Amendment 1.doc

SAP

State of South Carolina Request for Proposal (Amendment 1)

Solicitation:

Amendment Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400024324 1/18/2023

KATHY SANTANDREU

803-896-5304 ksantandreu@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services 1201 Main Street Suite 600 Columbia SC 29201

DESCRIPTION: Web-Based IEP and Special Ed Mgmt. System

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Education Admin

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 02/13/2023 11:00 AM ET (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 01/09/2023 10:00:00 AM ET See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: See page labeled “Page 1”

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Proposal

DATE & TIME: 01/05/2023 10:00 AM ET

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Teams Web Conference

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, you agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of 120 business days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________ ___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause) _________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile _________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause) ____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses) ____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES - A NOTICE TO VENDORS (SEP. 2009): Preferences do not apply

PREFERENCES - ADDRESS AND PHONE OF IN-STATE OFFICE: Preferences do not apply ____In-State Office Address same as Home Office Address ____In-State Office Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004) (modified): (a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov(b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two and returning with solicitation response (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged.

The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “state’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential Offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does.

Combined Vendor Questions

1. In the Scope of Solicitation on Page 4, it is stated that "the system will be ready to roll out to districts in South Carolina in the fourth quarter of 2023" but in Requirement 3.4.24 on Page 28, it states that "the offeror must work with SCDE to develop the solution and convert LEAs by start of the next school year." Can you clarify the implementation timeline?

The State’s Response: The timeline will depend on the Vendor that is awarded the contract. Should the award require a transition, the two Vendors must work together to establish a transfer plan of all required data.

2. Requirement 3.1.1 (page 32) states that SCDE data security requirements were included as Attachment A to this RFP. There does not appear to be an Attachment A. Can that be provided?

The State’s Response: Data Security Requirements should meet or exceed NIST 800.53. ISO 27000 Series would be an example of security framework that meets or exceeds these requirements. SCDE uses NIST 800.53 as the security framework. Agency policies and controls can be reviewed at Policies - South Carolina Department of Education - 01/12/2023 11:00 AM (sc.gov).

The Data Protection policy is now attached and can be review at https://ed.sc.gov/data/data-security-privacy/policies1/data-protection-and-privacy/ .

3. Requirements 3.1.21 and 3.1.22 reference "standard form text" for translation. Is SCDE seeking to only translate the standard text on forms (i.e. headings) and not user-entered text? Would SCDE desire to have user-entered text translate if possible?

The State’s Response: It is mandatory that all text is translated into Spanish including headings. It would be preferred if the user-entered text is completed by translators knowledgeable in the language and specialized in education terms and concepts.

4. Requirement 3.1.31 states that "the solution must have the ability to import data from, and export data to, other student information systems" and Requirement 3.2.4 states that “LEA administrative level users should control how frequently the data is synchronized between the solution and outside data sources.” Is there an authoritative source of student data for SCDE or will the solution be ingesting student data from individual LEAs?

The State’s Response: The Solution must have two-way communication with other existing SCDE student information systems. Every school district in South Carolina has their own Ed-Fi ODS. The solution will ingest data from the individual LEAs.

5. Requirement 3.2.12 states "The solution should have the ability to extract discipline data from the state’s current student information system (ODS) to be able to easily produce reports focused on disciplinary incidents." Will SCDE only require this data to be available within the system or is the request for specific reporting/dashboarding functionality? If so, can you provide examples of the reporting required from this system?

The State’s Response: The state intends to generate the reports based on the data in the system.

6. Requirement 3.2.22 states "The solution should have the capability to deliver public reports, which meet federal and state IDEA regulations and adhere to federal and state privacy laws regarding students receiving special education services without OSES intervention." Can you provide examples of the public reporting required from this system?

The State’s Response: The IDEA requirements for public reporting are outlined in Sec. 300.602. The solution must have reports that are readily available to be downloaded and posted.

7. Requirement 3.2.25 states "The solution should have the capability to allow OSES to collect reporting data in real time." Can you provide examples of the reporting data is SCDE seeking to collect in real time?

The State’s Response: If the SEA needs to get the child count data anytime, they should be able to get that information at that time. It should not be contingent on submitting a report for the SEA to get that information.

8. Does the SCDE intend to generate SPP/APR federal reporting directly from the IEP system or through the state Ed-Fi ODS?

The State’s Response: The SPP/APR will be generated from data stored in the Ed-Fi ODS.

9. What is the budget for this engagement?

The State’s Response: The budget will not be announced. You are encouraged to provide the best price for the option you propose.

10. Does the district require any hard/printed copies of the RFP Response to be provided with the required USB drive (instructions include direction on where to send hard copies but there doesn’t seem to be a requirement for hard copies)?

The State’s Response: See Clause titled “NUMBER OF COPIES” found on page labeled page 1.

11. Does SCDE prefer to host the solution or to have it be cloud based?

The State’s Response: The preference is to host in-house, however Offeror should propose the best solution based on the information provided that is most advantageous to the SCDE.

12. SCDE makes several references to the Ed-Fi Operations Data Systems (ODS) and syncing of data with the ODS system. Is the ODS system currently operational? Does the ODS system replace the need to synchronize data with PowerSchool SIS system? PowerSchool SIS system is not discussed in RFP 5400024324.

The State’s Response: The Ed-Fi ODS is in implementation and is expected to be operational during the IEP system implementation.

13. Section 3.2.5 requests the ability for the solution to “provide LEA and Statewide accountability reports in a user-friendly platform.” Can you please provide the contents and data definitions of what would be required in the requested “LEA and Statewide Accountability Reports” including the source of the data if outside of the IEP system awarded from this RFP?

The State’s Response: Reports generated by the system could use data housed in the district ODS but is not expected to import data beyond what is required to populate the IEP system. Each LEA has internally determined accountability reporting. This requirement is describing the desire to build reports in a user friendly platform

14. Section 3.2.12 requests the ability to import Discipline data from the current SIS system to produce reports. Can you please provide the contents and data definitions of what would be required in the requested integration and the desired format and specifications of the “reports focused on disciplinary incidents”?

The State’s Response: The Solution must have two-way communication with other existing SCDE student information systems, which includes the discipline incident data.

15. Section 3.2.14 states the solution must be “compliant to the Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) for data elements relevant to special education.” Are the CEDS compliance requirements part of the ED-FI standards for data imports/exports that are requested elsewhere in the proposal, or is this a different requirement and if so, are there any known discrepancies between the two formats/templates? Can details be provided as to the format and data elements included in the CEDS?

The State’s Response: The state is implementing Generate to support federal reporting. The Generate system is compatible with the Ed-Fi ODS. The relevant data standard information is available at the following link Common Education Data Standards (CEDS)

16. Section 3.2.35 states the “data exported from the solution should be able to be converted to meet Federal reporting requirements, e.g., EdFacts reporting file.” Are the EdFacts requirements aligned with the ED-FI standards for data imports/exports and CEDS compliance requirements that are requested elsewhere in the proposal or is this a separate requirement and if so, are there any known discrepancies between the three formats/templates? Can details be provided as to the format and data elements included in the EdFacts reporting file including idenfiying any data coming from outside the IEP system being awarded in this RFP?

The State’s Response: This is not a separate requirement in terms of the data standard. This is intended to be an ongoing expectation that the IEP system will provide the data required to fulfill any relevant changes in the Ed-Facts reporting requirements.

All other terms, condition, bidding instruction, and specifications remain unchanged. If there are any question or if any confusion or uncertainty arises as a result of this amendment, it is the sole responsibility of the Offeror to contact the procurement officer for clarification. Contact information can be found in the top right-hand corner of the cover page of this amendment reference the “Duty to Inquire” in the original Request for Proposal (RFP).