RFI 2026 -17 Educator Certifcation Solution.pdf

RFI 2026-17 Page 1 of 6

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION SOLUTION

RFI 2026-17

Florida Department of Education 325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400

Please email submissions to:

Attn Roberta Lewis

Email: Roberta.lewis@fldoe.org

RFI 2026-17 Page 2 of 6

Educator Certification Solution

Purpose and Scope

I. INTRODUCTION

The State of Florida, Department of Education, hereinafter referred to as the “Department,” is requesting information from qualified vendors in transitioning a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), on prem educator certification solution to a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) or vendor-managed solution. This transition requires developing, testing, documenting and implementing the new solution as well as migrating the data from the existing solution and other ancillary programs (listed in the program background).

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE BIDS OR A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, AND

NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED IN RESPONSE TO SUBMISSIONS.

If, as a result of the Request For Information (RFI), the Department decides to pursue contract(s) to provide any of the services mentioned, and vendors capable of providing such services are identified, then a competitive procurement package will be developed and issued at a later date.

II. PROGRAM BACKGROUND

In fiscal year (FY) 2017-2018, the Department moved from an in-house certification system to Versa, a COTS enterprise licensing solution consisting of two primary applications and three associative or support applications. The code for the primary applications that make up the Versa system is owned and managed by the vendor. The Department manages the business operations, manages configuration changes, and responds to data requests for certification data

Other applications and jobs together with the Versa application make up the full suite of applications comprising the Bureau of Educator Certification (BEC) enterprise certification system. All components of the BEC system (applications and databases) are housed at the Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC).

The existing certification components include, but are not limited to the below list:

Versa System (primary applications):

• Versa Regulation (VR) – Supports 86 BEC back office and school district users

• Versa Online (VO) – Supports applicants, certificate holders, and the public (supports the school district user record specific data updates through web-based actions). In FY 2024-2025, a total of 92,406 applications were processed and 156,470 files worked.

• Versa Analytics – reporting tool provided with the Versa Suite but not used due to performance degradation.

Versa System (support applications):

• Obsidian (see 2.15 below for further explanation)

• Wildfly (see 2.16 below for further explanation)

• Jenkins (see 2.17 below for further explanation)

Versa System (database):

• SQL 2019

Ancillary BEC Licensing Applications:

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• FileNet: FileNet is IBM’s secure electronic content management system that includes an enterprise document management engine, security, and storage features using SQL Server, along with process management capabilities. The Department does not own the application code for FileNet.

Note: FileNet is Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) compliant. As such, FileNet is certified to protect sensitive information like fingerprints and criminal backgrounds gathered by local, state, and federal criminal justice and law enforcement agencies. The Versa application is not CJIS compliant, thus FileNet until all applicant background checks are incorporated into the Clearinghouse housed at the Agency for Heath Care Administration (AHCA).

• Interactive Voice Response (IVR):

o Application that allows callers to interact with the certification system through the use of voice and tones input via a telephone keypad.

o 1-800 Telephone Number o Provided by a third-party vendor and connected to the Versa database.

• NIC: Secure payment processing and reporting service for educator certification payments made as part of the application and/or renewal process.

NIC provides support for these payments via a link to NIC available through the Versa application. The payments are processed and funds deposited with the Department of Financial Services (DFS). NIC is responsible for PCI compliance.

• E-Transcript: The Department’s FASTER/SPEEDE Transcript transmittal process that provides electronic transcripts to the certification system (statutorily required for Florida public institutions).

• Employment Screening: Pulls a subset of certification information for the private and charter schools to review (statutorily required).

• Teacher Certification Fee Waiver System: provides data for waivers for teacher certification examinations for applicants with military, law enforcement and other backgrounds or for applicants with certain specialties.

• FingerPrint Parse (FPParse): Select data information from the AHCA Fingerprint Clearinghouse is loaded into the certification database and flags fields in the Versa system.

Batch Jobs and Backups:

• Batch Jobs: There are a number of jobs that run on a scheduled basis.

III. PROGRAM GOALS

Pursuant to Ch. 1012, F.S., the primary goal of Florida educator certification is to support the academic achievement of our students by assuring that our educators are professionally qualified for highly effective instruction. Florida educators must be certified to teach in our public schools and in many of our private schools. Educators include classroom teachers, school administrators, and other support professionals, such as guidance counselors and media specialists. The Bureau of Educator Certification (BEC) is committed to providing timely, accurate, and efficient services to all constituents.

The program offers two types of certificates, a renewable professional and a non-renewable temporary, in a variety of subject areas. BEC also provides endorsements for certain practices (Reading, etc.) and specialty certifications (speech language and athletic coaching).

RFI 2026-17 Page 4 of 6

IV. OBJECTIVE

The objective of this RFI is to determine available cloud-based SaaS or vendor-managed solutions for licensing/certification. This system should, at a minimum:

• Be a cloud-based SaaS or vendor managed solution

• Should provide configurable role-based security

• Should provide integration with Department’s Azure AD token-based single sign on solution

• Should contain an initial front end consistent with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that allows applicants to upload all documents, provides feedback on qualification of applicants (i.e. what certification the applicant is qualified for based on documents loaded) and hold the application until all requirements for application are satisfied (or until purge threshold is met)

• Should provide applicant status lookup for applicants to check the status of their applications

• Should contain an automated software application consistent with AI technology (Bot, Chatbot, etc.) to facilitate customer service and communications utilizing database attributes currently utilized by the Bureau’s IVR system.

• Should provide certification lookup for the public to check for certification holders

• Should provide the ability for BEC users to Add, Delete, Edit data

• Should have the ability to generate reports based on business rules throughout the system

• Should have the ability to flag fields based on Parse files related to background check results and professional practices determinations

• Should contain document management functionality to manage and maintain applicant documentation

• Should have the ability to receive and store transcript data from FASTER/SPEEDE transactions and to flag applicants for alerts resulting from background checks/Professional Practices actions.

• Should have the capacity to load balance during busy seasons (primarily March- October)

• Should have the ability to reconcile payment records with active applications

(Details on the specific requirements of our existing web application have been attached as APPENDIX A.)

V. PURPOSE

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for the purpose of obtaining information regarding solution options, vendor’s experience, and cost analysis to facilitate future budget requests and procurement of the solution requested.

Responses should provide information that supports the below Response Format section based on the above paragraphs.

VI. PROCESS

Department management will review and analyze information received in response to this RFI to determine the feasibility of issuing competitive solicitation for these products/services. Any request for cost information received will be used solely to gain a perspective of the potential budgetary magnitude.

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Responses to this request will be reviewed for informational purposes only and will not result in the award of a contract. Vendors submitting a response to this RFI are not prohibited from responding to any related subsequent solicitation.

VII. RESPONSE FORMAT

Respondents are requested to address all of the following in their response:

1) Company literature, such as corporate overview and company structure, financial soundness and stability, and services currently offered;

2) Point of contact information, including representative name and alternative, if available, telephone number(s), and e-mail address(s);

3) Specific information submitted in the following format:

Section 1: Description of corporate history and experience developing similar solutions based on the requirements in the Objectives portion of this RFI.

• Describe other similar engagements and key points.

• Describe the available solutions(s) and steps for typical deployment.

Section 2: Description of the solution consistent with the goals and objectives above.

• Describe how the solution supports external and internal user accounts for registration and secure access.

Section 3: Identify typical costs considered during the development, deployment life cycle, including any configuration, migration, quality assurance and maintenance.

• Specify typical ownership and maintenance costs.

• Specify typical development costs.

• Specify typical data migration and integration costs.

Section 4: Identify types of documentation that may be provided for requested solution.

• Specify any requirements validation processes that may be utilized to implement the requested solution.

• Specify any technical documentation that may be provided for the requested solution.

• Specify any possible training plan for the requested solution.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

A. Time Schedule (ALL DATES IN RFI SUBJECT TO CHANGE.)

The following timetable shows the approximate dates for this RFI. All times indicated are Eastern Time (ET).

Request for Information Issued

10/1/2025 @ 10:00 AM EST

Questions Due no later than

10/6/2025 @ 4:00 PM EST

Answers to Vendors on or about

10/10/2025 @ 4:00 PM EST

Receipt of e-mailed RFI responses

11/6/2025 @ 4:00PM EST

RFI 2026-17 Page 6 of 6

PLEASE PROVIDE RESPONSES VIA EMAIL

B. Questions and Restrictions

The Department may be contacted via email (preferred) or fax regarding submission of questions concerning this RFI. Respondents’ questions must be submitted in writing and received by the Department on or before the specified due date at the following email address or fax:

Please send questions to:

Attn: Roberta Lewis 325 W. Gaines Street, Suite 344

Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400 Email (preferred): roberta.lewis@fldoe.org

Fax Number: 850-245-0719 Telephone Number: 850-245-9474

Answers will be posted on the Florida Vendor Information Portal (VIP) at https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com/ (click on Search Advertisements under the Florida Solicitation Advertisement section, then populate the Organization field with the Department of Education. Initiate search by clicking the Search button). Click on this RFI number to review posted documents. It is the responsibility of all Respondents to monitor this site for any changing information prior to submitting a response.

https://vendor.myfloridamarketplace.com/