PDQ wins Texas statewide K–12 cybersecurity deal

PDQ has been selected to provide endpoint management for the Texas K–12 Cybersecurity Initiative, giving participating school districts access to the company’s Premium tier at no cost through state initiative funding. The phased rollout starts Oct. 1, 2026, and is designed to help Texas schools deploy software, patch vulnerabilities and harden devices across Windows and macOS.

Why it matters: - Texas school districts will get endpoint management and security tools without paying for the software directly. - The program is aimed at districts of all sizes, including small rural systems with limited IT staff and larger urban districts. - The initiative is designed to help schools deploy software faster, reduce exposure to vulnerabilities and strengthen defenses against cyberattacks.

What happened: - PDQ was selected to provide the software deployment solution for the Texas K–12 Cybersecurity Initiative. - The initiative is administered by the Technology Alliance for Statewide Initiatives, or TASI. - TASI selected PDQ through a statewide competitive process. - Phased onboarding is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, 2026, and continue through 2027 and beyond. - School systems interested in participating should contact their regional Education Service Center.

The details: - Participating districts will receive PDQ’s Premium tier at no cost because access is funded through the initiative. - PDQ can be used to deploy software, patch vulnerabilities, remove local administrator access and deploy endpoint detection and response agents across Windows and macOS endpoints. - The statewide program is being run through ESC Region 13 on behalf of Texas’s 20 Education Service Centers. - PDQ already serves more than 186 Texas K–12 customers across all 20 ESC regions. - Current Texas customers include Brownsville ISD and Eden CISD. - Brownsville ISD is one of the state’s largest urban districts. - Eden CISD is one of the smaller rural districts in ESC Region 15.

Between the lines: - The deal expands PDQ’s footprint in Texas by moving the company from individual district adoption to a statewide channel. - The initiative also signals that Texas is using centralized purchasing to push cybersecurity tools to districts that may not have the staff or budget to buy them on their own. - PDQ’s existing presence across all 20 ESC regions likely helped support the statewide selection. - Jaren Nichols, PDQ president, said districts running lean IT operations will get enterprise-grade tools without a procurement barrier or bill. - Lea Castillo, TASI director, said the partnership gives districts a straightforward way to strengthen defenses at no cost.

What's next: - Texas districts that want to participate must work through their regional Education Service Center. - Onboarding will roll out in phases starting in October 2026. - The program is expected to keep expanding through 2027 and beyond as more districts enroll. - PDQ said the initiative will broaden its reach statewide.

The bottom line: - Texas is using state-backed funding to make endpoint management and basic cyber defenses available to K–12 districts at scale, and PDQ is now the platform at the center of that rollout.