor, and issue a purchase order. The threshold matters most when your total annual spend with one vendor starts to climb — a district-wide apparel program across many campuses, for instance, can add up across the year even if each order is small.
That's the one number to watch: aggregate spend with a single vendor over 12 months. Two $8,000 orders and a $6,000 order with the same supplier is $22,000 toward the threshold, not three separate small buys. If you expect to cross $100,000 with one vendor in a year, that's the point to loop in your purchasing office early.
How to buy the simple way
When you're under the threshold, the process is short: get an itemized quote, get it approved, and have your office issue a purchase order against it. We accept school and district purchase orders and offer Net 30 terms, with a W-9 available on request — the mechanics are laid out on our purchase orders page. For the fuller Texas picture — cooperative contracts, when a bid is genuinely required, and how districts structure spend — see how Texas schools buy custom merch.
Confirm with your purchasing office
One important caveat: districts can and do set their own internal policies that are stricter than the state minimum — lower dollar thresholds, required quote counts, or approval steps. SB 1173 sets the state floor; your district's administration may layer more on top. Before you place an order, confirm the specifics with your district's purchasing or business office. This article explains the law in general terms and isn't legal or procurement advice.
Buying spirit wear for a Texas school or booster club? Start with a free quote and we'll itemize it so it's ready for your PO — or call us at (737) 253-8727.
