70-S6703-26-CP297_R9_The College Board_CCRB_ AP_Sole Source #27001 - signed.pdf.PDF
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- Solicitation number
- 70-S6703-26-CP297
- Issued by
- New Mexico
About this file
This is a Sole Source Request and Determination Form submitted by Region 9 Education Cooperative for a contract with The College Board to provide Advanced Placement (AP) and Pre-AP educational services and materials to New Mexico school districts. The contract encompasses two primary projects: Project 1 involves furnishing PSAT/NMSQT assessments delivered via College Board's Digital Testing Platform (BlueBook), student materials including score reports and scholarship information, school administration support materials, and access to SAT practice tools through Khan Academy collaboration. Project 2 provides administration of AP Exam Fee Reduction processes for eligible low-income students, including notification to schools, payment for reduced fees, data reporting to the Public Education Department by June 30, 2027, and verification methods for eligible student participation. The contract term is twelve months, effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, with execution signatures obtained on July 20, 2026.
The prospective contract amount is $1,000,000.00 before tax with no estimated tax amount specified. The College Board, a SHARE vendor with number 4811259 and headquartered at 225 Liberty Street, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10281, is designated as the sole source provider because it is the exclusive owner of Official College Board Offerings, including AP, Pre-AP, PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, Bluebook, and related proprietary programs and software. The agency determined that no other vendors can provide these official College Board assessments, endorsed professional development workshops, or associated materials and services, as these offerings are owned and controlled exclusively by The College Board. The sole source determination is not effective until posted for thirty calendar days without challenge and subsequently approved in writing by the State Purchasing Agent.
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REGION 9 EDUCATION COOPERATIVE
SOLE SOURCE REQUEST AND DETERMINATION FORM
A sole source determination is not effective until the sole source request for determination has been posted for thirty (30) calendar days without challenge, and subsequently approved in writing by the State Purchasing Agent or, for Professional Services Agreements, the Secretary of the General Services Department. The foregoing requirement is regardless of whether the sole source request for determination has been signed by the Agency and/or the Contractor.
I. Name of Agency: Region 9 Education Cooperative
Agency Chief Procurement Officer: Veronica Wadley
Telephone Number: 469-726-8349
Agency Contact for this request: Veronica Wadley
Telephone Number & Email Address: 469-726-8349; veronica.wadley@regionix.org
I. Name of prospective Contractor: The College Board
SHARE Vendor Number (must be active): 4811259 Address of prospective Contractor:
225 Liberty Street, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10281
Contact Name, Telephone Number and Email Address:
Amanda Dawson; 212-713-8000 adawson@collegeboard.org contractsmanagement@collegeboard.org
Amount of prospective contract before tax: $1,000,000.00 Estimated tax amount (tax is subject to change): N/A
Term of prospective contract: 12 months, July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027
1 OF 6 R9_The College Board_CCRB: AP_Sole Source #27001 mailto:adawson@collegeboard.org mailto:contractsmanagement@collegeboard.org
II. Agency is required to state purpose/need of purchase and thoroughly list the services
(scope of work), construction or items of tangible personal property of the prospective contract (if this is an amendment request to an existing contract, include current contract number issued by SPD):
Project 1.
The College Board shall furnish the PSAT/NMSQT and the following materials and reports to the Districts and schools designated by Client in Section V (List of Participating Districts and Schools):
1. Materials for Students:
a. Link to the Student Guide.
b. PSAT/NMSQT test materials delivered via College Board’s Digital Testing Platform, BlueBook™. Assessment score report delivered as a PDF to Client via College Board’s K-12 Reporting Portal.
c. Information about scholarship and recognition programs, offered by each of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and College Board, as applicable.
d. Information from College Board to help participants understand and navigate post-secondary and career pathways and opportunities through a College Board mobile application, as described in Annex 1 below.
e. Access to SAT Practice Tools and Support as set forth below.
f. Access to Bluebook and the test at school (Client will have access to a digital test preview to demonstrate the navigation and tools available to students in Bluebook).
2. Materials for Participating Schools:
a. Materials to support test administration.
b. Clients will receive online access to test day toolkit (TDTK), College Board’s digital test administration tool, and a downloadable PDF of PSAT/NMSQT testing publications.
c. Access to a digital test preview to demonstrate the navigation and tools available to students in the digital testing platform.
d. Materials to support students receiving accommodations which require a paper test, including applicable instructions and the paper testing materials.
e. Access to individual student score reports and aggregate score reports, and downloadable student data files delivered via College Board’s K-12 Reporting Portal.
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f. Access to AP Potential™ via College Board website.
g. Insights and reporting on students’ participation in the College Board mobile application and insights to support student engagement in exploring college and career information and opportunities, as further described in Annex1.
3. Reports for District:
a. Access to online individual student score reports and aggregate score reports, and downloadable student data files, delivered via College Board K-12 Reporting Portal.
b. Access to AP Potential, delivered via College Board website.
4. Reports for State:
a. Access to online individual student score reports and aggregate score reports, and downloadable student data files, delivered via College Board K-12 Reporting Portal.
5. Delivering SAT Practice Tools and Support. In addition to the free practice tools available at http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice, all students will have access to free, personalized, and focused practice resources through College Board’s collaboration with Khan Academy. Practice materials for the SAT exam are available at https://www.khanacademy.org/sat (http://satpractice.org). Clients and Participants shall use the Khan Academy practice tool and materials in accordance with Khan Academy’s guidelines.
Project 2.
The College Board shall provide administration of the AP Exam Fee Reduction process for all eligible schools in New Mexico.
a. Provide information to schools on the AP exam test fee reduction process.
b. After approving a bill/invoice from the testing service, pay for each eligible AP exam taken by low-income students in May 2027.
c. If additional funding is needed, notification will be provided at least thirty days prior to the testing date.
d. Report data to the PED by June 30, 2027; including:
i. Number of AP exams taken May 2027;
ii. Number of AP exams that were fee reduced; and
iii. Schools and districts utilizing the AP exam fee reduction process.
e. Establish and implement a method for verifying that the funds were used to support only exams administered to eligible low income students.
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III. Provide a detailed explanation of the criteria developed and specified by the agency as necessary to perform and/or fulfill the contract and upon which the state agency reviewed available sources. (Do not use “technical jargon;” use plain English. Do not tailor the criteria simply to exclude other contractors if it is not rationally related to the purpose of the contract.)
The College Board is the only agency that provides Endorsed consultants to provide AP® and Pre -AP® workshops.
No other vendors can provide the Official College Board Offerings, as College Board is the sole source owner.
IV. Provide a detailed, sufficient explanation of the reasons, qualifications, proprietary rights or unique capabilities of the prospective contractor that makes the prospective contractor the one source capable of providing the required professional service, service, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property. (Please do not state the source is the “best” source or the “least costly” source. Those factors do not justify a “sole source.”)
College Board Endorsed AP® and Pre-AP® professional development workshops are only available through The College Board.
College Board is the sole source owner of the following programs, examinations, publications, and software, which include tangible and intangible related services and materials collectively referred to as "Official College Board Offerings." Such Official College Board Offerings include without limitation the following: BigFuture®, BigFuture® School, Connections™, Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC™), INAS®, PowerFAIDS™, CSS PROFILE®, Student Search Service™, The College Board Net Price Calculator, Advanced Placement® (AP®) including AP® Mentoring, AP Capstone™, Career Kickstart™, AP Kickstart, and AP Potential™, Pre-AP®, ACCUPLACER®, CLEP®, PSAT™ 8/9, PSAT™ 10, PSAT/NMSQT®1, SAT®, SpringBoard®, SpringBoard Digital®, Landscape®, Bluebook™, and Teamship™.
V. Provide a detailed, sufficient explanation of how the professional service, service, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property is/are unique and how this uniqueness is substantially related to the intended purpose of the contract.
The College and Career Readiness Bureau of the New Mexico Public Education Department will be offering Professional Development to AP® and Pre-Ap® teachers throughout New Mexico through ongoing AP educator professional learning. AP® and Pre-AP® professional development is only offered by The College Board.
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College Board is the sole source owner of the Official College Board Offerings listed. No other vendor can provide these assessments, services, and materials.
VI. Explain why other similar professional services, services, construction or item(s) of tangible personal property cannot meet the intended purpose of the contract.
The College Board is the only organization to offer AP® Endorsed instructors to provide professional development relating to Advancement Placement®, Pre- Advanced Placement®, or any other courses offered by The College Board.
No other vendors can provide the Official College Board Offerings listed previously, as College Board is the sole source owner.
VII. Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the procurement, including procedures used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources such as researching trade publications, industry newsletters and the internet;; contacting similar service providers; and reviewing the State Purchasing Divisions’ Statewide Price Agreements. Include a list of businesses contacted (do not state that no other businesses were contacted), date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract;
or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.
The College Board is the only organization to offer AP® Endorsed instructors to provide professional development relating to Advanced Placement®, Pre- Advanced Placement®, or any other courses offered by The College Board.
No other vendors can provide the Official College Board Offerings listed previously, as College Board is the sole source owner.
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Certified by: Date:____________________
Agency Chief Procurement Officer
Agency Approval by: Date: ____________________
Region 9 Education Cooperative Executive Director
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Veronica Wadley (Jul 20, 2026 08:57:57 MDT)
07/20/2026
Bryan Dooley (Jul 20, 2026 10:34:13 MDT) Bryan Dooley
07/20/2026
R9_The College Board_CCRB_ AP_Sole Source #27001 Final Audit Report 2026-07-20
Created: 2026-07-20
By: Region IX Ed Coop (contracts.procurement@regionix.org)
Status: Signed
Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAAlnmu-gQCGgk3rAVMvKftsJVsAO-QFEOc
"R9_The College Board_CCRB_ AP_Sole Source #27001" Histo ry
Document created by Region IX Ed Coop (contracts.procurement@regionix.org)
2026-07-20 - 2:57:12 PM GMT
Document emailed to Veronica Wadley (veronica.wadley@regionix.org) for signature
2026-07-20 - 2:57:17 PM GMT
Email viewed by Veronica Wadley (veronica.wadley@regionix.org)
2026-07-20 - 2:57:45 PM GMT
Document e-signed by Veronica Wadley (veronica.wadley@regionix.org) Signature Date: 2026-07-20 - 2:57:57 PM GMT - Time Source: server - Signature Appearance Selected: DRAW
Document emailed to Bryan Dooley (bryan.dooley@regionix.org) for signature
2026-07-20 - 2:57:59 PM GMT
Email viewed by Bryan Dooley (bryan.dooley@regionix.org)
2026-07-20 - 4:34:02 PM GMT
Document e-signed by Bryan Dooley (bryan.dooley@regionix.org) Signature Date: 2026-07-20 - 4:34:13 PM GMT - Time Source: server - Signature Appearance Selected: TYPE
Agreement completed.
2026-07-20 - 4:34:13 PM GMT
I.Name of Agency: Region 9 Education Cooperative
| 2026-07-20T16:34:16+0000 | |
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