REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

22-00-17

SOFTWARE/ONLINE PROGRAM FOR SPEAKING AND WRITING IN ENGLISH LEARNERS

DUE DATE & TIME

June 14, 2022 no later than 2:00 p.m.

No Late Responses Will Be Accepted

SUBMIT TO:

Medford School District 549C

Jackie Flory 815 S. Oakdale Ave. Building A

Medford, OR 97501

I. GENERAL INFORMATION:

Notice is hereby given that proposals will be accepted by the Medford School District at the Facilities/Purchasing Office, located at 815 S. Oakdale Avenue, Medford, OR 97501 no later than 2:00 p.m., June 14, 2022.

The Medford School District, located in southern Oregon, is the eighth (8th) largest school district in the State of Oregon. The District boundary includes the town of Jacksonville, most of Medford, and a large portion of the unincorporated portion of Jackson County. The District consists of two (2) high schools, one (1) alternative high school, two (2) middle schools, one (1) K-8 school, thirteen (13) elementary schools, and four

(4) charter schools.

The district is seeking bids for an electronic instructional tool, with built in progress monitoring for speaking and writing. The product must be designed to build language skills in order to prepare English Learners for the English Language Proficiency Assessment and targeting ELP standards.

General Functional Requirements:

An online system for creating and scoring speaking and listening assessments.

The ability for teachers to create curriculum specific assessments.

The ability to score and track student progress over time, using rubrics.

The ability to give students feedback and set goals.

Rubrics should have exemplars to assist with scoring.

General Requirements-Security All data transmitted through the system be secure.

Teacher logins that allow teachers to see all student submissions, but keeps student submissions private from one another.

Utilize up to date application security and encryption measures.

General Requirements-User Interface and Navigation The product should only present functions and options that are appropriate to a person’s individual role(s) when they log onto the system.

The interface should be student friendly and easy for students to navigate.

Images must be available to assign as part of speaking and writing assignments. A bank of images is preferable.

Students must be able to record themselves speaking in response to a prompt. Student recording must be available to the teachers to listen and score.

Students must be able to write in response to a teacher generated prompt. Teachers must be able to view and score student responses and give them feedback.

The product should have individual goal setting as an option for working with students.

Reporting and Analytics Requirements The product should show student progress over time (by student) in order to track academic growth.

System Expectations Solution should operate in a “real time” environment.

For basic system operation, the system should be easily administered without need for lengthy, specialized technical staff training beyond that which will be provided during the implementation process.

Training The successful Offeror shall provide all necessary training, including technical and application system administration and an initial series of training courses, videos or documents sufficient to leave Medford School District staff prepared to make best use of the new system.

Responses to this RFP will be reviewed, scored, and ranked according to the criteria and process defined in this RFP (see section IV). The Proposer selected for contract negotiations will be the firm selected as the most qualified through the evaluation process.

This is a qualified bid process so while overall costs (that are flexible) are a major factor, consultants who can provide the most experience and scope of services requested will receive higher marks. The District invites interested consultants to complete and submit a proposal.

Medford School District Purchasing Office must receive the original and three (3) copies of the proposal no later than 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Proposals must be in a sealed opaque envelope, clearly marked RFP 22-00-17 and should be delivered by mail or in person to the following address:

Medford School District 549C

Purchasing Office Attention: Jackie Flory, Purchasing Coordinator

815 S Oakdale Avenue Medford, Oregon 97501

II. DISTRICT GENERAL CONDITIONS

PROPOSALS: Proposals shall be in accordance with the specifications and other contract documents on file in Purchasing Department Office, phone 541.842.3780. All proposals shall be addressed to the attention of the Purchasing Coordinator, Medford School District 549C, and 815 S Oakdale Avenue, Medford, OR 97501.

Proposals shall be placed in an envelope which is sealed and which clearly states the name of the bidder, the date of the proposal opening, and appropriate wording to indicate definitely the nature of the contents. Do not send proposals by FAX. Proposals submitted via FAX will not be accepted.

COST OF PROPOSAL: Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of proposer’s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the RFP. This RFP does not commit the School District to pay any costs incurred for this proposal. Special production such as bindings, colored displays, and promotional material are not necessary; however, the proposer should be prepared to present to a selection panel onsite at the District offices or remotely via video conference. Emphasis should be on completeness and clarity of the content.

CANCELLATION: The Medford School District reserves the right to cancel this invitation or reject any and all proposals submitted or to waive any minor formalities of this call, if in the judgment of the School Board the best interest of the District would be served. No proposer may withdraw his/her proposal after the hour set for the opening thereof, unless the award of contract is delayed for a period exceeding thirty (30) days.

LATE PROPOSALS: Proposals received after the scheduled closing time will be returned to the respondent unopened.

QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: Questions, interpretations or clarifications of this RFP must be requested in writing. All questions should be directed to Jackie Flory, Purchasing Coordinator at Jackie.Flory@medford.K12.or.us. Oral instructions or information concerning the RFP given out by District employees or agents to prospective Respondents shall not bind the District.

ADDENDA: The District shall make interpretations, corrections, or changes of the Proposal Documents in writing by published Addenda. Any changes and/or addenda to this solicitation will be posted on the Medford School District (MSD) website at http://www.medford.k12.or.us/Domain/83. Addenda will not be mailed out and it is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder to consult the website regularly until Bid Closing to avoid missing any Addenda.

Failure to acknowledge all addenda may result in declaration of your proposal as non-responsive.

mailto:Jackie.Flory@medford.K12.or http://medford.k12.or.us/Domain/83.%20%20Addenda%20will%20not%20be%20mailed%20out%20and%20it%20is%20the%20responsibility%20of%20the%20prospective%20Bidder%20to%20consult%20the%20website%20regularly%20until%20Bid%20Closing%20to%20avoid%20missing%20any%20Addenda.

http://medford.k12.or.us/Domain/83.%20%20Addenda%20will%20not%20be%20mailed%20out%20and%20it%20is%20the%20responsibility%20of%20the%20prospective%20Bidder%20to%20consult%20the%20website%20regularly%20until%20Bid%20Closing%20to%20avoid%20missing%20any%20Addenda.

http://medford.k12.or.us/Domain/83.%20%20Addenda%20will%20not%20be%20mailed%20out%20and%20it%20is%20the%20responsibility%20of%20the%20prospective%20Bidder%20to%20consult%20the%20website%20regularly%20until%20Bid%20Closing%20to%20avoid%20missing%20any%20Addenda.

http://medford.k12.or.us/Domain/83.%20%20Addenda%20will%20not%20be%20mailed%20out%20and%20it%20is%20the%20responsibility%20of%20the%20prospective%20Bidder%20to%20consult%20the%20website%20regularly%20until%20Bid%20Closing%20to%20avoid%20missing%20any%20Addenda.

INSURANCE: The successful Respondent is required to provide the School District with a certificate of insurance verifying that the successful Respondent has all of the following insurance coverages and endorses the School District as an additional insured: professional liability insurance, commercial general liability insurance, and worker’ compensation insurance, each in an amount not less than required by the School Districts Policies.

CERTIFICATION AS AN EEO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER: Successful Respondent must abide by a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: The Medford School District is committed to providing equal opportunities to State of Oregon certified Minority, Disadvantaged and Women's Business Enterprises in contracting activities. (OAR 445-050- 0001 to 445-050-0090, State of Oregon). This contract is for public works subject to ORS 279C.800 to 279C.870 (the Oregon Prevailing Wage Rate Law).

LOCAL CONTRACTING: If the final evaluation scores are otherwise equal, the School District prefers goods or services that have been manufactured or produced by a Local Business The District desires to employ local businesses in the purchase, lease, or sale of any personal property, public improvements or services. The District wants the residents of the State of Oregon to benefit from optimizing local commerce and services, and the local employment opportunities they generate.

RESIDENT RESPONDENT: Respondents will be required to attest as to whether they are a resident or non-resident Respondent as defined in ORS 279A.120.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: A Respondent submitting qualifications thereby certifies that no officer, agent or employee of the School District who has a pecuniary interest in this RFP has participated in the contract negotiations on the part of the School District, that the submission is made in good faith without fraud, collusion or connection of any kind with any other Respondent of the same RFP, and that the Respondent is competing solely in its own behalf without connection with or obligation to, any undisclosed person or firm.

CONFIDENTIALITY: All information submitted by Respondents shall be public record and subject to disclosure pursuant to the Oregon Public Records Act (ORS 192.410 et seq.), except such portions of the submittals for which Respondent requests exception from disclosure consistent with Oregon Law. Any portion of qualifications submission that the Respondent claims constitutes a “trade secret” or is “confidential” must meet the requirements of ORS 192.501, ORS 192.502 and/or ORS 646.461 et seq. If the entire submittal is marked as constituting a “trade secret” or being “confidential,” at the District’s sole discretion, such a Proposal may be rejected as non-responsive.

AWARD: The award of this contract will be made by the District based on the proposal, which, in the District’s sole and absolute judgment, will best serve the best interests and needs of the District. The District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the proposals, and to waive as an informality any immaterial irregularities in the proposals received.

APPEALS AND PROTEST OF AWARD: Adversely affected or aggrieved Bidders shall have seven (7) calendar days from the date of the Intent-to-Award Announcement within which to file a written protest. All appeals must be in writing and physically received by the Purchasing Coordinator no later than 10:00 a.m. on the seventh (7th) calendar day after the date of the Intent-to-Award Announcement or Bid Results are posted to the website.

APPEAL OF AWARD TO RFP 22-00-16

Medford School District

Purchasing 815 S Oakdale Ave Medford OR 97501

Protests submitted after that date will not be considered. Protests must specify the grounds upon which the protest is based.

In order to be an adversely affected or aggrieved Bidder, the Bidder must claim to be eligible for award of the Contract as the lowest responsible and responsive Bidder and that all lower Bidders are ineligible to receive Contract award.

An actual Bidder who is adversely affected or aggrieved by the award of the Contract to another Bidder may protest award, in writing, within the timeline established. The written protest shall state the grounds upon which the protest is based. No protest of award shall be considered after the deadline. Protests must specify the grounds for the appeal including the specific citation of law, rule, regulation, or procedure upon which the protest is based. The judgment used in scoring by individual evaluators is not grounds for appeal.

No protest against award shall be considered because of the content of solicitation terms and conditions, contract terms and conditions or Specifications after the deadline established for submitting protests of solicitation terms and conditions, contract terms and conditions or Specifications.

III. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS/DATES:

ACTION DATE

Issue RFP May 25, 2022 Final Questions Due June 8, 2022 by, 2:00 P.M.

Last Addenda Issued June 9, 2022 Proposals Due June 14, 2022 no later than 2:00 P.M.

RFP Committee to Review Proposals June 15-17, 2022 Notice of Intent to Award June 21, 2022 The district reserves the right to deviate from this schedule.

IV. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

The Proposer shall be responsible for preparing an effective, clear, and concise proposal. The proposals must include the following minimum information or it will be considered non-responsive:

1. Cover letter addressed to Ms. Angelina Scarminach, ELL/Title III TOSA & Migrant Education

Coordinator; and signed by a person legally authorized to bind the applicant to its proposal. The cover letter must include name of the agency, professional of record, address, telephone and e-mail addresses of the agency and email address of the person(s) who are authorized to represent the proposer.

2. Describe your company’s area of expertise, length of time in business, and pertinent information about your firm including the number and names of school districts using your Software/Online Program For Speaking and Writing in English Learners

3. Articulate your vision for providing your services described on page 2 of this document.

4. Proof of licensure in the State of Oregon;

Profile of Firm that includes articulation of experience with public sector accounts of similar size and scope of service;

5. Name, title, and qualifications of proposed consultant(s) with a minimum of five (5) years’ experience in public sector accounts of similar size and scope of service;

6. Name(s), titles, and qualifications of proposed key personnel with experience in public sector accounts of similar size and scope of service;

Articulate plan and ability to provide service delivery and support to meet the following scope of work:

a. General Functional Requirements

b. General Requirements - Security

c. General Requirement – User Interface and Navigation

d. Reporting and Analytics Requirements

e. References of current clients;

V. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Any proposer must be licensed to provide services in the State of Oregon;

2. Demonstrated experience in servicing accounts of equal size, complexity, and scope;

3. Medford School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Each service provider must comply with federal, state and local Equal Employment Opportunity requirements.

VI. SELECTION PROCESS:

1. Each proposal received will be evaluated to determine if it meets the stated requirements. Failure to meet these requirements will be cause for eliminating the proposal from further consideration.

2. The District reserves the right to reject all proposals, to waive any technicalities, informalities and irregularities, to accept or reject all parts of the proposal, and to be the sole judge of the suitability of the proposals offered.

3. Proposals will be evaluated generally on the following criteria, evaluation will include, but not be limited to, the following weighted criteria:

a. Quality and range of assessment items that measure growth towards ELP standards- 25%

b. Rubrics and scoring materials- 25%

c. Progress-monitoring and tracking of student growth and goal setting- 25%

d. Ease of use, accessibility and affordability – 25%

4 All submittals in response to this RFP are public records and available for inspection and copying upon request. Any portions of the RFP submittal marked as confidential will not be made public without consent of the consultant prior to the award of the contract.

5 A review committee of qualified professionals will be appointed by the Superintendent or his designee.

The proposals received will be evaluated by the review committee. The review committee will submit a recommendation to the Superintendent.

6 All submittals in response to this RFP are public records and available for inspection and copying upon request. Any portions of the RFP submittal marked as confidential will not be made public without consent of the consultant prior to the award of the contract.

7 A review committee of qualified professionals will be appointed by the Superintendent or his designee.

The proposals received will be evaluated by the review committee. The review committee will submit a recommendation to the Superintendent.

VII. TERMS:

TERM OF AGREEMENT: The contract term will be from June 10th, 2022 through June 10th, 2023 with an option for the District to renew an additional 2 years.

WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSAL: Proposals may be withdrawn before the RFP submittal deadline by submitting a written request to Debbie Simons, Director of Human Resources. Re-submittal before the RFP submittal deadline can be made, however, they may not be re-submitted after the deadline.

FORMS MUST BE RETURNED: The following forms must be signed and returned with your Proposal.

Exhibit A – Vendor Information Exhibit B - Certificate of Compliance with Tax Laws Exhibit C – Signature Page

EXHIBIT A

VENDOR INFORMATION

Company Name _______________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip ________________________________________________________________

Phone ________________________________________________________________________

Fax __________________________________________________________________________

E-Mail _______________________________________________________________________

Name (printed) & Title __________________________________________________________

Signature _________________________________________ Date: _______________________

Proposals are to be received at the Facilities Office of the Medford School District 549C, 815 S. Oakdale Ave, Medford, OR 97501 in a separate sealed package clearly identified as “RFP Software/Online Program for Speaking and Writing in English Learners” and to the attention of Jackie Flory, before 2:00 p.m, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. It is the responsibility of the sender to verify receipt of the Proposal by the District.

Specifications may be obtained at the Purchasing Office, or by calling 541-842-3780, by e-mailing Jackie.Flory@medford.k12.or.us or by accessing the purchasing webpage at http://wwwmedford.k12.or.us/Domain/83.

Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) regulations governing public entities require that questions regarding this proposal need to be submitted in writing via e-mail, fax, and regular mail so that all potential vendors may be equally apprised of project parameters and any addenda.

mailto:Jackie.Flory@medford.k12.or.us http://wwwmedford.k12.or.us/Domain/83

EXHIBIT B

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE WITH TAX LAWS

CONTRACTOR DATA AND CERTIFICATION

Name (tax filing): ____________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

Citizenship, if applicable:

Non-resident alien ____ yes ____ no

Business Designation (check one):

_______ Corporation ________Partnership

_______Sole Proprietorship _______ Governmental/Non-Profit

Federal Tax ID#______ -______ - ______OR SSN______ - ______- ______

Above payment information must be provided prior to contract approval. This information will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the name and taxpayer I.D. number submitted. (See IRS 1099 for additional instructions regarding taxpayer ID numbers.) Information not matching IRS records could subject contractor to 31 percent backup withholding.

Certification: I, under penalties of perjury, do hereby certify that (a) the number shown on this form is my correct taxpayer ID (or I am waiting for the number to be issued to me) and (b) I am not subject to backup withholding because (i) I am exempt from backup withholding or (ii) I have not been notified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that I am subject to backup withholding as a result of a failure to report all interest or dividends, or (iii) the IRS has notified me that I am no longer subject to backup withholding.

I, the undersigned also (a) agree to perform the work required by Exhibit A in accordance with the terms and conditions (listed on the front and back side hereof and made part of this contract by reference); (b) certify under penalty of perjury that I/my business am not/is in violation of any Oregon tax laws; and (c) certify I am an independent contractor as defined in ORS 670.600.

I, the undersigned, being first duly sworn, hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of _________________________ [insert Proposer’s name] and to the best of my knowledge, __________________[insert Proposer’s name] is not in violation of any Oregon Tax Laws. For purposes of this Certificate, “Oregon Tax Laws” are those laws and programs listed in ORS 305.380(4), namely ORS Chapters 118, 314, 316, 317, 318, 320, 321 and 323 and Sections 10 to 20, Chapter 533, Oregon Laws 1981, as amended by Chapter 16, Oregon Laws 1982 (first special session); the elderly rental assistance program under ORS

310.630 to 310.706; and any local tax laws administered by the Oregon Department of Revenue under ORS 305.620. I will continue to comply with the tax laws of this state, or a political subdivision of this state, during the term of the public contract, and provide that my failure to comply with the tax laws, of this state or a political subdivision of this state, before I have executed the public contract or during the term of the public contract is a default for which the contracting agency may terminate the public contract, and seek damage and other relief available, under the terms of the public contract or under applicable law.

Contractor’s Authorized Agent:

Signature/Title

Print Name Date

Contractor: ___________________________________________________

Contact Person: ________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________

Email Address: ________________________________________________

EXHIBIT C

SIGNATURE PAGE

SIGNATURE OF FIRM’S DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE FOR THIS PROPOSAL MUST BE SIGNED IN INK BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FIRM; ANY ALTERATIONS OR ERASURES TO THIS PROPOSAL

MUST BE INITIALED IN INK BY THE UNDERSIGNED AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.

The undersigned agrees and certifies that (s)he:

1. Has read and understands all Proposal instructions, specifications, and terms and conditions contained herein;

2. Is an authorized representative of the Proposer, that the information provided in this Proposal is true and accurate, and that providing incorrect or incomplete information may be cause of Proposal rejection or contract termination;

3. Is bound by and will comply with all requirements, specifications, and terms and conditions contained herein;

4. Will furnish the designated item(s) and/or service(s) in accordance with the contract if awarded to Proposer.

5. Proposer will provide its Federal Tax Identification number or Social Security Number with Proposal submission.

6. The proposer hereby acknowledges the requirement to carry or indicates the ability, to obtain the insurance required by the contract documents. Indicate in the affirmative by initialing here: _________

7. The proposer hereby acknowledges awareness of addendum posted to our website regarding this RFP Indicate in the affirmative by initialing here: _________

Authorized Signature

Title

Date