Jerome Pilgrim, who brings nearly 15 years of experience in school district purchasing offices and an additional 24 years in county and military roles, has been hired as the director of purchasing for Irving ISD. He began on May 4.
Pilgrim served the past three years as the assistant director of purchasing for Garland ISD and the previous 11 years as the senior buyer for Dallas ISD. Prior to those positions, he was the senior buyer for the Travis County Purchasing Office from 1994 to 2001, a buyer for Capitol Metro Transit Authority in Austin from 1986 to 1994, and he maintained supplies for the U.S. Army in Fort Hood from 1977 to 1986.
As Irving ISD’s director of purchasing, Pilgrim will ensure the district’s procurement practices comply with state and federal laws, board policy and administrative regulations. He will oversee all purchases for supplies, equipment and district-wide contracts as well as supervise the purchasing department staff.
“Mr. Pilgrim has spent his entire career in purchasing and is very familiar with the needs of school districts in Texas,” says Debbie Cabrera, associate superintendent of business services. “His breadth of knowledge and strong organization skills will be an asset to the purchasing department and the district as a whole. We are thrilled to have him on Team Irving.”
With extensive experience in public schools, Cabrera says Pilgrim brings knowledge and expertise of school business and financial operations as well as public purchasing policies, procedures and processes.
“I am very excited about joining the Irving ISD, specifically the business and purchasing team,” says Pilgrim. “My goal is to improve, where possible, the efficiency and effectiveness of our purchasing process to assist in the education process of the students of Irving ISD.”
Pilgrim holds a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University and has completed a number of certification courses through the LBJ School of Continuing Education at the University of Texas.
