RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 2

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP): 22-19

Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services

(Annual Contract)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Board of Public Education for the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham (the “Board”), the body corporate responsible for public education in Chatham County, which is commonly known as the Savannah- Chatham County Public School System (“SCCPSS”), seeks sealed proposals for Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) as specified in this Request for Proposals (“RFP”).

It is worth noting at the outset that the competitive sealed proposal (RFP) process differs from competitive sealed bidding in two important ways:

1) It permits discussions with competing Offerors and changes in their proposal including price; and

2) It allows comparative judgmental evaluations to be made on various criteria (in addition to cost) for award of the contract.

Vendors who wish to be awarded a contract by the Board to provide the goods and/or services requested by this RFP shall be referred to herein as the “Offeror(s).” To be considered for an award of a contract under this RFP, Offerors should carefully read this solicitation document, which is called Request for Proposals (RFP) 22-19, and all of the forms, product specifications, service requirements, contract documents, or other materials that may attached hereto or referenced herein. This RFP and the associated documents identify the goods/and or services requested by the SCCPSS, contain the instructions for preparing and submitting proposals, and outline the process by which the Board will award a contract for those goods and/or services, if it decides to award a contract at all.

II. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THIS RFP

A. A “Cone of Silence” Applies to this RFP.

A “Cone of Silence” is imposed upon this RFP after advertising and terminates at the time the Board awards a contract. The Cone of Silence prohibits any communications by written, oral, or electronic form by, or on behalf of, a prospective Offeror for this solicitation, including any persons affiliated with or in any way related to a prospective Offeror, and any member of the Board of Education, the superintendent or her staff, any persons involved in evaluating the bid, program managers, or members of any selection committee. The Cone of Silence is intended to prohibit lobbying for, or against, a particular vendor or vendors and to prevent prospective Offerors from circumventing the process for selection set forth in this RFP.

The Cone of Silence does not apply to oral communications with the Director of Purchasing, or the Director of Purchasing’s designees, at pre-proposal conferences, site visits (as applicable), presentations before selection committees, or contract negotiations with offerors selected for award. Written communications expressly authorized by this solicitation, such as (1) the submission of the proposal itself, (2) requests for interpretation, requests for material substitutions, protests, or similar inquiries to the purchasing department, (3) documents circulated at oral presentations before selection committees, or (4) documents circulated in connection with contract negotiations with the Offeror(s) selected for award are also permitted in communication with the Director of Purchasing or the Director of Purchasing’s designees. The Cone of Silence does not apply to presentations allowed by Board policy or to the Board of Education at a duly called public meeting.

In addition to any other penalties provided by law, violation of the Cone of Silence by any Offeror may result in the rejection of the Offeror’s response and disqualify the Offeror from being awarded any contract as a result of this solicitation. Any person having personal knowledge of a violation of these provisions shall immediately report such violations to the District’s Purchasing Department.

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B. The Goods and/or Services requested by the SCCPSS.

The goods and/or services requested by the SCCPSS in this RFP are described in more detail in “Attachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements,” which is incorporated into this RFP by this reference.

C. The Advertising Dates for this RFP.

This RFP is being advertised on the Purchasing Department page of the District website www.sccpss.com, from Tuesday, October 26, 2021, until the deadline for submitting proposals. This RFP is also being advertised on the Georgia Procurement Registry website from Tuesday, October 26, 2021, until the deadline for submitting proposals.

This RFP is also being advertised in the Savannah Morning News, the newspaper for legal notices in

Chatham County, on the following dates:

Tuesday, October 26, 2021, and Sunday, November 9, 2021

D. Pre-Proposal Conferences Held by the Purchasing Department.

No pre-proposal conference will not be held for this RFP.

Offerors should be advised that while attendance at the pre-proposal conference for this RFP is not required, attendance may be required at an interview scheduled after the submission of proposals for this RFP.

Offerors should also be advised that other SCCPSS RFPs may require attendance at a pre-proposal conference as a condition to being deemed a “responsive” and “responsible” Offeror eligible for a contract award.

E. The Deadline for Submitting Proposals in Response to this RFP.

The deadline for submitting proposals in response to this RFP, unless extended by the SCCPSS, shall be as follows:

Tuesday, November 30, 2021, prior to 2:00 P.M.

Time is of the essence, and any proposal received on or after this deadline for submission will not be accepted. Proposals must be received by email prior to November 30, 2021, at 2:00:00 PM (as determined by the timestamp assigned by the District’s email program) at which time no additional proposals shall be accepted. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their proposals are timely received and registered by Purchasing Department personnel. If an Offeror does not receive an email confirmation that its proposal has been received and registered between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on the day the proposal is sent or prior to 1:59:99 P.M. on November 30, 2021, then Offerors should email or call the purchasing department at (912) 395-5572 to confirm receipt.

While the SCCPSS will accept all proposals received by the purchasing@sccpss.com email account by 1:59:99 P.M., Offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit proposals. Any proposals not received by 1:59:99 P.M. will be rejected.

It shall not be sufficient to show that the proposal was sent by email before the scheduled deadline. Furthermore, the only clock that shall matter for the purposes of determining the timely receipt of email submissions is the timestamp assigned by the District’s e-mail program to the email account associated with the following email address: purchasing@sccpss.com.

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This deadline may be extended for all prospective Offerors within the discretion of the Director of the Purchasing Department or her designee for any reason. A non-exclusive list of reasons why the deadline may be extended include: the issuance of addenda to this RFP or the associated specifications, a total absence of proposals, SCCPSS closure due to inclement weather, etc. The Director of the Purchasing Department will either extend the deadline for all Offerors or not all.

F. Delivery and Submission of Proposals.

Offerors shall timely deliver proposals by email to purchasing@sccpss.com. The proposal and all required forms shall be submitted as PDF document attached to the email.

All proposals must be submitted with the RFP name, number, and closing date and time clearly marked on the subject line of the submitting email.

Please include with your proposal all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, a copy of your firm’s current business license and certificate of insurance. Failure to include all of the information and/or documents requested by this solicitation could result in the offeror’s proposal not being considered by the SCCPSS.

While all forms are required, Offerors will not be required to submit notarized forms with their initial proposal due to COVID-19. However, all forms must be signed. The successful Offeror will be required to submit notarized forms when normal operations resume. If the successful Offeror fails to supplement the notarized forms with notarized copies or if it appears that a form originally submitted was false, then the District reserves the right to rescind any contract before or after award and/or hold the Offeror liable for damages.

G. Receipt and Registration of Proposals.

Proposals must be received by email addressed to the purchasing@sccpss.com email account prior to November 30, 2021, at 2:00:00 PM (as determined by the timestamp assigned by the District’s email program) at which time no additional proposals shall be accepted. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their proposals are timely received and registered by Purchasing Department personnel. If an Offeror does not receive an email confirmation that its proposal has been received and registered between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on the day the proposal is sent or prior to 1:59:99 P.M. on November 30, 2021, then Offerors should email or call the purchasing department at (912) 395-5572 to confirm receipt. While the SCCPSS will accept all proposals received by the purchasing@sccpss.com email account by 1:59:99 P.M., Offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit proposals. Any proposals not received by 1:59:99 P.M. will be rejected.

Proposals and modifications shall be shown only to Board personnel having a legitimate interest.

Only after award of the contract shall proposals be open to public inspection. If this RFP is cancelled before the award of a contract, the District will retain, but not make open to public inspection, copies of the proposals it received to help preserve the competitiveness of a future solicitation process for the same goods and services.

H. Timely-filed, Signed Proposals Considered an Offer.

An Offeror’s timely-filed, signed proposal shall be considered an offer on the part of the Offeror which may become a binding contract on the Offeror if accepted by the District following a vote by the elected school board at the conclusion of the proposal evaluation process. By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP, Offeror agrees that the proposal will remain open for acceptance by the District for at least 120 days without any changes in terms or pricing.

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In the event that the Offeror refuses to perform its promises made in its proposal after acceptance by the

District, the District may take such action as it deems appropriate to redress the Offeror’s failure to perform, including legal action for damages or equitable relief, including specific performance, for the Offeror’s lack of required performance.

I. Non-Response by Prospective Offerors.

If an Offeror does not wish to submit a proposal in response to this RFP but would like to remain on the list of potential vendors for the SCCPSS, please complete and return only the “No Proposal Statement Form” included with this RFP packet and clearly mark the outside of the envelope with the words “No Response.”

J. Form and Formatting of Proposals.

The form and formatting requirements for proposals requested by this RFP are described in “Attachment A- Description of Property, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements.”

K. Bid Bonds.

A bid bond IS NOT required with Offeror’s proposal for this RFP.

If a bid bond is required by this RFP, the requirement is set forth in more detail in “Attachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements,” which is incorporated by this reference.

L. Performance Bonds.

A performance bond IS NOT required in connection with this RFP.

If a performance bond is required by this RFP, the requirements of any such Performance Bond will be set forth in “Attachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements,” which is incorporated by this reference.

M. Offeror’s Essential Credentials and Business Structure to be considered a “Responsible

Offeror.”

To be even considered for a possible award of a contract for the goods and/or services requested by this RFP, an Offeror must be deemed a “responsible” Offeror by the SCCPSS Purchasing Department.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror for the purpose of this RFP, an Offeror must be licensed and have the capacity to provide the goods and/or perform the services requested by this RFP and must be able to meet the minimum licensing, bonding, insurance, and contractual requirements of this RFP. The Board reserves the right to request an Offeror to provide additional information or documentation to demonstrate that it is a “responsible” Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds for the Board to declare the Offeror to be not “responsible” for the purposes of this RFP.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, the Offeror’s majority (51%) ownership, whether public or private, must be held by citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, the Offeror must attach to its proposal a copy of any and all business licenses needed for the Offeror to provide the requested goods and/or services, including any local business licenses needed to provide the good and/or services requested by this RFP in Chatham County.

If the Offeror is a corporation, a copy of a current Annual Corporate Registration issued by the State in which the Offeror is incorporated is required to demonstrate that the Offeror is a “responsible” offeror.

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While any lawful form of business may be a “responsible” Offeror, if the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture (PJV), a copy of the contractual agreement between the participants in the PJV must be provided with the PJV’s proposal. The PJV agreement must be adequate to its purpose of establishing a safe and well-structured good faith relationship between the participants, and must comply with all applicable laws, including Antitrust Laws. The agreement must include adequate provisions to address unforeseen events such as the demise of any one of the partners or joint venture companies, and the like.

If the Offeror is a corporation, a copy of a current Annual Corporate Registration issued by the State in which the Offeror is incorporated is required to demonstrate that the Offeror is a “responsible” offeror.

While any lawful form of business may be a “responsible” Offeror, if the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture (PJV), a copy of the contractual agreement between the participants in the PJV must be provided with the PJV’s proposal. The PJV agreement must be adequate to its purpose of establishing a safe and well-structured good faith relationship between the participants, and must comply with all applicable laws, including Antitrust Laws. The agreement must include adequate provisions to address unforeseen events such as the demise of any one of the partners or joint venture companies, and the like.

If a joint venture, information and documentation must be provided to establish whether the joint venture is a business entity created for the purpose of functioning as the joint venture, or whether the joint venture is operated through the existing legal status of the venture partners. All information regarding the legal structure and reporting of income for tax purposes of the PJV must be provided. The District may disqualify from consideration the Offer of any PJV when it determines such disqualification to be in its best interest.

The District WILL NOT enter into an agreement with more than one legal business entity. Additionally, if two or more projects have not been previously undertaken and successfully completed by a PJV Offeror, each party to the PJV responding to this RFQ must submit complete but separate proposals making clear that it is a part of a PJV Offer. It is required that each participant in a PJV be routinely and on a daily basis in the business of providing services which are closely similar or identical to those Services solicited by this RFP.

N. Insurance, Warranty, Indemnity and Other Requirements for “Responsible” Offerors.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, all Offerors may be required to meet minimum insurance, warranty, indemnity and other requirements set forth in more detail in “Attachment A- Description of Property, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements,” which is incorporated by this reference.

O. O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and E-Verify Compliance Required for “Responsible” Offerors.

To be considered a “responsible” Offeror, all Offerors are required to comply with O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91, a Georgia statute that prohibits a public employer such as the SCCPSS from entering into any contract with a contractor who fails to participate in the federal work authorization program E-Verify or fails to demonstrate that it is not required to participate in the E-Verify program. In order to be deemed a “responsible” Offeror eligible for this RFP, the Offeror must provide the affidavit(s) or other documentation required O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91. While the District provides sample O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 affidavit forms in this RFP, Offerors are solely responsible for familiarizing themselves with their obligations under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 and making sure that they provide the Board with the required documentation.

P. Local and/or Minority/Women Business Enterprise (LMWBE) Policies.

It is the policy of the Board to maximize the utilization of qualified local, minority, and women owned business enterprises (“LMWBEs”) who provide professional services or who serve as prime contractors, subcontractors or suppliers as a part of the District’s facilities construction, maintenance and repair programs.

Prime contractors on district construction projects shall make and document good faith efforts to maximize the utilization of qualified LMWBEs as subcontractors and suppliers and provide proof of such efforts and contracts

RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 7 with and payments made to LMWBEs upon request. The Board also promotes capacity building within the local construction community and encourages the use of partnerships, teaming and mentorships to provide LMWBEs with relevant and necessary experiences to grow their business.

For the purposes of this policy, good faith efforts may include, but not be limited to, the following:

Attend pre-solicitation meetings to inform LMWBEs of subcontracting opportunities.

Advertise in general circulation media, trade association publications, and minority and women business enterprise media to provide notice of subcontracting opportunities.

Communicate with the City of Savannah’s Office of Economic Development to identify available and qualified LMWBE firms.

Review the District’s list of vendors indicating an interest in providing services to the District.

Select portions of work for subcontracting in areas with established availability of LMWBE subcontractors.

Solicit and negotiate with available and qualified LMWBEs for specific subcontracting opportunities.

Assign substantive work to LMWBEs or LMWBE teaming partners.

For the purposes of this policy, a local business enterprise is defined as (1) having established a regular, physical place of business other than a job site office with at least one employee within the geographical boundaries of the Savannah, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) prior to the closing date on the solicitation (a post office box address will not satisfy this requirement); (2) having a current Business Tax Certificate and other licenses, certificates, or permits required by law to operate a business in that location; and

(3) performing a commercially useful function within the local office.

For the purposes of this policy, a Minority Business Enterprise is an independent, continuing venture that is at least 51% owned by a minority person or persons that meets the criteria for a Disadvantaged Business. A Disadvantaged Business is a small business which is owned, controlled and managed on a daily basis by a majority or persons, not limited to members of minority groups, who have been deprived of the opportunity to develop and maintain a competitive position in the economy because of social disadvantage. This includes:

1. African American: A person with origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa;

2. Hispanic American: A person with origins from Mexico, South America, Central America or the

Caribbean Basin, regardless of race; and

3. Asian American: A person with origins from the Indian subcontinent, countries of the Asian

Pacific region, and surrounding countries; and

4. American Indian: A person with origins from the indigenous people of North America.

For the purposes of this policy, a Women Business Enterprise is an independent, continuing venture that is at least 51% owned by one or more women. To qualify as an LMWBE, the owner must be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States, be involved in daily business operations, and provide a commercially useful function. The ownership interest must be real and continuous and not created solely to meet the local/minority/women business or local/minority/women contractor good faith efforts.

SCCPSS shall, through their program management and construction management providers, engage in efforts to communicate opportunities afforded by the District’s facilities construction, maintenance and repair programs to LMWBEs, including but not limited to:

Communicate opportunities associated with SCCPSS facilities construction, maintenance and repair programs to the citizens of Chatham County.

Work with other local governments and relevant community organizations to provide technical assistance and guidance to LMWBEs;

Develop strategies to assist prime contractors in maximizing their utilization of LMWBEs;

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Develop and provide informational sessions to educate LMWBEs in the requirements of the District’s procurement process;

Provide notices as outlined above and maintain a list of vendors who have provided or are interested in providing services to the SCCPSS, as outlined above.

SCCPSS may, from time to time, audit vendor contracts with and payments to LWMBE contractors and subcontractors and may require that proof of such contracts and payments be provided to the SCCPSS.

All bidders must read, complete and return all of the LMWBE forms attached to this RFP.

Q. The Board’s Reservation of Rights to Cancel this RFP, to Amend the RFP Process, to Disqualify Offerors, and to Waive Irregularities and Technicalities.

The Board, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the

Board’s governing body, the elected School Board, may cancel this RFP at any time before the Board awards a contract to any Offeror(s). The Board may decline to purchase the goods and/or services solicited in this RFP at all or it may decide to purchase some or all of the same goods and/or services through a similar or different procurement process.

The Board, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the

Board’s governing body, the elected School Board, reserves the right to amend this RFP and all attachments in any way and at any time (without cancelling it in its entirety) before the deadline for the submission of proposals. Any addenda amending this RFP will be made available to all Offerors on the SCCPSS website. As stated above, the submission deadline will be extended at least seventy-two (72) hours if any addenda are issued less than seventy-two (72) hours before the submission deadline.

The Board further reserves the right to amend this RFP in any way after the deadline for the submission of proposals (without cancelling the RFP in its entirety), except the Board will not amend the original proposal formatting or submission requirements, the criteria for determining whether the Offeror is a “responsive” or “responsible” Offeror, or any of the initial evaluation criteria used for determining whether the Offeror is “reasonably susceptible of being selected for award” or “short-listed,” phrases commonly used by the Purchasing Department to indicate that an Offeror performed well enough on the initial evaluation criteria to be eligible to participate in interviews or subsequent rounds of evaluations. A non-exclusive example of such an amendment to an RFP may be changes to second round evaluation criteria to help differentiate those short-listed Offerors determined to be “reasonably susceptible of being selected for award.”

The Board further reserves the right to redo any stage of this RFP (without cancelling it in its entirety) if the

Board, in the discretion of the Purchasing Director, the Chief Financial Officer, the Superintendent, or the Board’s governing body, the elected School Board, has concerns that a stage of the RFP should be redone to eliminate any question of whether it was conducted properly.

The Board reserves the right to reject any and all proposals submitted in response to this RFP, and to waive any irregularities or technicalities in proposals received whenever such rejection or waiver is in the best interest of the Board.

The Board has the right to disqualify a proposal of any Offeror on the basis that the proposal is

“nonresponsive”, or the Offeror is “not responsible.”

A proposal shall be deemed “nonresponsive” if it fails to include all of the information or documents required by this RFP.

An Offeror shall be deemed “not responsible” if the Board determines that the Offeror fails to meet the minimal requirements to be eligible for consideration, including but not limited to, a lack of capacity to do the work or provide the services requested, a lack of proper insurance, the lack of a valid business license, failure to satisfy e-Verify requirements, being disqualified from working for the SCCPSS because of poor performance on a prior project, or

RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 9 some other reason that gives the Board reason to question the responsibility or reliability of the Offeror. The District reserves the right to request an Offeror to provide additional information in response to any concern that an Offeror may not be a “responsible” Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds for the Board to declare the Offeror to be not “responsible” for the purposes of this RFP.

R. Evaluation and Award of Contract.

A contract with the Board, if one is awarded at all, for the goods and/or services requested in this RFP will be awarded by means of the evaluation process described in in “Attachment A - Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements.”

Depending on the nature of the goods and/or services the Board may provide a sample of the contract it is willing to execute with a successful Offeror. If such a sample contract is attached, then the Offeror is deemed to have agreed that all of the terms contained therein will be acceptable by submitting a proposal. If the Offeror wants to propose materially different terms, then the Offeror should file a request for Material Substitution using the procedure outlined above before submitting its proposal.

For other goods and/or services, the Board may ask Offerors to provide a proposed contract. The terms of that proposed contract will be evaluated as part of the selection process and the District may ask short-listed Offerors determined to be reasonably susceptible for award to negotiate specific terms. The specifications for the goods and/or services requested by this RFP may also include specific contract terms outlined in “Attachment A - Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements” that should be included in any contract proposed by an Offeror.

By way of a non-exclusive example, the specifications may provide that the Board will not agree to any contract provision requiring the Board to indemnify any Offeror as such provisions are prohibited by Board policy and state law. Conversely, there may be times when the Board requires an Offeror to maintain certain levels of insurance, to honor certain warranties, or to provide indemnity to the Board.

S. Consideration of Offeror Past Performance.

Successful Offerors should be advised that they will be evaluated by the District over the duration of the contract period. Performance will be documented. Poor performance may result in the Offeror being disqualified on future RFPs. Good performance may result in the Offeror receiving additional points on future RFPs.

T. Public Information.

It is the policy of the Board that at the conclusion of the selection process, the contents of all proposals will be placed in the public domain and be open to inspection by interested parties. Trade secrets or proprietary information that are recognized as such and are protected by law may be withheld, if clearly identified as such in the proposal. Failure to list all proprietary sections of the submitted proposal shall relieve the Board from any responsibility should such information be viewed by the public, a competitor, or be in any way accidentally released.

U. Offeror Questions, Requests for Interpretations, and Issuance of Addenda.

If an Offeror should have any questions relating to an RFP, including but not limited to the interpretation of RFP language, the specifications for the goods and/or services requested, the terms of sample contract provisions attached to this solicitation, the preparation or submission of Proposals, or the evaluation and contract award process outlined in this RFP, the offeror may deliver written requests for interpretation by email to the Purchasing Department’s designated email purchasing@sccpss.com. Email must contain the “RFP 22-19 LIBRARY MEDIA BOOKS/MATERIALS AND SUPPORT SERVICES QUESTION SUBMITTAL” clearly marked in UPPER CASE in the subject line of the submitting email. Question emails without the “RFP Number, Name and Questions Submittal” clearly identified in the subject line of the email may not be considered.

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All answers to questions and any interpretations of documents shall be made by addenda to the RFP and shall be made available to all Offerors on the District’s website. While the Board will also make a good faith effort to mail or fax any addenda to all Offerors who attended pre-proposal conferences, submitted requests for interpretations to the District, or otherwise communicated an interest to receive notice of addenda, the Board’s failure to provide an Offeror with individualized notice of an addenda will not provide an Offeror with grounds to protest the implementation of this RFP. Offerors are ultimately responsible themselves for keeping track of addenda issued by the Board before the deadline for submitting proposals in response to this RFP.

All requests for interpretation must be submitted to the Purchasing Department on or before the close of business, 5:00 PM on Friday, November 12, 2021. The Board shall not be required to answer any questions about this RFP submitted after this date.

The Purchasing Department will extend the deadline for submitting proposals for all Offerors by at least seventy-two (72) hours if it issues any addenda within seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled proposal submission deadline.

The Purchasing Director, or her designee, in her discretion, may extend the deadline for submitting requests for interpretation for all Offerors if the deadline for submitting proposals is also extended.

The Purchasing Director, or her designee, are the only individuals authorized by the District to make any representations to any Respondent. All special request and replies, if any, will be circulated to all Respondents who would therefore be entitled to amend their Proposals.

V. Requests for Material Substitution of Products, Services, or Contract Terms.

The goods and/or services requested by the SCCPSS in this RFP are described in more detail in “Attachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements.” which is incorporated into this RFP by this reference.

In the event an Offeror would like to propose terms that conflict with the required terms stated in the Attachment A for this RFP, the Offeror should request substitution of conflicting terms by the deadline for Requests for Material Substitution. All determinations of the acceptability of the proposed replacement terms shall rest with the Board staff and their decision shall be final.

Offeror may submit additional proposal terms that do not expressly conflict with the minimum required terms set forth in Attachment “A.” Such terms will be evaluated by the District.

The foregoing notwithstanding, the District reserves the right to negotiate any and all terms up until the elected School Board votes to award a final contract as a result of this RFP.

All requests for the material substitution of good and services and the change of contract terms shall be submitted to the Purchasing Department by email to the Purchasing Department’s designated email purchasing@sccpss.com. Email must contain the “RFP 22-19 LIBRARY MEDIA BOOKS/MATERIALS AND SUPPORT SERVICES REQUEST FOR MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION” clearly marked in UPPER CASE in the subject line of the submitting email. Material substitution emails without the “RFP Number, Name and Request for Material Substitution” clearly identified in the subject line of the email may not be considered.

All answers to requests for material substitution shall be made by addenda to the RFP and shall be made available to all Offerors on the District’s website. While the Board will also make a good faith effort to mail or fax any addenda to all Offerors who attended pre-proposal conferences, submitted requests for interpretations to the District, or otherwise communicated an interest to receive notice of addenda, the Board’s failure to provide an Offeror with individualized notice of an addenda will not provide an Offeror with grounds to protest the implementation of this RFP. Offerors are ultimately responsible themselves for keeping track of addenda issued by the Board before the deadline for submitting proposals in response to this RFP.

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All requests for material substitution must be submitted to the Purchasing Department on or before the close of business, 5:00 PM on Friday, November 12, 2021. The Board shall not be required to answer any questions about this RFP submitted after this date.

The Purchasing Department will extend the deadline for submitting proposals for all Offerors by at least seventy-two (72) hours if it issues any addenda within seventy-two (72) hours before the scheduled proposal submission deadline.

The Purchasing Director, or her designee, in her discretion, may extend the deadline for submitting requests for material substitution for all Offerors if the deadline for submitting proposals is also extended.

W. Protests

Any actual Offeror or bona fide prospective Offeror who is aggrieved in connection with this RFP may protest to the Purchasing Director by email to purchasing@sccpss.com. Please include the “RFP 22-19 LIBRARY MEDIA BOOKS/MATERIALS AND SUPPORT SERVICES PROTEST” clearly marked in UPPER CASE in the subject line of the email. It is incumbent upon the Offeror to receive confirmation from the Purchasing Department that its protest has been received. Offerors who do not receive confirmation of the protest by email during normal business hours of 9:00am to 5:00 p.m. on the day the protest is sent should call the Purchasing Department to confirm receipt of the protest at (912) 395-5572.

By submitting a Proposal in response to this RFP, the Offeror waives any objection to the content of this

RFP (including any attachment or addenda) as well as any objection to any procedure outlined therein. Protests filed after the deadline for submissions shall only concern the implementation of the RFP as applied to the Offeror.

Any protest to the content of this RFP (including any attachment or addenda) as well as any objection to any procedure or evaluation criteria outlined therein shall be filed no later than five (5) business days prior to the deadline for submissions of proposals, unless the objection concerns an addenda issued fewer than five

(5) business days prior to the deadline for submissions of proposals, in which case, an objection may be filed to that addenda only at any time before the submission deadline.

Any protest filed after the submission deadline shall be submitted within five business (5) days after the action by the District on which the grievance is based, but in no case later than five business (5) days after the date of the District’s notice of intent to award a contract for the provision of goods and/or services requested in his RFP, which will be transmitted by fax or email to all Offerors.

The Board shall not intentionally withhold information that is stated in this RFP to be forthcoming at certain intervals, but failure of the District to notify an Offeror who might be aggrieved by the content of such notification shall not give rise to any claim or rights resulting from said failure. Only formal protests will be considered, and in order for a protest to be considered as formal, it must be presented in written form, and must contain a minimum of the following:

• A specific identification of the statutory or regulatory provision(s) that the District’s purchasing staff member or department is alleged to have violated,

• A specific description of each act alleged to have violated the statutory or regulatory provision(s) identified above,

• A precise statement of the relevant facts that include timelines and all involved parties, and

• An identification of the issue(s) that needs to be resolved that support the protest.

The letter of protest shall be taken under consideration by the Chief Financial Officer and/or the

Superintendent, who shall respond to the protesting Offeror within ten (10) business days of receipt of the letter of protest. The initial written response may explain that the Chief Financial Officer and/or the Superintendent need additional time to review the Protest. In any event, a final decision will be issued on the Protest by the

RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 12

Chief Financial Officer and/or the Superintendent before the execution of a final contract with the Successful Offeror. This written decision shall be final and conclusive.

X. Offerors Not Entitled to Reimbursement for their Costs Associated with Submitting Proposals.

The Board recognizes that participating in this RFP process, or any government procurement process, can be time consuming and expensive for Offerors. In participating in part of this process, Offerors acknowledge that their costs in participating in this process are the costs of attempting to do business with the

SCCPSS.

All Offerors or potential Offerors, including unsuccessful Offerors or Offerors or potential Offerors who file protests, agree that the Board shall not be responsible for reimbursing the Offeror for any costs they may incur in connection with this RFP, including staff time, printing costs, attorneys’ fees, or expenses of litigation.

Y. Gratuity Prohibition.

No Offeror shall offer any gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary value to any official, employee, or agent of the District for the purpose of influencing consideration of this solicitation.

Z. Certification of Independent Submission of Proposals.

By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP, the Offeror must certify that:

1. The information contained in any proposal has been arrived at independently, without consultation, communication, or agreement, for the purpose of restricting competition with any other Offeror or with any competitor;

2. The information in the proposal has not been knowingly disclosed by the Offeror and will not knowingly be disclosed by the Offeror prior to the District’s final determination regarding this RFP, directly or indirectly to any other Offeror or to any competitor;

3. No attempt has been made or will be made by the Offeror to induce any other person or firm to submit or not to submit a proposal for the purpose of restricting competition; and,

4. In the event the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture, each party thereto certifies the above.

[RFP CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE]

RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 13

III. RFP ATTACHMENTS, SPECIFICATIONS, SAMPLE CONTRACTS, AND FORMS

The following attachments, specifications, sample contracts and forms are part of this RFP and are herein incorporated by this reference.

A. Attachment A: Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements.

B. Attachment B: Forms to be submitted with this RFP.

1. Solicitation Form 1: Proposal Submission Checklist (to be included on the front of any proposal)

2. Solicitation Form 2: Proposal Certification Form (to be included behind the checklist and before the Offeror’s proposal)

3. Solicitation Form 3: Offerors References

4. Solicitation Form 4: Contractor Affidavit Under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91

5. Solicitation Form 5: Subcontractor Affidavit Under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 (submit only if contractor may use subcontractors)

6. Solicitation Form 6: Sub-Subcontractor Affidavit Under O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 (submit only if subcontractors may use sub-subcontractors)

7. Solicitation Form 7: Disclosure of Responsibility Statement

(and any related attachments)

8. Solicitation Form 8: Good Faith Efforts Requirements

9. Solicitation Form 9: Joint-Venture Disclosure Statement

(only need if a joint venture used)

10. Solicitation Form 10: Offeror’s Sealed Fee Proposal Form (Offeror should submit Form 10 in the form of a “PDF” separate from Technical Response labeled “RFP 22-19 Fee Proposal.”)

11. Solicitation Form 11: No Proposal Statement Form

C. Attachment C: Sample Contract

RFP 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services (Annual Contract) | Page 14

Attachment A to RFP # 22-19 Library Media Books/Materials and Support Services

(Annual Contract)

Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements.

The project specifications listed in this section supersede any contradictory references made in the General Terms and Conditions section of this RFP.

1.0 Intent.

It is the intent of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System to enter into contracts with one or more qualified firm(s) to serve as full-service suppliers/jobbers of library books, non-print resources and related ancillary services that will guarantee a percentage discount for orders in excess of $5,000.00. This solicitation is an invitation to respond to the Request for Proposal (RFP) as the qualifying instrument to become a participating full-service supplier for library books for the approximately 51 media centers. Successful Offerors shall be listed as approved vendors for library media, books, and other materials, in the SCCPSS Annual Bid Contract Book (the “ABC” Book). However, no specific orders are guaranteed. Offerors desiring to respond should answer all questions, accept all required Terms and Conditions, including free shipping and follow all cataloging and processing specifications listed in this RFP.

2.0 Scope of Services

All orders for the media center books, materials, and support services will be submitted at the sole discretion of the media specialist placing the order with the contracted vendors.

The successful offeror(s) must be publishers and/or book jobbing businesses and must supply requested items in a variety of bindings (books) or formats with several options for processing services, including but not restricted to machine-readable cataloging, and electronic ordering as specified.

Savannah/Chatham County Public School System media centers acquire materials in all formats for inclusion in their collections. Materials are ordered, received, and cataloged by each individual media center staff.

Appendix 2 provides the Basic Profile being used by the SCCPSS and includes the following:

Cataloging – source, classification, subject headings Classification options – unabridged Dewey truncation, call number options Additional requirements such as barcodes, spine labels, AR labels, Lexile labels, etc.

Processing – paperback covers, book jackets, spine and book pocket labels, label protectors, theft-detection devices, bar codes (imprint, type, location and range) Automation specifications – material records for USMARC/852 holdings for use with the following library automation systems:

o Follett Destiny

Responding vendors must be able to provide the cataloging, processing, and automated library system options selected by SCCPSS as indicated in the Basic Profile Appendix 1.

All schools will use the Basic Profile with the exception of the sites that do not have the CheckPoint or the ITG/Vector Book Theft Detection System (these are not installed in most elementary schools and a few other media centers). Most middle schools, high schools, and the elementary schools and centers will need theft detector targets in all materials ordered. Targets may be placed behind the book pocket or elsewhere as specified by the Media Specialist.

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The successful vendor(s) will also receive specific bar code ranges from the individual schools with their initial orders. Notification is required by vendor to the school when range of numbers is exhausted.

The responding vendor(s) must be able to provide bar code labels compatible with the aforementioned library automation program. Records of the items must be provided using USMARC/852 Holdings data with character set in ASCII and bar code symbology in either Code 39 or Code 3 of 9 must be provided with each shipment, sent by email, or posted on the Internet for uploading into the aforementioned library automation systems.

Vendors must notify the school library media specialist when the MARC records are available for download.

Responding vendors must be able to provide an electronic Internet-based online ordering system that contains an ample number of titles to satisfy all instructional levels K-12. Vendors must also accept orders by mail or fax.

The online based system must allow for true collection development and include, but not be limited to the following searching/filtering parameters: keyword, reading level, grade level, review source, publisher, publication date, ISBN, title, and author.

Vendor will be required to provide training (as needed) for online ordering and collection development system at no charge to the district.

All products, features, and software recommended by any vendor must be formally announced, and, if not an online product, must be operational in a customer location as of the date this RFP is opened. For this RFP, availability applies to vendor’s online ordering system, and it is preferred that this system reflect discounts and pricing according to SCCPSS specifications, terms and conditions, and summary cost sheet.

2.1 Item Categories

A. Hardback books: Hardback books in a variety of bindings may be accepted, depending on availability, but school and library bindings are preferable and will be expected, unless out-of-print. Hardback editions will make up the majority of orders. There will be no substitutions of paperback books or spiral bindings for hardback requests unless expressly stated. These titles shall be available from an online catalog with assurance of 90% or better fulfillment and delivery within forty-five (45) days after receipt of purchase order. All binding shall be of library quality and will be guaranteed.

B. Pre-bound books: Pre-bound books shall constitute two additional categories of books requested. The two categories of pre-binds shall be (1) hard cover binding of new trade books and (2) hard cover binding of new paperbacks which have been pre-bound to ensure longer life. These titles shall be available from a print or online catalog with assurance of 90% or better fulfilment and delivery with forty-five (45) days after receipt of a purchase order. All binding shall be of library quality and will be guaranteed.

C. Paperback books: Paperback books and paper “big books” may be requested but should never serve as substitutes for hardback or pre-bound titles.

D. Non-print Resources: Audio books, CDs, DVDs, and Blue-Ray Discs may be ordered.

E. eBooks: eBooks shall be configured to offer online and offline access with unlimited circulations.

Purchased eBooks are owned by SCCPSS and shall be accessible in the event of server or…