RFP 26_28 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replace.pdf

SCCPSS

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System 208 Bull Street / Savannah, Georgia 31401/(912) 395-5600

December 21, 2025

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System ("SCCPSS") would like to take this opportunity to announce that it is requesting proposals for RFP 26-28 ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement.

This Request for Proposals ("RFP") packet identifies the goods and/or services requested by the SCCPSS and provides instructions for the submission of proposals and supporting documentation (collectively "Proposal Package(s)").

All Proposals Packages should be submitted electronically in the format specified by uploading to the SCCPSS

Purchasing Department e-Procurement portal at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com.

Please include with your Proposal Package all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, a copy of your firm's current business license and certificate of insurance, and other documents referenced in Section

III.B. "Documents to be Included with Proposal Packages." Failure to include all of the information and/or documents requested by this solicitation could result in the Offerors' submittal not being considered.

The following table provides the anticipated timeline of events associated with this solicitation, which may modified by SCCPSS by addenda:

Request for Proposals Timeline

First Date of Advertisement (online and print) Second Date of Advertisement (print) Pre-Proposal Conference Date and Time (if any) Deadline for Bidder Questions, Requests for

Interpretations, Requests for Material Substitution of Products, Services or Contract Terms

Proposal Submission Location

RFP Closing Date and Time (after which Proposals will be reviewed by SCCPSS)

Proposal Opening Location Notice of Intent to Award

December 21, 2025

January 4, 2026

N/A

January 12, 2026, by 5:00:00 p.m. (ET) be

SCCPSS Purchasing Department e-Procurement portal at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com January 22, 2026, at 11:00:00 a.m. (ET)

Electronically through the Bonfire Portal

TBD

Approval of Award by Final Decision Maker Execution of Contract

TBD

TBD

If you have any questions concerning this solicitation, please submit through the Vendor Discussions section at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com. Please note that all communications relating to this solicitation must be directed to the Purchasing Department pursuant to SCCPSS policy.

Thank you for your interest in providing goods and services to the SCCPSS.

Sincerely, LLchlSabrina L. Scales, NIGP-CPP, CPPB

Senior Purchasing Director

Vision- From school to the world: All students prepared to be successful and productive citizens

Mission- Together, we ignite and foster lifelong learning at the highest levels for all

"AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER"

SCCPSS General RFP - Bonds- Template 4/12/25 RFP 26-28 ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement (AC)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP): 26-28

ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement

I. INTRODUCTION

The Board of Public Education for the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham (the "District"), 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 as specified in this Request for Proposals ("RFP") 26-28 ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement.

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 District to provide the goods and/or services requested by this RFP shall be referred to herein as the "Offeror(s)" or "Bidder(s)." To be considered for an award of a contract under this RFP, Offerors should carefully read this solicitation document, and all of the forms, product specifications, service requirements, contract documents, or other materials that may be attached hereto or referenced herein. This RFP and the associated documents identify the goods/and or services requested by the

District, contain the instructions for preparing and submitting proposals and supporting documentation (collectively "Proposal Packages"), and outline the process by which the District 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

А. 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 District awards a contract. Except as specifically set forth below, the Cone of Silence prohibits any communications in any form (whether written, oral, or electronic) 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, with any District employee, any member of the elected Board of Education that serves as the District's governing body, the Superintendent or her staff, and any other persons involved in evaluating the proposal, such as program managers or members of any selection committee. The Cone of Silence is intended to prohibit lobbying for, or against, a particular Offeror or Offerors 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, contract negotiations with offerors selected for award, or at other times expressly allowed by this solicitation. 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 District.

The goods and/or services requested by the District 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 SCCPSS Bonfire Portal which can be accessed through the link listed above and the link on the Purchasing Department page of the SCCPSS website, www.sccpss.com, from the "First Date of Advertisement" set forth in the Request for Proposals Timeline on the first page of this

RFP until the "Proposal Closing Date and Time" set forth in the Request for Proposals Timeline on the first page of this solicitation, or as modified by subsequent addenda.

This RFP is also being advertised on the Georgia Procurement Registry ("GPR") from the "First Date of

Advertisement" (if the "First Date of Advertisement" is a weekday) or the first business day following the First

Date of Advertisement, if the First Date of Advertisement falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or SCCPSS holiday.

This Request for Proposal (RFP) is also being advertised in the Savannah Morning News, the newspaper for legal notices in Chatham County, on the First Date of Advertisement and the Second Date of Advertisement set forth in the Request for Proposals Timeline on the First Page of this Solicitation.

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

If a pre-proposal conference has been scheduled for this solicitation, the date, time, phone number, and location will be outlined in the chart below. Offeror should raise any questions it may have about the solicitation or the procurement at that time. An offeror may not rely on any verbal responses to questions at the conference.

Material issues raised at the conference that result in changes to the solicitation shall be answered solely through a solicitation addendum. If the below table is blank, then no pre-proposal conference is scheduled.

E. Submission of Proposals in Response to this RFP.

Offerors shall timely deliver Proposals by uploading to the e-Procurement portal, https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com, BEFORE THE "Proposal Closing Date and Time" listed on the Request for

Proposals Timeline on the first page of solicitation, unless the "Proposal Closing Date and Time" is extended by the District by an addendum to this solicitation. Proposal Packages shall be uploaded to the portal as PDF documents.

The Bonfire Hub is a procurement portal provided to the District by Bonfire Interactive. The Bonfire Hub is offered at no charge to Offerors, but Offerors will be required to register with Bonfire to submit their Proposal Packages. It is recommended that Offerors register with Bonfire before the date of proposal submissions to help ensure that they are not delayed in submitting a Proposal by the registration process. It will not be sufficient for an Offeror to have started the registration process before the "Proposal Closing Date and Time."

The Proposal Package must be fully uploaded and received by the Bonfire Hub System before the "Proposal Closing Date and Time."

Please include with your Proposal Package all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, copies of any requested licenses. 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 SCCPSS.

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If a required form has a signature block for a notary, please sign that form in the presence of a notary and have the form notarized.

Time is of the essence. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their Proposal Packages are submitted in a timely manner through the e-Procurement portal. If an Offeror does not receive confirmation that its Proposal Package has been received after submission, then the Offeror should contact the Bonfire Support Team at support.bonfire@eunasolutions.com. While SCCPSS will accept all

Proposal Packages received in the https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com portal before the Proposal Closing Date and Time, offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit the proposals. It shall not be sufficient to show that the Offeror was in the Bonfire Portal and in the process of uploading a Proposal Package at the at the "Proposal Closing Date and Time." The submission must be timely completed through the portal to be accepted. The prevailing time will be that which shows receipt by the District through its e-Procurement portal. The District will not accept any Proposal Packages not timely submitted through the e-Procurement Portal.

By way of example, if the Proposal Closing Date and Time is 11:00 a.m. (ET), Offerors should plan to have their Proposal Packages submitted by 10:59:59:99 a.m., because they will not be able to submit Proposal through the e-Procurement Portal once 11:00 a.m. (ET) arrives, as determined by the e-Procurement Portal's time stamp.

The "Proposal Closing Date and Time" may be extended for all prospective offerors within the discretion of the Senior 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 offers, District closure due to inclement weather, etc. The Senior Director of the

Purchasing Department will either extend the deadline for all Offerors or not all.

F. Withdrawal of Proposal Packages.

Offerors may withdraw Proposal Packages at any time prior to the "Due Date and Time" set forth in the Request for Proposals Timeline on the first page of this solicitation or as may be amended by addendum. Offerors may resubmit a new Proposal Package provided it seeks to do so prior to the "Due

Date and Time" for Proposal Package submission.

Except as allowed by law with the consent of the District, Proposal Packages cannot be withdrawn or modified after the submission deadline. Care should be taken to ensure that the information provided is accurate, complete, and consistent. Omission of any of the required information may subject the Offeror to disqualification. The District reserves the right to request information or respond to inquiries for clarification purposes only, but it is not required to give offerors an opportunity to correct inaccurate or incomplete Proposal Packages.

To revise and withdraw a proposal prior to scheduled deadline, please submit your withdrawal request at https://sccpss.bonfirehub.com.

Proposal Packages may not be withdrawn after the "Due Date and Time" (as may be amended) except as allowed by law with the consent of the District.

G. Receipt and Registration of Proposal Packages.

All Proposal Packages will be received in the Bonfire portal where they will be kept confidential and will be made available to District staff (but not the general public) for review and evaluation after the "RFP Closing Date and Time" for this solicitation as set forth on Page 1 of this solicitation or by subsequent amendment, unless sooner withdrawn by an Offeror as allowed by this solicitation. Proposal Packages formally withdrawn prior to the "RFP Closing Date and Time" will not be available to the District through the Bonfire portal for review or consideration. Except as required by law, Proposal Packages will not be made available to the general public unless or until an award is made (if any) to protect the competitive process.

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If an award is made at the conclusion of the evaluation process, public and non-proprietary information about Proposal Packages will be made available to the public pursuant to Section Q below. If this RFP is cancelled before an award is made, proposals will not be made available for public inspection, except as may be required by law, to prevent Offerors from having an unfair advantage in future solicitations for the same goods or services.

H. Timely filed, Signed Proposal Packages Considered an Offer.

An Offeror's timely-filed, signed Proposal Package 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 at the conclusion of the proposal evaluation process. By submitting a Proposal Package in response to this RFP, Offeror agrees that proposal will remain open for acceptance by the District for at least ninety (90) days without any changes in terms or pricing.

In event that the Offeror refuses to perform its promises made in its offer 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. Form and Formatting of Proposal Packages.

The form and formatting requirements for Proposal Packages requested by this RFP are described in

Attachment A-Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract Requirements" and in the attached Proposal Form.

J. Bid Bonds

If an Offeror's Fee Proposal exceeds $100,000, then Offeror's proposal must be accompanied by a Bid Bond made payable to the District in an amount not less than five percent (5%) of the total amount payable by the terms of the contract. See O.C.G.A. § 36-91-50. For the purposes of submitting this Bid Bond or other bid security, the "total amount payable by the terms of the contract" shall be considered to be the Bidder's total bid to include the Bidder's base bid plus its bid for all requested alternates. To the extent this solicitation also requests the Bidder to provide unit pricing for goods and/or services outside of the base bid or requested alternates that Bidder will be expected to honor during the life of the contract but that are not included in the total bid evaluated for the purposes of making awards, the Bid Bond need not include additional amounts for these unit prices.

Bid Bonds should be furnished on forms accepted as standard by the insurance industry and shall be sufficiently similar to the Bid Security Form attached as Solicitation Form 5. The surety named in the bond should either be authorized to do business in this state pursuant to a current certificate of authority to transact surety business by the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance or on the United States Department of Treasury's list of approved bond sureties. The District shall assess, in its discretion, the sufficiency of the bid bond form and the surety. If the District considers the form or the surety insufficient, then a bidder may be disqualified as non-responsive or not responsible. If the surety becomes insolvent, loses its certification with the State of Georgia or the Department of Treasury, or for other cause, then the District may require the Bidder to furnish new or additional bonds within ten days.

In lieu of a bid bond, Offeror may furnish bid security in the form of a cashier's check, certified check, or cash in the amount of not less than five percent (5%) of the total about payable by the terms of the contract, which, in the case of this RFP, would be Offerors total bid upon which offerors are compared, exclusive of any additional unit pricing that may be provided by Offeror in response to this solicitation that is not considered in the award of the contract.

If the successful Offeror fails to perform its promises made in its offer after acceptance by the District, the obligation of the Bid Bond will remain in full force and effect and the money payable thereon shall be paid into the funds of the District.

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K. Performance and Payment Bonds

If an RFP exceeds $100,000 and the Offeror is the successful Offeror who is awarded a contract at the end of this solicitation, then the successful Offeror will be required to provide both a Performance Bond and a Payment Bond as a condition precedent to the execution of any contract.

Performance Bonds shall be in an amount equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the contract, which shall be the total amount agreed to in the final contract approved by the School District. The amount of the Performance Bond shall be increased as the contract amount is increased.

Performance Bonds should be furnished on forms accepted as standard by the insurance industry and shall be sufficiently similar to the sample Performance Bond Form attached as Solicitation Form 6. The surety named in the bond should either be authorized to do business in this state pursuant to a current certificate of authority to transact surety business by the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance or on the United States Department of Treasury's list of approved bond sureties. The District shall assess, in its discretion, the sufficiency of the Performance Bond form and the surety. If the District considers the form or the surety insufficient, then a bidder may be disqualified as non-responsive or not responsible. If the surety becomes insolvent, loses its certification with the State of Georgia or the Department of Treasury, or for other cause, then the District may require the Bidder to furnish new or additional bonds within ten days.

Payment Bonds shall be in an amount equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the contract, which, which shall be the total amount agreed to in the final contract approved by the School District. If the amount payable by the terms of the initial contract is increased by agreement of the School District, then the School District may require that the successful Bidder increase the amount of the Payment Bond as the contract amount tis increased.

Payment Bonds should be furnished on forms accepted as standard by the insurance industry and shall be sufficiently similar to the sample Payment Bond Form attached as Solicitation Form 7. The surety named in the bond should either be authorized to do business in this state pursuant to a current certificate of authority to transact surety business by the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance or on the United States Department of

Treasury's list of approved bond sureties. The District shall assess, in its discretion, the sufficiency of the Payment Bond form and the surety. If the District considers the form or the surety insufficient, then a bidder may be disqualified as non-responsive or not responsible. If the surety becomes insolvent, loses its certification with the State of Georgia or the Department of Treasury, or for other cause, then the District may require the Bidder to furnish new or additional bonds within ten days.

At the time of bid submission, Offeror must provide documentation from Offeror's bond issuer stating the

Offeror's current bonding capacity, which must be sufficient to cover the total amount payable by the terms of the contract.

If selected for award, then Offeror must obtain the required Payment and Performance Bonds within 14 calendar days receipt of the District's Intent to Award and prior to execution of contract. Failure to obtain the required Payment and Performance Bonds within the time required may result in declaring the Offeror non-responsive and non-responsible and will allow the District to cancel its award and select another Offeror from the same or different competitive process. Any Offeror who fails to provide the required Payment and Performance Bonds who is disqualified will also be required to pay the Offeror the value of its bid bond or other bid security.

L. Offeror's Essential Credentials and Business Structure to be considered a "Responsible Offeror."

To even be 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 District's Purchasing Department.

To be considered a "responsible" Offeror for the purpose of this RFP, an Offeror must be able to meet the minimum licensing, bonding, insurance, and contractual requirements of this RFP. The District reserves the right to request an Offeror provide additional information or documentation to demonstrate that it is a SCCPSS General RFP - Bonds- Template 4/12/25 RFP 26-28 ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement (AC)

"responsible" Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds for the District to declare the Offeror to be not "responsible" or "non-responsive" for the purposes of this RFP.

If the goods and/or services provided by Offeror are a technology product (such as software), then the Offeror must demonstrate that its technology product complies with the District's adopted accessibility standard and, if it fails to do so, then the Offeror may be disqualified as a non-responsive offeror. The District retains discretion to determine which Offerors meet the District's adopted accessibility standard, so long as all Offerors are held to the same accessibility standard. In the event that no Offeror providing a technology product (such as software) offers a technology product that complies with all of the requirements of the District's adopted accessibility standard, the District reserves the right to consider only those Offerors whose standards are as close as possible to the District's adopted accessibility standard. The District may request a compliance report or other documentation to show that the Offeror can comply with the adopted accessibility standard.

To be considered a "responsible" Offeror, the Offeror must demonstrate that it is either a) an in-state or out-of-state for profit, nonprofit, or professional corporation or limited liability company registered to transact business in the State of Georgia, b) an out-of-state for profit, nonprofit, or professional corporation that is excused from registering to transact business in the State of Georgia, c) a partnership, limited partnership, or joint venture composed of individuals who are U.S. Citizens, permanent residents, or residents of other countries who have not been prohibited from conducting business in the United States that can demonstrate to the District's satisfaction through formal governing documents (such as a partnership agreement), insurance certificates, or other written documents that it has the ability and capacity to provide the goods and/or services requested by the District in the time and manner expected by the District; d) or an individual who can demonstrate through insurance certificates or other written documents to the District's satisfaction that he/or she is a United States citizen, a permanent resident, or the resident of another country who has not been prohibited from conducting business in the United States and who has the capacity to provide the requested goods and/or services in the time and manner expected by the District. The attached solicitation forms will ask questions to ascertain information about the capacity of the Offeror, and Offerors should supply the most up-to-date version of any requested corporate registrations or corporate documents.

To be considered a "responsible" Offeror, the Offeror must demonstrate that it has all required business licenses or professional certifications needed to provide the required goods and/or services in the State of Georgia. The Offeror must provide copies of the most-up-to-date version of any required licenses or certifications.

To be considered a "responsive" and "responsible" Offeror, Offeror should disclose any possible conflicts of interests that may exist between Offeror and any "Related Party" and the SCCPSS, SCCPSS School Board members, or SCCPSS employees, so that the District can seek to evaluate the potential conflict of interest and determine whether a transaction with Offeror is appropriate given the potential conflict of interest under Board

Policy or other applicable law. For purposes of this RFP "Related Party" is defined as: any corporate affiliate of Offeror, any owner of more than 10% of Offeror's ownership interests, any of Offeror's current officers, any of Offeror's current directors, or any of Offeror's current employees that Offeror reasonably expects to be involved in actually providing goods and/or services to the District in response to this solicitation.

The District shall have discretion to determine and evaluate potential conflicts of interest under its own policies, such as Policy GAG, and to determine whether an Offeror will be disqualified because of a potential conflict of interest. Some questions in the Offeror Information Form (Solicitation Form 1) are designed to help identify and evaluate potential conflicts of interest. If an Offeror declines to provide additional information requested to evaluate a potential conflict of interest, the Offeror may be disqualified as "non-responsive".

Offerors shall be required to disclose whether Offeror, any Related Party, or any individual working for Offeror is a beneficiary under Georgia's Teacher Retirement System (TRS) or the Public School Employees

Retirement System (PSERS). No such individual shall provide any services to the District until their information and eligibility to perform services has been certified through TRS or PSERS. The Contractor agrees to provide any information required by TRS or PSERS. Any employees or other individuals working for or through the Contractor receiving retirement benefits under Georgia's TRS or PSERS shall be subject to any applicable salary and service limitations as outlined in Georgia law, TRS, or PSERS policy. If TRS or PSERS does not approve

SCCPSS General RFP - Bonds- Template 4/12/25 RFP 26-28 ERATE 2026-2027 Network Equipment Lifecycle Replacement (AC)