654321-26-0092-1.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- 654321-26-0092
- Issued by
- Orleans Parish, New Orleans City, Louisiana
About this file
This document is Addendum No. 1 to Request for Proposal 26-0092 issued by the New Orleans Orleans Parish School Board (NOLA-PS) Procurement Department on April 10, 2026, clarifying requirements for Language Access Translation and Interpretation Services. The RFP seeks comprehensive language access services including on-demand phone and video interpretation, on-site consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, document translation, cloud-based platform development for service request management, and staff training on interpretation ethics and federal language access requirements across 25 school sites. The addendum addresses 24 clarification questions from potential proposers regarding scope, service delivery modalities, pricing structure, and vendor qualifications. Key response dates established include a written questions deadline of April 6, 2026, with addenda issuance by April 10, 2026, and proposal submission deadline of April 16, 2026, at 12:00 P.M. CST. The contract term is one year with two optional one-year renewal periods.
Pricing guidance provided in the addendum establishes benchmarks based on incumbent rates: prescheduled interpreters range from $115-$135 per hour with a two-hour minimum; on-demand interpretation costs $1.95-$3.30 per minute; interpreting teams cost $1,200-$1,400 for up to four hours; document translation ranges from $0.23-$0.28 per word; and desktop publishing is $65 per hour. All indirect costs including travel time and mileage must be incorporated into on-site rates. The estimated annual organizational expenditure is $200,000-$350,000. Historical usage data indicates 603 on-demand calls in 13 languages, 199 on-site sessions in 19 languages, and 394,951 words translated across four languages during the 2024-25 fiscal year, with Spanish representing approximately 90 percent of requests. The current incumbent is Effectiff Traduccionola LLC. The RFP permits single-vendor or multi-vendor proposals through subcontracting arrangements and allows proposers to submit limited service proposals without disqualification; however, comprehensive coverage of all service categories is preferred. A 35 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation goal applies, with prime contractors able to count DBE subcontractor work toward this requirement without requiring prime contractor DBE certification themselves.
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RFP 26-0092 Language Access: Translation/Interpretation Addendum No.1
NOLA Public School
Procurement Department
2401 Westbend Parkway, Suite 5076, New Orleans, LA 70114
Paul A. Lucius, Executive Director of Procurement
April 10, 2026
Addendum No. 1
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NO. 26-0092
LANGUAGE ACCESS: TRANSLATION/INTERPRETATION SERVICES
This Addendum and Clarification item forms a part of the RFP Documents and modifies the original
RFP Documents issued March 12, 2026. Acknowledge receipt of this Addendum on the Addendum
Form of the Request for Proposal. Failure to do so may subject proposal to disqualification.
This Addendum consists of 5 Page(s).
CLARIFICATION:
1. Question : Since the RFP includes both translation and interpreting, could you please confirm whether vendors may submit a proposal for translation services only, or if proposals are expected to cover both translation and interpreting? Additionally, if submitting for translation services only is permitted, would this impact the evaluation or overall scoring for award?
Answer : We are requesting proposals to cover both translation and interpretation services together. Yes, not having an interpretation component would severely impact the overall scoring of the proposal.
2. Question : Would you be able to share an estimate of the annual spend on translation services across your organization ?
Answer:. The estimated expenditure on translation services across the organization is $200K to
$350K annually.
3. Question : Are there current or previous providers supporting these services?
Answer: Yes, there are current providers of these services.
4. Question : Are there current or previous providers supporting these services? If possible, could you share the rates from the previous incumbents or any pricing benchmarks vendors should consider when preparing the financial proposal?
RFP 26-0092 Language Access: Translation/Interpretation Addendum No.1
Answer: Rates per service are as follows:
Prescheduled Onsite and Remote Interpreters: Spanish/Portuguese: $115/hr, 2 hr minimum, Vietnamese: $135/hr., 2 hr. minimum, Mandarin: $135/hr, 2 hr minimum, French: $135/hr, 2 hr minimum, Arabic: $135/hr., 2 hr minimum, ASL: $120/hr, 2 hr minimum, Other: varies
On-Demand Onsite and Remote Interpreters: $1.95 to $3.30 per minute
Interpreting Teams: $1200 to $1400 for up to 4 hours for board meetings
Document Translations: $0.23 to $0.28 per word
Desktop Publishing: $65 per hour
5. Question : Could you provide a list of the languages most frequently requested, and any expected volume distribution if available?
Answer : The most frequently requested languages are as follows: Spanish (approx. 90%), Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, French, Gujarati, Nepali, and others.
6. Question Does NOLA-PS currently maintain a formal written ‘Language Access Plan,’ ‘language access protocol,’ or similar governing document? If so, will that document be made available to prospective proposers by addendum so that proposals may be tailored to the Parish’s actual operational needs? The scope references “tiers” of language access needs and training on protocols, which suggests the possible existence of an underlying plan or framework.
Answer : The scope of work covers 25 schools, each of which have a separate language access plan. It will be the responsibility of the vendor to provide a step by step protocol for how to access each of the service types (on-demand video or phone, on-site, document translation), the request timeline for scheduled services, and user accounts for requesting services. Training for school sites will be specific to federal requirements of providing language access to LEP families. Training for bilingual staff will be specific to ethics and standards of interpretation and when in-house interpretation or translation is and is not appropriate.
7. Question : Is NOLA-PS requiring one proposer to directly provide all listed service lines and related functions under a single contract, including phone interpreting, video interpreting, on-site consecutive interpreting, on-site simultaneous interpreting, document translation, cloud platform hosting, and in-person training?
Answer : NOLA PS may consider more than one firm, but the preference is one firm that can perform the entire scope.
RFP 26-0092 Language Access: Translation/Interpretation Addendum No.1
8. Question : If a proposer is highly qualified in some, but not all, of the required service categories, may that proposer submit a proposal limited to specific service lines or modalities without being deemed non-responsive?
Answer : If the proposer chooses to do so they may submit a proposal limited to specific lines or modalities without being deemed non-responsive.
9. Question : Will NOLA-PS consider partial awards by service category, modality, or function, rather than requiring a single vendor to perform the entire scope? We note that the RFP states that selection may be made of “one or multiple firm(s),” and we seek confirmation as to whether that language allows awards divided across categories of service.
Answer:. NOLA PS may consider more than one firm, but the preference is one firm that can perform the entire scope.
10. Question : If no single contractor independently offers all major segments of the language access industry under one roof, may a proposer respond through a team, partnership, or subcontracting structure to cover the full scope? If so, please clarify the Parish’s requirements for identifying and documenting the roles of subcontractors or partners.
Answer: Yes, a contractor may submit a proposal through a team, partnership, or subcontracting structure to cover the full scope.
11. Question : In the event NOLA-PS expects complete coverage across all listed categories, will the
Parish consider revising or narrowing the scope by addendum to permit more realistic and competitive proposals from qualified vendors that specialize in certain areas of language access rather than all of them?
Answer: NOLA-PS is requesting that all proposers submit according to the scope of the work of RFP.
12. Question : If the Parish will permit limited or category-specific proposals, may pricing be submitted by service category or modality, rather than only as a bundled annual fee? Clarification on this issue would assist proposers in preparing pricing that is both accurate and responsive.
Answer: Proposers should include a menu of prices by service within their proposals.
RFP 26-0092 Language Access: Translation/Interpretation Addendum No.1
13. Question : To allow proposers to prepare a realistic proposal, can NOLA-PS provide any estimated historical or projected usage data by service type, including telephone minutes, video minutes, on-site assignments, simultaneous events, translation volume, and principal languages requested?
Answer : Volume varies widely for both school sites and district departments around the academic and enrollment calendars. In 24-25, contractor provided 603 on demand calls in 13 languages, 199 on-site sessions in 19 languages, and 394,951 words across 4 languages.
14. Question : What is the estimated monthly volume for interpretation (minutes/hours) and translation (words/pages) by language?
Answer: Volume varies widely for both school sites and district departments around the academic and enrollment calendars. In 24-25, contractor provided 603 on demand calls in 13 languages, 199 on-site sessions in 19 languages, and 394,951 words across 4 languages.
15. Question : Are there incumbent vendors currently providing these services? If so, what are their names?
Answer: Yes, Effectiff Traduccionola LLC.
16. Question : For the cloud platform requirements, does NOLA-PS prefer a vendor-provided platform, or integration with existing District systems?
Answer: Vendor provided-platform for on-demand and scheduling on-site interpretation and submitting translation projects.
17. Question : For on-site simultaneous interpretation services (events), what is the typical event size and frequency?
Answer: Events vary widely from school-based events to larger high school graduations.
18. Question : For training bilingual staff, does NOLA-PS expect the contractor to develop the training curriculum, or deliver training based on existing District materials?
Answer: It is expected for the contractor to develop their own curriculum for the training of bilingual staff to become effective and professional interpreters. Contractors will be required to issue a certificate of completion for the training. NOLA PS will be open to collaboration with the contractor to ensure the training material aligns with our expectations and matches our desired outcome.
19. Question : For the 35% DBE goal, can the prime contractor count work performed by DBE subcontractors, or does the prime need to be DBE-certified itself?
Answer: Yes, a Prime Contractor can count work performed by a DBE Subcontractor towards
RFP 26-0092 Language Access: Translation/Interpretation Addendum No.1 the DBE goals. No, the Prime Contractor is not required to be a DBE Certified contractor.
20. Question : Is there a list of LAUCP-certified or SLDBE-certified firms that typically provide language services in the New Orleans area?
Answer: Certified DBE Firms can be found at the following websites:
LAUCP:
https://wwwapps.dotd.la.gov/engineering/lettings/subsdbed/dbhq20260311.aspx#gsc.tab=0
SLDBE: https://neworleans.dbesystem.com/?TN=neworleans
21. Question : How are travel time and mileage handled for on-site interpretation at schools across the district?
Answer: All indirect costs, including travel time and mileage, must be built into the on-site rates.
22. Question : With approximately 8% of students (roughly 3,500) having limited English proficiency, can you provide a breakdown of languages most commonly requested?
Answer : See Answer to Question No.5.
23. Question : Will you be accepting bids from companies that offer written translation services only?
Answer: Yes, but please note the preferred contractor offers interpretation and translation services.
24. Question : This question pertains to the “Cost Form” (Section 9.0). As the volume and size of projects that may be assigned to us (if selected as a vendor) are unknown at this stage, we are unable to accurately estimate a total annual fee for providing written translation services to OPSB. If we are misunderstanding what the form is requesting, we would appreciate your guidance.
Answer: The potential contractor is able to provide OPSB with a rate per service list. Please note from the RFP, "the proposals must specify a rate per service inclusive of both direct and indirect costs where applicable." The service types are listed in the scope of work, section 2.0.
Additional distinctions can be made, for example between Latin and non-Latin scripts. Volume varies widely for both school sites and district departments around the academic and enrollment calendars. In 24-25, contractor provided 603 on-demand calls in 13 languages, 199 on-site sessions in 19 languages, and 394,951 words across 4 languages. Spanish (approx 90%), Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, French, Gujarati, Nepali, and others.
End of Addendum No.1 https://wwwapps.dotd.la.gov/engineering/lettings/subsdbed/dbhq20260311.aspx#gsc.tab=0 https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fneworleans.dbesystem.com%2F%3FTN%3Dneworleans&data=05%7C02%7Cymoton%40nolapublicschools.com%7C0467e1466fc74617311e08de85042474%7Cc36d99cfa638429c84b98669f175b788%7C0%7C0%7C639094450007733685%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5wt8V4oIAMETAbqux3gMBzOXlRZlQV8JU1gTxBEFBNo%3D&reserved=0
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