9-RFP Notices, Terms, and Conditions.docx

MPS RFP Notices, Terms and Conditions

RFP Notices, Terms, and Conditions Respondent understands and agrees to the following notices, terms, and conditions:

Overview

1. It is expected that the successful respondent will establish a strong partnership with MPS. As a strong partner, respondent will need to become fully acquainted with the business of MPS: educating Milwaukee’s children. A full description of MPS, its mission, demographics and vision can be found at http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us.

Questions/Addendum

2. The only permissible communication regarding this RFP with MPS staff, including any and all questions and requests for clarification, must be directed in writing via Bonfire. Any other communication to, or contact with, an MPS staff member regarding this RFB by bidder will be considered unauthorized and a cause for rejection of a respondent’s proposal.

3. Respondent is expressly prohibited from offering gratuities of any kind – including meals, gifts, and trips – to officers, employees, or agents of MPS. Vendor incentives should be expressed in terms of quality, service, and price in their quotations. Violation of these conditions will constitute immediate disqualification from contract award. Unsolicited product samples and/or samples provided in excess of requested quantity and type may be considered gifts.

4. Answers to submitted questions, as well as any additional information or clarifications to the RFP, will be provided in the form of addenda on Bonfire. CCS may engage in vendor-specific conversations regarding requirements, but any general information relevant to all vendors generated by these conversations will be published in an addendum.

5. It is incumbent upon respondents to point out any possible discrepancies, omissions or ambiguities in the RFP using this question process. This includes alerting MPS that the RFP services or pricing requested are non-standard in the industry. By failing to do so, a respondent waives the right to claim any provision of this RFP is ambiguous.

6. It is it is the sole responsibility of the Respondent to check Bonfire for any addenda that may be issued. Addenda will not be otherwise communicated to prospective bidders and no other response to the emailed questions will be received by the sender. In the event of any conflict with the RFB, addenda shall govern.

7. In the event of any conflict with the RFP, addenda shall govern.

Clarifications

8. After receipt of proposals, it may be necessary for MPS to contact respondent with clarification questions. MPS will do so via the email address of the signatory provided on the respondent’s submitted Respondent Authorization form. Clarification questions often need imminent answers and short deadlines for response may be necessary. It is the respondent’s responsibility to monitor the contact email identified at all times during the RFP process. Failure to timely respond to a clarification question submitted to the contact email may result in the rejection of the proposal.

Proposals to Remain Open

9. By submitting a proposal, respondent is agreeing that its proposal will remain open and its pricing will remain firm until execution of a contract for the services which are the subject of this RFP.

10. Respondent understands and agrees that, except as otherwise required by law, it has not and will not knowingly disclose the prices in the offer, directly or indirectly, to any other respondent or competitor before contract award.

11. Respondent understands and agrees that it has not made and will not make any attempt to induce any other party to submit or not to submit an offer for the purpose of restricting competition.

Minimum Proposal Requirements

12. MPS will determine whether proposals have met the minimum proposal requirements set forth in the RFP. Only those proposals passing all of the minimum proposal requirements, unless waived, will be passed on for evaluation according to the criteria.

Minimum Proposal Requirements

13. MPS reserves the right, in its sole discretion and if deemed in the best interest of MPS, to: waive a minimum proposal requirement; waive irregularities in any proposal; reject all proposals received in response to this RFP; accept late proposals or improperly formatted proposals; and make a partial award or not make any award.

Resulting Contract and Exceptions

14. Respondent understands and agrees that only those exceptions or additional contract terms or conditions specifically set forth in the “Exceptions” section of this proposal will be considered by MPS. Any exception or proposed additional contract term or condition not set forth in the Exceptions section will neither be considered nor accepted. It is insufficient for Respondent to cite to a document or incorporate a document by reference. Any such citation or incorporation will be disregarded.

15. MPS’s Director of Procurement & Risk Management, or his/her designated staff, will review any exceptions or proposed additions to determine if their nature or extent precludes ultimate agreement on a contract between MPS and respondent and will assign a “pass” or “fail” determination accordingly as to that minimum proposal requirement.

16. A “pass” as to the minimum proposal requirement does not mean that all the exceptions or proposed additions will be agreed to by MPS, but merely that they will be a point of discussion should respondent and MPS enter into contractual negotiations.

Proposal Evaluation

1. Committee – An evaluation committee will be established to evaluate the proposals according to the Criteria identified in Scope of Services document. Proposals should be complete on their face. However, after opening of responses, MPS reserves the right to request supplemental information from any or all of the respondents and to factor any additional information into the evaluation. MPS may require oral presentations of a group of finalists in person or on the telephone and may request further information from those finalists.

2. Best and Final Offer – MPS reserves the right to involve one or more respondents in a Best and Final Offer (“BAFO”) process. BAFO may be used when no single response addresses all the specifications, when the costs submitted by all respondents are too high, when two or more respondents are virtually tied after the evaluation process or when all proposals are unclear or deficient in one or more areas. If BAFO is utilized, respondents may be required to submit revisions to their proposals. MPS will send out a BAFO request to invited respondents that will set forth the areas of the proposal to be covered and the date and time by which the BAFO must be returned. All respondents will be treated equally and, during the process, no information will be transmitted to any respondent about any other respondent’s offer. MPS reserves the right, in BAFO, to apply additional criteria not listed in the original RFP, but any additional criteria will be disclosed to respondents in the BAFO request.

3. Negotiation – MPS will open negotiations with the highest-ranked respondent after evaluation, interviews or BAFO process. MPS reserves the right to open negotiations with the second highest-ranked vendor if negotiations with the highest-ranked vendor are not successful. MPS reserves the right to delete or add services until the final contract signing.

Reservation of Rights

17. MPS reserves the following rights:

a) To make a partial award.

b) To make no award.

c) To award multiple respondents.

d) To reject all proposals received in response to this RFP

e) To waive any irregularities and technicalities and may, at its sole discretion, request a clarification or other information to evaluate any or all proposals.

f) To re-award the contract to the next highest scoring responsive respondent in the event the respondent to whom a contract is awarded defaults in executing the formal agreement.

g) To waive a minimum proposal requirement

h) To waive irregularities in any proposal

i) To accept late proposals or improperly formatted proposals

18. Respondent understands and agrees that it is in the best interest of MPS, to accept or reject any and all portions thereof, select the next most responsive respondent, or if necessary issue a new solicitation document or take other action as MPS deems appropriate.

Award Statement

19. Upon final approval by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, MPS will post the results of the RFP at http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/en/District/Vendors-Contractors/Vendors/Tabulations--Awards.htm. No individual communications will be sent out to respondents. It is the sole responsibility of respondents to check the site for any contract award that may be issued. Respondents may not contact MPS to inquire about the status of an award prior to the posting of the results.

Contract Compliance Services (CCS) Requirements

20. Respondent understands and agrees to the CCS requirements as listed in the Contract Compliance Services Requirements.

Confidential or Proprietary Information

21. If respondent wishes to designate any portion of its proposal as confidential or proprietary, respondent may fill out and submit a “Request to Designate Information as Confidential or Proprietary” which can be found under “Files”. The Board is bound by Wisconsin statutes regarding public records (Wis. Stat. § 19.21, et seq.) and, as such, all of the terms of the contract resulting from this RFP will be public.

Appeals

22. MPS' appeals regarding MPS’s procurement process are handled by the Office of Accountability and Efficiency. Details on appeals can be found at http://mps.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/MPS-English/OBG/OAE/Policies-and-Laws/Bid_RFP-Appeals-Form.pdf.

Technology

23. Respondent understands and agrees that proposals which include technology based components must meet the requirements of the MPS Department of Technology.

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