General Online 2021 xx.pdf

NEEDHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

1330 Highland Avenue Needham, MA 02492

January, 2021

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

BID #21SCH103G

TOWN OF NEEDHAM

SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

ONLINE REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT SERVICES FOR GENERAL FEE-BASED

PROGRAMS OF THE NEEDHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Needham School Committee invites sealed bid proposals for the provision of online registration and payment services for general fee-based programs of the Needham Public Schools for the period of one year, beginning July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, and may be extended for up to two (2) additional years through June 30, 2024. Request for Proposal packages will be available from the Office of the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, 1330 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492, or may be downloaded from http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx beginning January 29, 2021 at 9:00 AM.

Proposals are returnable to the Office of the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, 1330 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492 no later than February 26, 2021 at 11:00 AM, at which time and place they will be opened in the presence of one or more witnesses. LATE PROPOSALS will not be accepted.

The Town reserves the right to reject any and all proposals as determined to be in the interests of the Town and to waive minor informalities.

Bids will be awarded by the Needham School Committee, acting through the Superintendent.

Daniel E. Gutekanst Superintendent of Schools Town of Needham Needham, Massachusetts http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx

Needham Public Schools Procurement in Brief

Primary Procurement Contact

Melane Bisbas School Business and Operations Coordinator 1330 Highland Avenue Needham, MA 02494 Melane_Bisbas@needham.k12.ma.us Phone 781-455-0400 ext 11204

Event Date Details

Title Online Registration And Payment Services For General Fee-Based Programs Of The Needham Public Schools

Contract Number 21SCH103G

RFP Available January 29, 2021 9:00 AM

Requests for proposal packages are available from the Office of the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, 1330 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492, or may be downloaded from http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx.

Bidders who access bid materials from the Town’s website are responsible for acknowledging receipt of those materials using the Acknowledgement of Receipt form found in Appendix B and for checking the website periodically for any addenda that may be issued.*

Pre-Bid Meeting No Prebid is Scheduled

Proposal Presentation Week of March 15th, 2021 May be required for vendors who meet the minimum criteria

Deadline for Written Questions

February 17, 2021 12:00 PM

Needham Public Schools will not respond to questions submitted after the above date.

Questions must be submitted in writing, via fax, email or US post to:

Melane Bisbas School Business and Operations Coordinator Melane_Bisbas@needham.k12.ma.us Oral communications are not binding on the School Department. Responses to questions submitted in writing will be forwarded to all persons on record as having received the RFP.

Addenda

If any changes are made to this RFP, an addendum will be issued.

Addenda will be mailed or faxed or emailed to all bidders on record as having received the RFP. Addenda also will be posted to the Town of Needham bid website at http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx.

When and Where are Bids Due?

February 26, 2021

11:00 AM

LATE PROPOSALS will not be accepted.

Bids are due to the Office of the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, 1330 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492 by the due date and time. If, on the bid due date, the above office is closed due to uncontrolled events such as fire, snow, ice, wind, or building evacuation, the bid opening will be postponed to the next normal business day (M-F, excluding holidays.) Bids will be accepted at the same location until that date and time.

Number of Required Copies One original + 5 copies of all forms

Bid Opening February 26, 2021

11:00 AM

Sealed proposals are NOT publicly opened. Proposals will be opened in the presence of one or more witnesses.

A list of bidders will be made available after the submission deadline.

Bid Surety (Bond) Requirements

Not required

Contract Award Award will be made within 90 business days after the bid opening.

Contract Length One year with Two-One Year Possible Extensions

Upon Award of Contract

Payment Bond Not required Performance Bond Not required Insurance Refer to Contract Terms

* Bid Acknowledgement

It is recommended (but not required) that bidders acknowledge receipt of the bid package using the Acknowledgement of Receipt form found in Appendix B. Bidders who complete and return this acknowledgement will be entered as a bidder of record in the Bid Distribution Register, thereby ensuring that they will receive notification of any addenda or answered questions related to this bid. Bidders who do not complete and return the Acknowledgement Form are responsible for checking the website regularly for any addenda that are issued to this bid.

NEEDHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

January, 2021

ONLINE REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT SERVICES

FOR GENERAL FEE-BASED PROGRAMS OF THE NEEDHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

#21SCH103G

I. INFORMATION & INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

1. Questions:

Bidders must read these specifications carefully. Questions about the specifications shall be submitted in writing via fax, email or U.S. post to the address specified below, no later than February 17, 2021 12:00 PM. Needham Public Schools will not respond to questions submitted after that date.

Melane Bisbas

School Business and Operations Coordinator 1330 Highland Avenue

Melane_Bisbas@needham.k12.ma.us

Bidders also take note that ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT BINDING ON THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. The School Department will respond to all questions submitted in writing and will forward responses to all persons on record as having received the RFP.

2. Downloading Bid Documents from the Town of Needham website

Bid documents, including addenda, may be downloaded from the Town of Needham website at http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx. Bidders who access bid materials from the Town’s website are responsible for acknowledging receipt of those bid materials using the Acknowledgement of Receipt form found in Appendix B and for checking the website periodically for any addenda that may be issued.

mailto:Melane_Bisbas@needham.k12.ma.us

3. Bid Acknowledgement

It is recommended (but not required) that bidders acknowledge receipt of the bid package using the Acknowledgement of Receipt form found in Appendix B. Bidders who complete and return this acknowledgement will be entered as a bidder of record in the Bid Distribution Register, thereby ensuring that they will receive notification of any addenda or answered questions related to this bid. Bidders who do not complete and return the Acknowledgement Form are responsible for checking the website regularly for any addenda that are issued to this bid.

4. Bid Addenda

If any changes are made to this RFP, an addendum will be issued. Addenda will be mailed, faxed or emailed to all bidders on record as having received the RFP. Addenda also will be posted to the Town of Needham bid website at http://www.needhamma.gov/bids.aspx. Bidders who do not complete and return the Acknowledgement Form are responsible for checking the website regularly for any addenda that are issued to this bid.

5. Pre-Bid Conference

There is no pre-bid conference scheduled.

6. When and Where are Bids Due?

Bids will be received by the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, Needham Public Schools, 1330 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA 02492, until February 26, 2021 11:00 AM, at which time and place they will be opened in the presence of one or more witnesses. This is not a public bid opening.

7. Unexpected Closure or Delays

If, at the time of the scheduled bid submission deadline, the designated location for delivery of the bid is closed due to uncontrollable events such as fire, snow, ice, wind or building evacuation, the bid opening will be postponed to the next normal business day (M-F, excluding holidays) at the same designated time. Bids will be accepted at the same location until that date and time.

8. Late Submissions

Bids received after the date and time specified shall not be considered. The Town of Needham assumes no responsibility for late submissions due to mail, courier or delivery delays.

9. Submission Requirements

A. Proposals consist of a non-price (technical) proposal and a price proposal, which must be submitted separately from one another. The non-price proposal must be submitted in a sealed envelope marked “Non-Price Proposal.” Price proposals must be submitted in a separate, sealed envelope marked “Price Proposal.” INCLUSION OF ANY PRICE INFORMATION IN THE NON-PRICE

PROPOSAL, OR ANY COPY THEREOF, SHALL BE THE CAUSE FOR REJECTION OF THE

ENTIRE PROPOSALS, WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

B. Bids are to be prepared and submitted on the bid forms provided herein. Bids submitted on other forms, which are incomplete, or which are not signed, may be rejected.

C. A bid must be signed as follows: 1) if a bidder is an individual, by him/her personally; 2) if the bidder is a partnership, by the name of the partnership, followed by the signature of each general partner; and 3) if the bidder is a corporation, by the authorized officer, whose signature must be attested to by the Clerk/Secretary of the corporation and the corporate seal affixed.

D. A complete proposal will include the following items, in the designated quantities, completed in full and appropriately signed in separate envelopes marked “price” and “non-price” proposals:

E. The Narrative Response must describe in detail how System meets the requirement of Section V.

Specifications. The non-price proposal, including narrative response must be paginated and responses correlated to the specific specification numbers they address.

Non-Price Proposal – One Original + 5 Copies

Price Proposal – One Original + 1 Copy

F. Bidders take note that at least three written references are required to be submitted with the

Non-Price proposal. These references must be from clients who have engaged the proposer for services similar to those outlined in the RFP, with evidence of successful implementation of the product. These references need not be from municipal clients, although three municipal clients are preferred.

10. Premature Bid Opening

The Town of Needham will not be responsible for the premature opening of any bid not properly identified. The School Department may reject bids, which are incomplete, not properly endorsed or signed, or which otherwise are contrary to these instructions.

11. Bid Modifications or Withdrawals

Bidders may correct, modify or withdraw a bid prior to the submission deadline. Requests to do so must be received by the Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations prior to the time and date set for

a) Narrative Response

b) Bid Form I Checklist of Bid Forms

c) Bid Form II Bidder Information & Statement of Qualifications

d) Bid Form IV

e) Bid Form V

Certificate of Compliance with Massachusetts Tax Laws & Non-Collusion Certificate of Corporate Vote

f) Three Written References

Bid Form III Price Proposal the bid opening. Bid modifications must be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly labeled “Modification No.____.” Each modification must be numbered in sequence, and must reference the original bid.

After the submission deadline, bidders may not change the price or any other provision of the bid in a manner that is prejudicial to the interests of the governmental body or fair competition. The Needham Public Schools will waive minor informalities or allow the bidder to correct them. If a mistake and the intended bid are clearly evident on the face of the bid document, the Needham Public Schools will correct the mistake to reflect the intended correct bid, and will notify the bidder in writing. A bidder may withdraw a bid if a mistake is clearly evident on the face of the bid document but the intended correct bid is not similarly evident.

12. Rejection of Bids

The School Committee of Needham (Committee) reserves the right to reject in whole or in part any and all bids, if the School Procurement Officer determines that cancellation or rejection serves the best interests of the District.

13. Bonds

Not Required

14. Uniform Procurement Act (MGL Ch30B)

Bids shall be prepared, considered, and the Contract awarded in accordance with Massachusetts General Law (M.G.L.) Chapter 30B, the Uniform Procurement Act.

15. Prices Firm for 90 Days

All bid prices submitted in response to this RFP must remain firm for ninety (90) days following the bid opening, until a contract is executed, or the RFP is cancelled, whichever occurs first.

16. Taxes

Purchases made by the Needham Public Schools are exempt from the payment of all federal excise tax and the payment of Commonwealth of Massachusetts sales tax. As such, sales tax must not be included in the bid price. If requested, the School Department will provide the awarded bidder with a copy of the certificate of exemption.

17. Public Records

Under Massachusetts General Laws, the Needham Public Schools cannot assure the confidentiality of any materials or information that may be submitted in response to this Bid. Vendors who choose to submit confidential information, do so at their own risk. All materials submitted by the vendor in response to this Bid will be open for inspection by any person and in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 66 (Public Records Law.) Any statements reserving any confidentiality or privacy rights in the submitted responses or otherwise inconsistent with these statues will be void and disregarded. Unless specifically addressed by statute, the Town may charge five cents ($0.05) per page for photocopies. The Town may charge the actual cost of reproducing a copy of a record that is not susceptible to ordinary means of reproduction, such as large computer records or over-sized plans. The Town may charge and recover a fee for the time in excess of two hours that an employee spends searching, redacting, photocopying and re-filing a record. The Town will provide a written, good faith estimate of the applicable copying, search time and segregation time fees to be incurred prior to complying with a public records request. The cost of performing a search and segregation of records generally will not exceed $25.00 per hour.

18. Conflict of Interest

By executing a contract with the Town of Needham, the Bidder acknowledges that the Town of Needham is a municipality for the purposes of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 268A (the Massachusetts Conflict of Interest statue), and agrees, as circumstances require, to take actions and to forbear from taking actions so as to be in compliance at all times with the obligations of the contractor based on said statute.

19. Other Notices

Bid evaluation and contract award will be made without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, religion, political affiliation or national origin.

The Bidder shall adhere to the provisions of the Fair Employment Practices Law of the Commonwealth (Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151B).

The provisions relating to non-discrimination and affirmative action in employment shall flow through all contracts and subcontracts that the successful Bidder may receive or award as a result of this contract.

Any services provided by the Bidder shall be rendered through a professional services contract; the Bidder will not be considered an employee of the Town and will not receive any benefits of an employee.

The Bidder shall comply with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 66A if the Bidder becomes a "holder" of "personal data". The Bidder shall also protect the physical security and restrict any access to personal or other Town data in the Bidder's possession, or used by the Bidder in the performance of the Contract, which shall include, but is not limited to the Town's public records, documents, files, software, equipment or systems.

II. BASIS FOR USE OF COMPETITIVE SEALED PROPOSALS (RFP)

The School Procurement Officer has determined that selecting the most advantageous online registration and payment system will require comparative judgments of factors in addition to price, including: the ability to interface with existing systems, ease of use and understandability by employees and customers, flexibility in types of payments that are accepted, and the ability to customize views and reports to meet Needham’s needs, and special features. The School Department believes that the choice of a vendor will require an evaluation of ability, experience and past work product.

III. CONTRACT AWARD & BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS

1. Rule for Award/Contract Issuance :

A. One contract for online registration and payment services for general fee-based programs of the Needham Public Schools will be awarded to the responsive and responsible bidder providing the most advantageous proposal for the contract period, July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 with the option to extend for two additional years through June 30, 2024.

B. The Needham School Committee will award the contract under this bid within ninety (90) business days after the opening of the bids.

C. Should there be a reason why the contract cannot be awarded within the time referenced herein, the time for award may be extended for up to 45 additional days by mutual agreement between the Needham Public Schools (NPS) and the successful bidder.

D. The Needham Public Schools reserves the right to reject any and all proposals as determined to be in the best interest of the Town and to waive minor informalities.

E. The successful bidder must enter into the Short Form Agreement prepared by Town Counsel of the Town of Needham (Appendix A), or a contract in substantially similar format.

F. Bidders are asked to submit prices for the first, second and third contract years, understanding that the second and third contract years will not factor into the bid award. The bid will be awarded based on the value of the first contract year only.

G. The Town of Needham acting through the Needham Public Schools shall retain sole discretion in exercising the option to renew in years two and three, and no exercise of an option shall be subject to the agreement or acceptance by the bidder/contractor. The Needham Public Schools will not exercise an option to renew, unless the School Procurement Officer, after a reasonable investigation of costs and benefits, has determined in writing that the exercise of the option is more advantageous than alternative means of procuring comparable supplies or services. (M.G.L. Ch. 30B s. 12)

H. This Contract is subject to cancellation if funding is not appropriated or otherwise not made available.

I. The award will be subject to satisfactory reference checks, conducted by the School Department, as well as the Certification of Good Faith (.

2. Bidder Qualifications:

A. To be considered qualified under this bid:

a. Bidders must provide all services specified herein, and comply with all bid submission requirements.

b. Bidders must provide evidence of satisfactory ability and experience to execute the requirements, specifications, and conditions of this Bid. If requested, a bidder may be required to submit additional evidence to demonstrate satisfactory ability and experience to the Needham Public Schools.

B. The School Committee reserves the right to investigate the financial responsibility of any and all bidders to determine what assurance the owner may have of subsequent service. It further reserves the right to withhold contract award when the bidder is unable to furnish satisfactory evidence of adequate ability, experience and/or capital to execute the completion of a project in accordance with the prescribed requirements, specifications and conditions of the Bid Documents. Needham Public Schools reserves the right to solely determine what constitutes satisfactory evidence of adequate ability, experience and/or capital to execute the bid requirements under this section.

3. Estimated Quantities, Actual Quantities and Unit Prices:

A. The amount of supplies or services specified on Bid Form III are estimates only, provided for bid purposes. The actual number and value of transactions may vary up or down, based on user demand. Prices charged in connection with this RFP will be based on the unit prices specified on that form.

B. The unit price(s) shall remain the same throughout the contract period and any subsequent renewal periods, except to the extent that the solicitation and resulting contract provides for price adjustments. (M.G.L. Ch. 30B s. 12)

C. The Needham Public Schools may increase the quantity of supplies and/or services specified in the contract that results from this RFP, provided that: a) the unit prices remain the same or less,

b) that the School Procurement Officer has determined in writing that an increase is necessary and more practical and economical than awarding another contract; c) the parties agree to the increase in writing; d) the increase in the total contract price does not exceed 25%; and e) that the Needham Public Schools and contractor may agree in writing to reduce the unit price(s) at any time during the term of the contract or when an option to renew or extend is exercised.

IV. PURCHASE DESCRIPTION & SCOPE OF SERVICES:

1. Overview

Needham, Massachusetts is a town of 31,248 residents and is located 20 miles southwest of Boston. Needham Public Schools (NPS) enrolls over 5,700 students. The fee-based programs covered by this RFP include approximately 7,000-10,000 discrete registrants and well over 10,000 registrations annually. Total fee revenues collected during FY 2019/2020 totaled approximately $3.1 million, including: $2.5 million in fee based programs of the School Committee; $0.5 million in student activity fees and field trip payments and $0.1 million in donations. School lunch payments and fees received for catalogue based programs and ticketing for reserved seating events are excluded from the Scope of Services covered by this bid.

2. Scope of Service

The School Committee, acting through its Superintendent, is seeking written sealed proposals from firms capable of providing a web-based system for accepting registrations and payments from participants of general fee-based programs of the Needham Public Schools. The service period is July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 with the option to extend for two additional years through June 30, 2024.

The RFP covers all fee-based programs of the Needham Public Schools, except continuing education and professional development programs, class-based extracurricular programs for NPS students.

Participant information for some but not all of the programs covered within the scope of this RFP include:

Currently all fee-based transactions are accomplished via paper check, credit card or cash and using our current online payment provider. Registrations are done in person, by mail, by FAX, or by phone. The District maintains various databases to track registrations, create rosters, track payments, and interface with the Town-wide integrated financial system.

The goals of the Needham Schools in procuring online registration/payment services are to:

● Increase the security of transactions, including the processing of credit cards.

● Improve fee collections by facilitating the method of payment.

● Decrease processing time and automate recordkeeping to strengthen internal controls over receivables.

Program

Fee Payer:

NPS

students or public?

Who registers

User or school

Viewabl e Tally/ Waitlist

Estimated Fee Amt.

Method of Payment

# of Partici -pants

Comments

Staff Day Care Students User $7,320-$1 0,130

Online deposit at time of registration, followed by term or monthly billing

20 Discount options

Athletics Students Either $235-$63

Online at time of registration

1,600 Family cap

Transportation Students and public

User $415-$46

Online at time of registration

1,360 Family cap, Late Fee, Prorated Fees, Fee Waivers

Field Trips Students Either T & WL $5-$4,000 Online at time of registration

5,700 Registration connected to student rosters, many and varied payments.

Preschool Students Either T & WL $15-$11,4

Online deposit at time of registration, followed by term or monthly billing

50 Multiple fee payments received per child

● Provide, easy, intuitive, 24/7 user interface to account information, fees due and fees paid for families of school district registrants.

● Provide seamless import/export of data to school stand-alone applications.

● Facilitate parent access to student account information, including fees due and fees paid for registrants.

● Consolidate the fees of multiple children into a family account where registrants can pay against individual and/or multiple children, review previous payments and/or outstanding balances.

● Provide a fair and friendly process for registering for courses and programs of the Needham Schools.

● Offer a professional, easy-to-use interface that reflects the quality and customer-service philosophy of the Needham Public Schools.

● District-wide integrated software solution

For purposes of this RFP, the following definitions will be used:

V. SPECIFICATIONS

The School Department anticipates that the proposal made by the successful bidder will meet the required minimum criteria found in this section and that the product will be fundamentally compatible with School Department systems and financial requirements. Proposers may offer multiple software solutions to meet the scope of service requirements, provided that the products integrate seamlessly with one another into a single ‘system’ that has the look and feel of one product, and are wholly owned by the proposer.

It is recognized that there may be no one system, which provides all that the School Department seeks.

Vendors who only provide services for specific fees and registrations should note which fees they are bidding for. If the proposal does not meet any one of the following specifications, the bidder shall so note the non-compliance on Bid Form I.

a. Required Minimum Criteria (100% must be met for proposal to be evaluated).

System Requirements

1. The system should already be deployed and tested.

User Students, families and individuals who register for courses or pay fees.

Public System users who are adults and non-enrolled children.

Student System users who are Needham Public Schools students.

School Staff School employees who are responsible for collecting payments, posting deposits, maintaining District data systems.

Bidder/Propose r

The firm proposes to provide online registration/payment services.

Fee A charge for a course, item, field trip, tuition, or other fee-based service.

Catalog Courses, items, field trips – things that are being billed for.

Committee Technical Review Committee who will review proposals.

2. The system must be PCI Level I Compliant.

3. The system allows users to register and pay fees using native Macintosh and PC platforms.

4. The system is a secure web-based system, which is hosted by the vendor.

5. The system has the capacity to accommodate up to 100 users registering concurrently.

6. The system offers different levels of read/write access for school staff.

7. The system allows registration by users who are pre-defined in the system prior to registration

(e.g., roster of enrolled NPS students), as well as by users who self-identify at the point of registration (e.g., non-student fee payers.)

8. Bidder must provide references from (3) clients.

9. System must contain administrative function screens that allow School Department staff to perform add/updates/edits to processes.

10. Bidder needs to be knowledgeable about applicable federal laws and Massachusetts state laws.

11. Bidder must agree to a July 1, 2021 “go live date”, at which time the system must be ready to accept fees. By implication the bidder also agrees to configure, set up, train, and test system for a seamless implementation on or before July 1, 2021. The Bidder will commit to having the system ready to “go live” to customers on July 1, 2021.

Compatibility

12. The system must have open architecture to allow data extraction and interaction with other systems and to facilitate reporting. System must allow for automated data import/export from or to a Town system or a third party vendor.

13. The system must have the ability to create a text delimited data file for data integration purposes.

14. All payments must be electronically deposited into a Town-specified bank account(s) within industry standard timeframes.

15. The internet payment application must be linked to the School Department’s website at http://www.needham.k12.ma.us , and if applicable to other Town of Needham web sites, e.g., http://www.needhamma.gov.

16. The Town of Needham will migrate to a new general billing and collection software system (“Town billing system”), the contract for which has yet to be awarded. The Needham Public Schools reserves the right to ask the winner of this bid to pass data from the online payment system to the Town billing system. The Bidder understands that, if so directed by the Needham Public Schools, the Bidder will make a reasonable and good faith effort to do so successfully, at no additional charge to the Needham Public Schools and as part of this RFP.

Methods of Registration/Payment

17. The online system must accept credit card, debit card and ACH/electronic check transactions.

18. The online system must be able to accommodate walk-in payments and registrations.

User Account

19. The system must utilize a user id/password structure that allows for the storage of static information for registration and billing.

http://www.needham.k12.ma.us/ http://www.needhamma.gov/

Registration

20. Users must have access to the system free of charge, from any computer, at any time, to pay fees or check balances.

21. The system must provide immediate confirmation of registration/payment onscreen.

Payment Processing & Fees

22. The Needham Public Schools will be identified as the “merchant of record” on all payments transactions. The bidder must be identified as the “merchant of record” on all convenience fee transactions.

23. Any fee being charged to a payer for conducting a payment must be conspicuously and clearly stated during the session, prior to confirmation of payment. The payer must be asked to consent to the convenience fee. In addition, it must be clearly stated that these fees are not associated with the Needham Public Schools or the Town of Needham.

24. Any fees must be separately and distinctly stated on statements or receipts provided to the payer (i.e., credit card statements, payments receipts, etc.)

25. The payer’s approval of such fees must be obtained prior to initiating credit authorizations.

26. Fees shall not be charged without the approval of the School Department and shall be subject to an annual review by the School Department.

27. The Proposer must provide all equipment and software for the purpose of accepting credit cards or debit cards, as well as electronic check ACH payments. For the purpose of this bid, we assume 20 point of sale locations will be needed, although this is an estimate only and subject to change. Bidders are not responsible for including the cost of PC’s to connect to the internet, or internet connectivity, in their price proposal.

28. Any question involving the validity of a payment shall be decided by the Needham Public Schools.

29. The proposer must provide both merchant services and gateway services as part of their proposal. Two bank accounts are associated with this RFP, although this number is subject to change. The bidder agrees to a split settlement agreement in which Needham Public Schools is the merchant of record for all fee payment transactions, and the bidder is the merchant of record for transaction fee/convenience fee transactions.

Security

30. The systems, software, processes and partners must adhere to the stringent requirements of the national Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) and maintain full PCI Level I compliance.

31. The system must satisfy state and federal identity theft prevention requirements.

32. The Bidder and its partners shall ensure the security and confidentiality of all financial information that the system obtains from payers. The Bidder, partners or other parties shall not use this information for any purpose other than processing of the payment and reporting of transactions to the Town of Needham.

Training, Customer & Technical Support

33. The Proposer must provide technical support for both users and staff on an as-needed basis, during mutually agreed upon regular business hours. Issues that require the intervention of the Needham Public Schools must be routed to the proper contact.

34. The Proposer shall provide training to NPS staff prior to the ‘go-live’ date.

Payment & Refund Posting and Reporting

35. The Bidder must provide a process and a file to update payment and refund transaction data in the Town’s Financial system on a daily basis.

36. The system shall provide the School Department with a specified NPS account number and program identifier in order for the Town to post the payment to the appropriate account.

37. If the School Department receives an invalid account number, or program identified, the Bidder will assist the School Department in identifying the payer who submitted the information. The Bidder will notify the School Department of the payer’s contact information (name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.)

38. The Proposer shall provide the School Department with daily activity reports in a mutually agreed upon format. Such reports will indicate, among other things, the invoice number (if applicable), payer’s name, method of payment, payer’s account number or other relevant identifier, the amount paid, the date/time of payment, NPS account number and program identifier and refund amount (if applicable). These reports shall be available in a format and at such a time so as to allow them to be used to reconcile the electronic payment files.

Between 5-25 users will run reports.

39. Reports have the ability to show a) payments and/or refunds by date, sub-sorted by NPS program identifier; as; b) payments and/or refunds by NPS program identifier, sub-sorted by date and method of payment; c) payments and/or refunds by date, sub-sorted by time; and d) payments and/or refunds by date sub-sorted by student name and id number.

40. At present, the School Department does not process refunds through its online payment systems; refunds are processed separately, through the Town’s financial system via the accounts payable warrant. As such, the online payment system must provide the capability to block refunds from being processed through the system.

41. However, the Needham Public Schools reserves the right at any time during the contract period to require the bidder to process refunds through the online payment system, consistent with items #35-39 above.

Product Demonstration:

42. Proposers must provide a web-based product demonstration during one of the following scheduled dates: Week of March 15th, 2021 (Monday- Wednesday.) While every effort will be made to schedule demonstrations to meet the convenience of proposers, demonstrations will be scheduled ONLY during one of the aforementioned times. Proposers who are unable to meet this requirement will be disqualified as unresponsive.

43. Proposers will not be allowed to submit written or multimedia materials during the presentation. All materials which the proposer wishes to provide to the Needham Public Schools, including materials to support the product demonstration, must be submitted in response to this RFP.

Warranty and Service Level Agreement

44. At no time shall the School Department be responsible for coordinating repairs among multiple Bidders.

45. The Bidder shall modify the System as required to meet all new and existing state and federal requirements, at no additional cost to the Needham Public Schools.

46. The Proposer will warrant the System to be free from defects in material and workmanship from the date of final acceptance by the Town as long as the contract is in force. In the event that the System proves defective or is unable to meet specified performance criteria, the Proposer shall modify the System to resolve the problem or meet the performance criteria at no cost to the Town. The Bidder shall assume responsibility for the performance of all equipment, materials, labor, software, and programs.

47. The bidder shall provide all updates to the system during the contract period at no cost to the School Department.

48. Should the system require any type of planned maintenance, the Bidder shall supply a 72-hour notice to the School Department and general public, via posting on the payment website.

b. The following additional special features are desired, but are not required:

General

49. System notifies users via email when a fee becomes due.

50. System provides email confirmation of a payment made.

51. System prompts customers when certain conditions are met (e.g. selection of a morning and afternoon class, then prompts for a snack choice.)

52. Bidder is a Pearson ISV partner 53.The shopping cart is time-limited and informs the customer to finish a transaction to avoid losing the seat in the shopping cart, which has temporarily been reserved.

54. Additional payment options include: gift certificates and promotional codes.

55.Availability of a “dumb” credit card swiper at school offices for point of sale transactions.

56. Any transaction fee paid by the fee payer is to be displayed twice during a session.

57. Payments must be electronically deposited to a designated Town of Needham bank account within 24 hours for ACH and electronic checks and 48 hours for credit cards, based on Monday-Friday, 5 PM EST workday.

58. Client references are from school systems similar in size to Needham Public School.

59. System allows online registrations and offline payments.

Registrations

60. The format of the registration, and payment web pages have the consistent look and feel of the School District website.

61. Features can be flexibly applied to different school fees.

62. The registration web page can display title/description, seat availability, pricing, dates/times.

63. The registration web page can display the number of seats remaining.

64. The program administrator can reserve seats remotely without actually taking a registration.

65. If all seats are purchased, the system prompts the customer to register on a wait list.

66. Before checking out, a customer has the option of paying additional school fees for the same student, or for an additional student.

67. Once a customer has logged in to their account, the shopping cart is accessible and editable at any time. Once in the shopping cart, the customer has the option to save the cart and continue shopping, or to check out.

68. Discounts and/or fee waivers are permitted.

Reporting

69. Flexible and user-friendly report writing tool that allows departments to review registration and payment details in various formats and prepare custom reports

Payment Processing & Fees:

70. Bidder offers flat-rate convenience fees per transaction.

71. Bidder does not charge early termination fees.

72. Bidder does not charge statement fees.

73. Bidder provides real time authorizations for credit card payments and performs check validation and real-time authorization for e-check payments.

Public View

74. The public view of the fee is available without a login.

75. The system connects to and maintains the look/feel of the District website, including the look and feel of the design.

User Accounts

76. System allows a single account for a family.

77. System allows the user to maintain a password over time.

78. System allows a user id to be set-up prior to actually registering.

79. Users have the ability to view, print, save, and revisit transaction history.

80. Staff may set up a user to accommodate in-person registrations.

c. Selection Process

Proposals will be evaluated in a two-stage process by a Technical Review Committee and the School Procurement Officer.

i. Proposals first will be reviewed by a Technical Review Committee, consisting of the

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, the School Business and Operations Coordinator, the Assistant Director for Financial Operations, the Treasurer of the Town of Needham, one member of the Community Education Department, an Administrative Technology Specialist and/or designees. This committee will review the non-price proposals that meet the minimum requirements identified in Section V and the Submission Requirements outlined in Section I.9, without knowledge of price. Proposals will be judged based on the comparative evaluation criteria described in Section VI. At the conclusion of the evaluation, the Committee will prepare a summary evaluation of the non-price proposals and will submit the summary evaluation to the School Procurement Officer for review.

ii. The School Procurement Officer then will open the price proposals, after the evolution of the non-price proposals is completed.

iii. The School Procurement Officer will determine the most advantageous proposal, taking into consideration both the Technical Review Committee’s evaluation of the non-price proposals, as well as the price proposals, and will submit this recommendation to the Superintendent.

iv. Proposers must meet required minimum criteria found in the specifications in Section V, offer services that are determined to be fundamentally compatible with School Department systems and financial requirements, and meet the submission requirements outlined in Section I.9. Additionally, proposals will be judged on the Comparative Evaluation Criteria described in Section VI.

v. The Needham School Committee, acting through its Superintendent, will award the contract to the responsive and responsible bidder offering the most advantageous proposal.

VI. COMPARATIVE EVALUATION CRITERIA

1.

a) Proposals that meet the minimum criteria in the Specification (Section V), will be further evaluated on the comparative criteria listed below. For each criterion, proposals will be assigned a rating of Highly Advantageous, Advantageous or Not Advantageous. After rating each proposal based on the following criterion, an overall rating will be assigned. Criteria that will be used for comparative purposes are listed below.

Overall Proposal Highly Advantageous

The proposal, including product demonstration, is complete, demonstrates an excellent understanding of the scope of services to be performed, and is perfectly -suited to meeting the scope of services identified in this RFP.

References are provided from school system clients similar in size to Needham Public Schools.

Advantageous The proposal, including product demonstration, is complete, demonstrates a good understanding of the scope of services to be performed, and is well suited to meeting the scope of services identified in this RFP. Good references are provided from clients similar in size to the Needham Public Schools, but not necessarily school systems.

Not Advantageous The proposal, including product demonstration, is incomplete and/or lacks an understanding of the scope of services to be performed and/or is poorly suited to meeting the scope of services identified in this RFP. References are poor and/or are provided exclusively from non-school clients not similar in size to

NPS.

Overall Functionality

Highly Advantageous

Bidder explains and shows with evidence that the system will work with school department systems to process payments, with limited school staff assistance.

Advantageous Bidder explains and shows with evidence that the system will work with some but not all school systems to process payments and/or requires some school staff assistance to process payments.

Not Advantageous Bidder explains and shows with evidence that the system will work with other online products, but none of the systems the School Department currently uses, and/or requires significant school staff assistance to process transactions.

Accepted Forms of Payment

Advantageous

Bidder supports payments using American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, debit cards; in addition to electronic checks/ACH.

Advantageous Bidder supports payments from three or four of the following: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa and debit cards, in addition to electronic checks/ACH.

Not Advantageous Bidder supports payments from only one or two of the following: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa and debit cards; in addition to electronic checks/ACH.

Authorizations Highly Advantageous

Bidder provides real time authorizations for credit card payments and performs check validation and real-time authorization for e-check/ACH payments.

Advantageous Bidder provides real time authorizations for credit card payments or performs check validation and real-time authorization for e-check/ACH payments, but not both.

Not Advantageous Bidder does not provide real time authorizations.

Ability to Meet Multiple Registration/Fee Structures Highly Advantageous

Proposer’s product and product support demonstrate flexibility and customization that allows the School Department to meet the many registration/fee needs of multiple programs, including student activities, transportation, book fees, yearbook sales, travel fees, ticket sales, etc.

Advantageous Bidder’s product and product support demonstrate limited flexibility and customization to meet needs of many different School Department programs.

Not Advantageous Bidder’s product and product support are inflexible. The School Department will need to change its fee structures to meet the capability of the registration/ payment system.

User Interface

Highly Advantageous

The user interface is customer-friendly, professional, attractive, provides seamless connectivity to the School Department’s website and maintains the look and feel of the school website and is intuitive to the user. The user interface provides some or all of the following features: automated billing and reminders, user account displays fees due and including outstanding balances.

The School Department has the option of flagging an account to prevent new registrations until balance is paid.

Advantageous The user interface meets some, but not all of the following attributes:

customer-friendly, professional, attractive, intuitive to users offers connectivity to the School Department website, maintains the look and feel of the school website.

Not Advantageous The user interface is not customer-friendly and/or is unprofessional and/or is unattractive and/or does not provide seamless connectivity to maintain the look and feel of the School Department website and/or requires a learning curve to master.

Technical Response Time and Customer Support

Advantageous

Proposer offers high quality technical assistance, including quick turnaround for problem resolution. School Department staff have access to technical support days/evenings/weekends, when problems are likely to occur. Proposer offers phone and email customer support for users at hours when users are likely to be online. Bidder offers phone and email customer support for School Department staff.

Advantageous Technical response time is available on weekdays and on a limited basis after hours or on weekends. For the most part, customer support is offered to users in multiple formats and/or at hours convenient to users or School Department staff.

The quality of customer support is determined to be adequate or better.

Not Advantageous Technical response time is restricted to weekdays from 9-5 only, leaving users vulnerable to periods of time without online service or without customer support, and/or the quality of customer support is determined to be less than adequate.

Special Features

Highly Advantageous

The System offers 80% or more of the special features that are desired but not required.

Advantageous The System meets 51% to 79% of the above mentioned special features that are desired but not required.

Not Advantageous The System offers 50% or less of the above mentioned special features that are desired but not required.

Implementation Highly Advantageous

Bidder provides a credible implementation schedule to deliver all features within 60 days after the award of the contract.

Advantageous Bidder provides a credible implementation schedule that delivers the minimum required features within 60 days after the award of the contract and will implement the other features prior to July 1, 2021.

Not Advantageous Bidder provides a credible implementation schedule that implements all features on the go live date July 1, 2021 or can not provide a credible implementation schedule.

Bid Form I

CHECKLIST

Company Name: __________________________________________________________________________

Top of Form

Acknowledgement of Receipt Form (Appendix B), completed and returned, if bid materials downloaded from the Town of Needham bid website.

Bid Form II, Bidder Information & Statement of Qualifications, completed, signed and submitted in the Non-Price Proposal envelope. Include required General Program Information as an attachment to this form.

Bid Form III, Price Proposal, completed, signed and submitted in the Price Proposal envelope.

Bid Form IV, Certificate of Compliance with Massachusetts Tax Laws & Non-Collusion, completed, signed and submitted in the Non-Price Proposal envelope.

Bid Form V, Certificate of Corporate Vote, completed, signed and submitted in the Non-Price Proposal envelope.

Bidder acknowledged all addenda, if any:

Addendum #1, Dated _____________ Addendum #2, Dated _____________ Addendum #3, Dated _____________ Addendum #4, Dated _____________ Addendum #5, Dated _____________ Addendum #5, Dated _____________

Bid Form II

BIDDER INFORMATION & STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS

The following information is provided as evidence of the bidder’s qualifications to perform work, as bid upon, in accordance with the contract specifications. All questions must be answered. Additional data may be submitted on separate, 8.5 x 11 inch attached sheets.

BIDDER IDENTIFYING…