RFP 7254.1 FINAL.pdf

July 20, 2026

RFP Number: 7254.1 Due Date: August 31, 2026 Open Time: 2:00 p.m.

To: Prospective Respondents:

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit qualified vendors to provide a comprehensive transportation routing system solution and all associated services. The selected solution will serve as the primary system of record for student transportation routing across the district and will replace the routing platform currently in use by the Division of Transportation Services.

The contractor must submit their offer per the instructions under the RFP, Section 9.0 Mandatory Submissions. The submission must be signed by an official having authority to contract with MCPS. The firm and official's name shall be used. This solicitation does not commit the district to pay any costs incurred in the submission of proposals or guarantee that an award will be made.

In the event of emergency closing of the MCPS Board of Education offices, this RFP will open at the same time on the next regular working day.

Sincerely, Angela McIntosh Davis, Director Department of Procurement

AMD: se

Copy to:

RFP File

Division of Financial Management

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Department of Procurement, Suite 3100 45 West Gude Drive

Rockville, Maryland 20850

Request for Proposal #7254.1, Transportation Routing System

1.0 INTENT

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit qualified vendors to provide a comprehensive transportation routing system solution and all associated services. The selected solution will serve as the primary system of record for student transportation routing across the district and will replace the routing platform currently in use by the Division of Transportation Services.

The objectives of this procurement are to:

• Acquire a modern, configurable routing platform that supports general education, special education, vocational, magnet, out-of-district, McKinney-Vento, and mainstreamed student transportation.

• Improve the accuracy and timeliness of routing, scheduling, and reporting through automation, geographic information system (GIS) integration, and direct interfaces to district systems.

• Provide reliable hosting, strong data security and privacy protections, and clear service-level commitments.

• Deliver dependable implementation, data conversion, training, and ongoing support, including a managed transition from the current system.

• Extend timely transportation information to parents, guardians, and school-based staff through secure portals and a parent application.

• Establish MCPS ownership of its data and a clear path for data portability at the conclusion of any resulting contract.

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the 15th largest school system in the United States, and the largest in the state of Maryland. During the 2025–2026 school year, it is projected that MCPS will serve more than 156, 000 students from 157 countries speaking 162 languages. With a Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Operating Budget of approximately $3.6 billion, MCPS employs more than 25,000 employees. Among the 211 schools that MCPS operates, 39 are National Blue-Ribbon schools. Six MCPS high schools rank in the top 200 of The Washington Post’s 2015 High School Challenge, and all 25 MCPS high schools appear on this list, which only includes the top 11 percent of high schools in the country. MCPS has one of the highest graduation rates among the nation’s largest school districts, according to an Education Week report. In 2010, MCPS was the recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest presidential honor given to American organizations for performance excellence. The student demographics of MCPS in 2016 are as follows:

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Hispanic/Latino: 35.3% White: 23.9% Black or African American: 21.6% Asian: 13.7% Two or more races: ≤ 5.3% American Indian or Alaskan Native: ≤0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: ≤0.1%

The Division of Transportation Services, within the Division of District Operations, manages a fleet of more than 1,300 school buses and provides daily transportation to a large and diverse student population across Montgomery County and, for certain placements, to locations in the surrounding Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area.

Routing operations at this scale require a system that can manage complex eligibility rules, hazardous-road and walk-zone logic, special education and program-based routing, multiple daily and midday trips, redistricting and boundary planning, and direct data exchange with the district's student information system and fleet, dispatch, and field trip systems. This RFP and its appendices describe the functional, technical, security, and service requirements that the proposed solution must meet.

3.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES

The selected Contractor shall provide a complete transportation routing software solution, including all software, configuration, hosting (as proposed), data conversion, integration, training, maintenance, and support services necessary to place the solution into full operational use and to sustain it throughout the contract term. The capabilities summarized in this section are stated in full and itemized form in Attachment F, Technical Requirements. Offerors shall respond to each requirement in Attachment F. individually.

3.1 Priorities and Response Convention

Each requirement in the Attachment F. carries a priority of High, Medium, or Low that reflects MCPS operational need. Priorities are informational and do not limit evaluation; all requirements are subject to review and scoring. For each requirement, the offeror shall indicate one of the following: Comply, Comply with Exception, Future Release, or Does Not Comply, and shall provide a brief explanation, product feature name, or document reference. A response of Comply means the capability exists today in the proposed release. Responses of Comply with Exception or Future Release must be fully explained, including any target availability date.

3.2 Routing - General Functionality

The solution shall provide a comprehensive routing engine capable of creating and maintaining routes for all MCPS student populations and programs. At a minimum, the solution shall:

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• Analyze non-eligibility and walk zones for each school based on district criteria, with walk-distance eligibility configurable as a rule by school level (for example, elementary one mile, middle one and one-half miles, high two miles);

• Create and maintain special education, vocational, out-of-district, multiple-school drop-off, and McKinney-Vento (homeless) routing, including cross-district placements, without workarounds;

• Support routing of mainstreamed students across multiple schools on the same day in a defined sequence, school pairing, and ride-throughs;

• Provide role-based access rights, including a depot-level permission that lets depots manage general education routes, including Pre-Kindergarten, while protecting special education routes, and fine-grained view, edit, and print controls, including function-level security for the map;

• Run what-if scenarios, such as bell-time or bus-capacity changes, against a copy of production data; and

• Support a nine-digit unique student identifier, a separate family or household identifier, and printing or export of maps to a variety of printer and plotter types.

The full set of general functionality requirements is provided in Attachment F.

3.3 Routing - Map Functionality

The solution shall provide an interactive, map-based routing environment that supports concurrent editing, automated optimization, and manual control. At a minimum, the solution shall:

• Allow multiple users to view and edit routes simultaneously, with map edits governed by user-based security, and allow users to view all students and all routes and stops serving a school or program at once;

• Provide point-and-click rerouting, street-network distance measurement, editable turn-by-turn directions, and per-route adjustment of speeds, stop times, and load times without affecting other routes;

• Support automated optimization along definable criteria, such as reducing the number of routes, loads, time, or miles, with the ability to revert to manual assignment, and automated ranging that assigns new students to the nearest stop;

• Provide capacity tools that define each bus type and its capacity, including wheelchair positions, wheelchair riders seated in seats, and additional staff on board, and that alert the user and prevent further routing when capacity or equipment limits are exceeded;

• Maintain calendars for the standard school year and summer school, including holidays, early-release days, and non-public school schedules, and support differing schedules by day and by school;

• Support in-house bulk street and address edits, new streets and developments, attendance-zone redistricting and boundary planning, and route-level audit logging stamped with user and time of change; and

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• Support multiple addresses per student, dual bus assignments, A and B schedules, overlapping midday trips on different days, and stop coding for side of street and unsafe streets.

The full set of map functionality requirements is provided in Attachment F.

3.4 Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping

The solution shall provide robust GIS capabilities suitable for a large, hazard-aware routing operation. At a minimum, the solution shall encode hazardous roads so that students are not routed across them on foot, apply hazard rules by grade level, and encode transportation attributes such as one-way streets, travel speeds, no-travel roads, bridges, railroad crossings, restricted roads, and vehicle-size and turn restrictions that are enforced automatically. The solution shall maintain compatibility with the Esri ArcGIS platform, allow MCPS staff to load county-maintained Esri centerlines and addresses without vendor intervention, provide surrounding DMV-area county maps for out-of-area students with out-of-county reporting, and support a satellite imagery overlay.

3.5 System Integrations and Interfaces

The solution shall integrate with the district's information systems through manual import and export, application programming interfaces (APIs), or prefabricated or custom connectors, with scheduled automation for data refresh. At a minimum, the solution shall:

• Exchange enrollment, demographic, and transportation data with the Synergy student information system, including updates to the Synergy parent portal and ParentVUE, and authenticate MCPS users against Active Directory with support for Single Sign-On;

• Provide an API for data integrations and for in-house reporting and dashboard creation;

• Integrate with the Transportation Information Management System (TIMS) and with fleet management data (for example, FASTER Web), including route-change alerts to the TIMS group, with the fleet data source to be confirmed during implementation;

• Pair with global positioning system (GPS) software, such as Samsara, for vehicle tracking and for the use of traffic patterns to refine pickup and drop-off times;

• Interface the field trip billing component with Oracle Cloud Business Hub for accounts receivable and general ledger posting; and

• Share data, as appropriate, with Synergy, TIMS, the fleet management system, and the field trip management database.

3.6 Reporting, Dashboards, and Data

The solution shall provide comprehensive, self-service reporting and data capabilities. The solution shall reproduce the information contained in current MCPS reports, including Bus Summary and Detail, editable Parent Letters for the Extended School Year and Current School Year, Student Record, Route and Trip Detail and Summary, arrival and departure schedules for Special Education, General Education, and Magnet programs, manifests, and student lists with census information. Bus reports shall include route number, vehicle identifier, Transportation Cluster Manager or Bus Route Supervisor, Router, Driver or Attendant, parking space number, and revised or saved dates.

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In addition, the solution shall allow users to define, sort, save, and reuse queries; create custom reports and dashboards, including ad-hoc reports; generate and print reports directly from the map without switching applications and without first generating a PDF; export reporting data for analysis and archiving; customize the run sheet; report on distance-specific stops added to a route as a deviation, such as McKinney-Vento and daycare stops; provide real-time system status monitoring;

and retain student routing history that is restorable until the student reaches twenty-one years of age.

3.7 Dispatch and Depot Communications

The solution shall provide a dispatch capability that allows dispatchers to adjust routes for different operational scenarios, and a messaging capability that allows depots to receive updates and route changes. These capabilities shall be consistent with the role-based security model described in Section 3.1.

3.8 Field Trip Management

The solution shall include calendar-based field trip management integrated into the routing software, sharing the same calendar, vehicle, and driver data. At a minimum, the field trip capability shall support configurable request forms and approval paths; blackout dates; service invoices and electronic invoicing to MCPS accounting; historical tracking of the approval process with date, time, and processor stamping; automated driver rotation by availability, seniority, or alphabetical order; GPS visibility of in-progress trips; a color-coordinated dispatch calendar that flags conflicts and monitors driver hours; mileage and hours estimation for cost calculation; workflow approvals to principals, directors, or assigned staff; delivery of itineraries with turn-by-turn directions to bus-mounted tablets; centralized cost tracking with export to Excel; and integration of billing with Oracle Cloud Business Hub for accounts receivable and general ledger posting.

3.9 GPS, Onboard Tablets, and Student Tracking

The solution shall integrate with GPS to support operations and safety. The offeror shall explain how its routing software integrates with GPS, whether through its own solution, third-party GPS vendors, or both, and shall describe best practices for routing and GPS implementation. GPS data shall include speed, door-open events, stop-arm deployment, hard stops, and historical breadcrumbs, and shall support a planned-versus-actual comparison for routers and a school-facing arrival board that displays estimated times of arrival for inbound buses only.

Bus-mounted tablets shall receive all routing and field trip routes through a nightly push, display student information such as behavioral protocols and allergies at an appropriate privacy level, and provide audible turn-by-turn directions to reduce reliance on paper route sheets. The solution shall support student log-on and log-off through the tablet and other technologies, pair ridership events with GPS position, generate ridership reports by student, route, school, and date range, and make ridership data available within the routing, parent application, and field trip modules.

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3.10 Parent Application and Public and School Portals

The solution shall provide a secure parent application that displays the status, location, and estimated time of arrival of a child's bus using onboard GPS data, along with relevant depot contact information. The solution shall also provide a public website where a member of the public can find a student's regular bus and stop by entering an address and grade, and school-facing tools that allow staff to look up routing information, view a map with home, stop, and school icons, and search for and print stop lists, rosters, and student lists directly from a browser. Parent-facing and school-facing interfaces shall preferably meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards and be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

3.1 Student Medicaid Tracking

The solution shall provide a mechanism to collect and track student transportation Medicaid-reimbursable services on a daily basis, capturing per-student, per-day service events with date, service type, and attestation fields, and shall allow the resulting data to be downloaded in PDF and Excel formats.

3.12 Implementation, Data Conversion, and Migration

The Contractor shall manage the implementation, including the conversion and migration of all necessary data from the current MapNet system and other legacy sources, and shall provide at least one full test conversion for MCPS review and sign-off before production cutover. The conversion plan shall support a defined blackout period during cutover and shall produce a report identifying any changes made during the blackout so that they can be reapplied after conversion. The solution shall support search by street name, persistent map pins across successive address searches, and editable notations on stops and route segments.

3.13 Training, Customer Support, and Maintenance

The Contractor shall provide implementation and post-implementation support while annual maintenance is current, software training for core routing staff using live MCPS data, distributable materials for school-based staff, additional web-based and on-request training, and unlimited refresher and new-employee orientation in at least an online format. The Contractor shall provide electronic user and technical manuals, including documentation of the database and map database structure; a named project manager who serves as the primary point of contact throughout implementation; customer service callbacks within two hours or before 2:00 p.m. EST on the day the call is placed; extended service before and after each annual startup and during redistricting;

and all software upgrades, future releases, and bug fixes at no additional charge while annual maintenance is current.

3.14 Hosting, Architecture, and Technical Environment

The Contractor shall propose hosting options, which may include cloud-based, on-premises, or hybrid models, with encryption at all layers using current Transport Layer Security standards (TLS

1.2 or higher) for data in transit and strong encryption for data at rest. A Microsoft SQL Server database environment is preferred. The solution shall support, at a minimum, fifteen named or full-

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function users and three hundred web users, and shall scale to MCPS operational volumes. Offerors shall describe their architecture, database platform, hosting locations, and any client or device requirements.

3.15 Data Ownership, Security, and Privacy

MCPS shall own all data generated under any resulting contract, including data pertaining to routes, students, buses, schools, addresses, and maps. That data shall be available for MCPS custom exports for MCPS use and reporting, and shall be made available to MCPS upon termination for the purpose of converting to another product. At a minimum, the solution and the Contractor shall:

• Encrypt all data, and specifically Personally Identifiable Information (PII), at rest and in transit, and comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and all applicable federal, state, and local privacy laws;

• Provide audit capabilities that record the time and identity of data access, views, edits, additions, and deletions;

• Provide a current System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 2 report, support regular security assessments and vulnerability testing, and provide disaster recovery and business continuity plans;

• Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and support Single Sign-On for MCPS personnel;

• Disclose how and where MCPS data will be stored, hosted, and accessed; and

• Commit to not selling, sharing, or using student data for any purpose other than providing the contracted service, and collect only the data essential to the solution's functionality.

3.16 Artificial Intelligence Transparency and Governance

If the proposed solution uses artificial intelligence (AI), the offeror shall disclose that use and shall describe the data on which the AI is trained and the data the AI collects, the accuracy of the AI system and how errors are reviewed and corrected, and how the AI system addresses student privacy. Offeror responses shall align with the district's acceptable use, data privacy, and academic integrity policies, and with the AI governance provisions of the MCPS General Contract Articles in Appendix A.

3.17 Service Level Agreement

The Contractor shall provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the hosted or production routing service that includes, at a minimum:

• Availability: guaranteed uptime of at least 99.9 percent measured monthly (approximately 43 minutes of allowable downtime per month), with 99.95 percent targeted during peak operational periods, defined as the route-creation period of June through September (Monday through Friday) and, for dispatch-related functions, the morning rush during the school year; available means the service is both accessible and functionally operational for all critical features;

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• Scheduled maintenance: performed within defined, pre-announced maintenance windows (minimum five business days' notice) and excluded from downtime calculations;

• Support response and resolution by severity: Severity 1 (system down or critical function unusable, no workaround), response within one hour and continuous effort to resolution (four-hour target); Severity 2 (major function impaired), response within four business hours and a one-business-day resolution target; Severity 3 (minor issue, workaround available), response within one business day and resolution in a future release;

• Support coverage: defined business-hours coverage with emergency and after-hours escalation, including extended coverage during startup and redistricting periods;

• Remedies: escalating service credits applied against fees when committed levels are missed, claimable within thirty days, with sustained or material breach constituting grounds for termination;

• Monitoring and reporting: real-time status and availability reporting and a monthly SLA performance report; and

• Data protection: defined backup frequency, recovery point and recovery time objectives, and a disaster recovery and business continuity commitment.

3.18 Performance Requirements

In addition to the SLA, the Contractor shall meet the following minimum performance expectations:

customer service callbacks within two hours or before 2:00 p.m. EST on the day the call is placed;

generation of a typical student record in one minute or less; nightly delivery of routes and field trips to bus tablets with verifiable receipt; and resolution of data-conversion discrepancies identified during test conversions before production cutover.

4.0 CONTRACT TERM

The initial term of contract shall be for two (2) years as stipulated in the RFP. However, the contract may not begin one day after approval by the MCPS Board of Education and will conclude as stated under the contract term. MCPS reserves the right to extend this contract at existing prices, terms and conditions for up to three additional terms for one (1) year each. Written notice indicating MCPS’ intention to pursue the extension of the contract will be issued to the successful vendor 90 days prior to the expiration of the original contract. The vendor shall have ten (10) days from the date of notification to return the notice acknowledging its intent to accept or reject the extension.

Once all responses are evaluated, MCPS staff may make a recommendation to the MCPS Board of Education to extend the contract or decide to rebid. If the contract is extended by the MCPS Board of Education, a contract amendment will be issued.

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5.0 CONTRACT TERMINATION

MCPS reserves the right to cancel the contract in whole or in part at any time in accordance with Article 12 of the MCPS General Contract Articles. MCPS also reserves the right to cancel the contract with a Respondent for failure to comply or failure to fulfill the terms of this contract in accordance with Article 13 of the MCPS General Contract Articles.

6.0 PRICING STRUCTURE

Offerors shall provide detailed pricing for all software, services, and deliverables described in this RFP. MCPS invite offerors to propose more than one pricing model so that MCPS can evaluate the most cost-effective approach over the life of the contract.

6.1 Pricing Models

Offerors may submit pricing based on one or more of the following models, and may propose a hybrid that combines elements of more than one:

• Annual subscription (software-as-a-service), inclusive of hosting, with implementation and conversion priced separately;

• Perpetual license with annual maintenance and support;

• Hybrid model combining subscription and licensed components; and

• Any alternative pricing model, which must be fully explained.

6.2 Required Pricing Detail

For each proposed model, the offeror should provide a detailed breakdown that includes, at a minimum:

• Software licensing or subscription fees, stated for at least fifteen (15) named or full-function users and three hundred (300) web users;

• Implementation, configuration, data conversion, and migration services;

• Hosting and infrastructure (if applicable);

• Training, including initial, web-based, refresher, and new-employee orientation;

• Annual maintenance and support;

• Optional or add-on modules, priced separately, including the parent application, bus-mounted tablets, field trip management, GPS integration, and student Medicaid tracking; and

• Any other fees or charges.

6.3 Pricing Assumptions and Total Cost of Ownership

Offerors shall base pricing on a fleet of approximately 1,500 buses and a district serving more than 156,000 students and shall provide a total cost of ownership that covers the two-year initial term and each potential renewal year. Offerors shall specify proposed payment terms and any cost-

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escalation provisions. Any escalation must be tied to a recognized index, such as the Consumer Price Index, and is subject to MCPS approval. All costs not expressly identified as the responsibility of MCPS shall be borne by the Contractor.

7.0 REFERENCES

All offerors shall include a list of a minimum of five references who use the firm’s digital content, assessments, professional development, and customization services who can attest to the firm’s quality of work and, if possible, shall include school districts of comparable size to MCPS that have utilized the respondents’ services. Include names of clients, contact person, email address and phone number of all references. Also, as an attachment, offerors shall include a list of all current school district clients.

References may or may not be reviewed or contacted at the discretion of MCPS. Typically, only references from the top ranked short-listed offerors are contacted. MCPS reserves the right to contact references other than, and/or in addition to, those furnished by an offeror.

Contact Phone Company Name & Address Person Number

1. _______________________________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________________

Email __________________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________________________

Email ___________________________________________________________________

8.0 FORMAT OF RESPONSE

8.1 Response to this RFP shall be submitted in the same order as the RFP and provide an individual response to each RFP specification.

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8.2 Contractors shall include any and all statements and representations made within their proposal in the contract for services with the MCPS. This includes, but is not limited to, the vendors’ s point-by-point response to this RFP. If the vendor responds only “Understand and comply,” it is assumed that the vendor complies with MCPS’ understanding of the requirement.

8.3 MCPS shall not be responsible nor be liable for any costs incurred by the vendor in the preparation and submission of their proposals and pricing.

8.4 Pricing proposal shall be submitted as a separate document outlining content, timeline for implementation, training, professional development, etc.

9.0 MANDATORY SUBMISSIONS

Each offeror must submit a complete proposal including all required information and attachments. The response shall address each paragraph in the same order as the RFP and provide an individual response to each RFP specification. All proposals must be presented using the same numbering sequence and order used in this RFP document or as otherwise specified by MCPS. Offerors may request via e-mail to Saudy_EspinalDeVolez@mcpsmd.org, Buyer II, MCPS Department of Procurement a Microsoft Word version to help them in preparing the response.

One (1) original, one (1) electronic version on flash drive and one (1) redacted copy of responses must be sent by mail, courier or hand-delivery and shall be bound. A table of contents should be included and all pages numbered as referenced in the Table of Contents. No faxes or electronic submission of proposals will be accepted. Proposals are to be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on August 31, 2026. Submit responses of the entire RFP proposal to:

Montgomery County Public Schools Department of Procurement 45 West Gude Drive, Suite 3100 Rockville, MD 20850

Submissions will become the property of MCPS.

The proposal must be signed by an official who has authority to contract with MCPS. The firm and the official’s name shall be used in the contract process. MCPS reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of the proposals received. MCPS may also negotiate with the one offeror who submits the best proposal or with two or more offerors who are in the competitive range. Therefore, it is important that the offeror’s proposal be submitted initially on the most favorable terms from both the technical and cost standpoints. After the submission and closure of proposals, no information will be released until after the award. It is understood that the offeror’s proposal will become a part of the official file on this matter without obligation to MCPS.

The proposal must be complete and comply with all aspects of these specifications. Marketing or promotional verbiage will likely overshadow the offeror’s qualifications and expertise. MCPS urges the offeror to be specific and brief in their responses.

mailto:Saudy_EspinalDeVolez@mcpsmd.org

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Offerors must include all statements and representations made within its proposal in the contract for services with MCPS unless otherwise agreed upon by MCPS and offeror during negotiations. This includes, but is not limited to, the vendor’s point-by-point response to this RFP. If the offeror answers only “Understand and comply” it is assumed that the offeror complies with MCPS’ understanding of the requirement.

MCPS shall not be responsible for or liable for any costs incurred by the offeror in the preparation and submission of their proposals and pricing.

Complete Response must include:

● Point-by-point Response to each section of the RFP

● Pricing Proposal

● References, See 7.0 References

● List of all current school district clients, See 7.0 References

● Vendor’s annual fiscal report in order to demonstrate the vendor’s financial stability (If desired, the vendor may also include any other financial documents that Vendor wishes to include regarding Vendor’s financial condition. This documentation is not mandatory.)

● Equal Opportunities Certification (Attachment A)

● Certification of Non-segregated Facilities (Attachment B)

● Minority Business Enterprise (Attachment C)

● Non-Debarment Acknowledgement (Attachment D)

● Data Sharing form (Attachment E)

● Technical Requirements (Attachment F)

● Current Form W-9

● A list of any variances from or objections to the terms and conditions of the MCPS General

Contracting Articles, as well as a justification for any such variances or objections.

● A separate redacted copy of offeror’s proposal as specified in Sections 8.0 and 9.0.

10.0 TREATMENT OF TECHNICAL DATA IN PROPOSAL

The proposal submitted in response to this request may contain technical data which the offeror does not want used or disclosed for any purpose other than evaluation of the proposal. The use and disclosure of any such technical data, subject to the provisions of the Maryland Public Information Act, may be so restricted:

Provided, that offeror marks the cover sheet of the proposal with the following legend, specifying the pages of the proposal which are to be restricted in accordance with the conditions of the legend:

"Technical data contained in pages of this proposal shall not be used or disclosed, except for evaluation purposes."

Provided, that if a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of or in connection with the submission of this proposal, MCPS shall have the right to use or disclose these technical data to the extent provided in the contract.

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This restriction does not limit the right of MCPS to use or disclose technical data obtained from another source without restriction.

MCPS assumes no liability for disclosure or use of unmarked technical data or products and may use or disclose the data for any purpose and may consider that the proposal was not submitted in confidence and therefore is releasable. Price and cost data concerning salaries, overhead, and general and administrative expenses are considered proprietary information and will not be disclosed, if marked in accordance with the instructions in 8.0.

11.0 PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Offerors are notified that MCPS has unlimited data rights regarding proposals submitted in response to this solicitation. Unlimited data rights means that MCPS has the right to use, disclose, reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, or perform publicly and display publicly any information submitted by the offeror in response to this or any solicitation issued by MCPS. However, MCPS will exempt information that is confidential commercial or financial information of an offeror, as defined by the Maryland Public Information Act, State Government Article, Section 10-617, from disclosure. It is the responsibility of the offeror to clearly identify each part of its proposal that is confidential commercial or financial information by stamping the bottom right-hand corner of each pertinent page with one-inch bold face letters stating the words “confidential” or “proprietary.” The offeror agrees that any portion of the proposal that is not stamped as proprietary or confidential is not proprietary or confidential. As a condition for MCPS keeping the information confidential, the offeror must agree to defend and hold MCPS harmless if any information is inadvertently released. Each offeror must submit a proprietary and confidential redacted copy of its proposal to be used in responding to MPIA requests.

12.0 EVALUATION CRITERIA

MCPS reserves the right to ask clarifying questions about submitted proposals. Offerors also may ask questions that they may have related to this RFP prior to submitting their responses. See Section 13.0, Schedule of Events. Only proposals received by the deadline will be considered. Proposals will be screened down to a number of finalists.

MCPS reserves the right to convene a meeting with the top qualified offerors prior to awarding a contract. The purpose of the meeting will be to afford both parties an opportunity to discuss any aspects of the requirements and services that will be performed and clarify any issues. Issues raised during the meeting, which cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of MCPS, shall be cause to reject the proposal. In addition, vendors shall be prepared to provide a product and services demonstration, providing an overview of the proposed product and services at no cost to MCPS. As appropriate, the vendor shall be responsible for the installation of the proposed products and services and any third-party software at the District-designated demonstration facility before the demonstration, as necessary.

If requested by MCPS, the top qualified offeror or offeror shall provide MCPS with an opportunity to access and review the vendor’s system as in operation at that time, via the Internet from a MCPS computer, to ensure conformity to the requirements of this RFP as well as for the quality and ease of the user interface.

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All offerors are advised that in the event of receipt of an adequate number of proposals, which, in the opinion of MCPS require no clarification and/or supplementary information, such proposals may be evaluated without further discussions. Therefore, proposals should be submitted initially on the most complete and favorable terms and conditions. Should proposals submitted require additional clarification and/or supplementary information, offerors should be prepared to submit such additional clarification and/or supplementary information, in a timely manner, when requested

Proposals meeting all requisite criteria will be evaluated. Those who do not meet requisite criteria will not be evaluated further. Selection will be made on the basis of the criteria listed below.

1. Completeness of Response - All mandatory submission criteria are submitted based on criteria set forth in this RFP. (25 points).

2. Contractor’s understanding of the scope of services as demonstrated by the response to the RFP – Based on the criteria set forth in this RFP, including but not limited to Section 3.0 Scope of Services. (25 points).

3. Contractors’ ability to provide the described technical, operational and training requirements.

(25 points).

4. Related past experience, qualifications, pricing proposal and references. (25 points).

13.0 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The anticipated schedule of activities related to this RFP is as follows:

RFP issued: July 20, 2026 Questions Due: August 3, 2026 at 4:00pm Responses Posted: August 17, 2026

Proposals Due: August 31, 2026 at 2:00pm Anticipated award date: October/ November 2026

All dates are subject to change at the discretion of MCPS.

14.0 PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

Not applicable to this RFP.

15.0 ADDENDA/ERRATA

Changes and addenda to a solicitation may occur prior to the solicitation opening date and time. It is the offeror’s responsibility to check the MCPS website under “Event Calendar” https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/mcpsbids.aspx or contact the Buyer II, Saudy Espinal at saudy_espinaldeveloz@mcpsmd.org and the Department of Procurement at https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/calendar/mcpsbids.aspx mailto:saudy_espinaldeveloz@mcpsmd.org

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procurement@mcpsmd.org to verify whether addenda/errata have been issued. In the event that MCPS issues addenda/errata, all terms and conditions will remain in effect unless they are specifically and explicitly changed by the addenda/errata. Offerors must acknowledge receipt of such addenda/errata by returning one signed copy of each of the addenda/errata with its proposal. Failure to provide the signed acknowledgement of the addenda/errata may result in a bid being deemed non-responsive.

16.0 eMARYLAND MARKETPLACE ADVANTAGE (EMMA)

Maryland law requires local and state agencies to post solicitations on eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (EMMA). Registration with EMMA is free. It is recommended that any interested supplier register at https://procurement.maryland.gov/regardless of the award outcome for this procurement as it is a valuable resource for upcoming bid notifications for municipalities throughout Maryland.

17.0 MULTI-AGENCY PARTICIPATION

MCPS reserves the right to extend the terms and conditions of this solicitation to any and all other agencies within the state of Maryland as well as any other federal, state, municipal, county, or local governmental agency under the jurisdiction of the United States and its territories. This shall include but not be limited to private schools, parochial schools, non-public schools such as charter schools, special districts, intermediate units, non-profit agencies providing services on behalf of government, and/or state, community and/or private colleges/universities that require these goods, commodities and/or services. Use of this solicitation by other agencies may be dependent on special local/state requirements attached to and made a part of the solicitation at the time of contracting. The supplier/contractor agrees to notify the issuing agency of those entities that wish to use any contract resulting from this bid and will also provide usage information, which may be requested. A copy of the contract pricing and the bid requirements incorporated in this contract will be supplied to requesting agencies. Each participating jurisdiction or agency shall enter into its own contract with the Awarded offeror(s) and this contract shall be binding only upon the principal’s signing such an agreement.

Invoices shall be submitted "directly" to the ordering jurisdiction for each unit purchased. Disputes over the execution of any contract shall be the responsibility of the participating jurisdiction or agency that entered into that contract. Disputes must be resolved solely between the participating agency and the Award offeror. MCPS assumes no authority, liability, or obligation on behalf of any other public or non-public entity that may use any contract resulting from this bid. MCPS pricing is based on the specifications provided in this solicitation.

18.0 INQUIRIES

Inquiries regarding this solicitation must be submitted in writing to Saudy Espinal De Veloz, MCPS Department of Procurement Buyer II, 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 3100, Rockville, MD 20850 or via email to saudy_espinaldeveloz@mcpsmd.org and procurement@mcpsmd.org Questions are due at 4:00 p.m. on August 3, 2026. Responses will be posted on the MCPS Procurement website on August 17, 2026. The Board will not be responsible for any oral or telephone explanation or interpretation by any agent or employee of MCPS. Any binding information given to an offeror in response to a request will be furnished to all offeror as addenda/errata, if such information is deemed necessary for the preparation of proposals, or if the lack of such information would be detrimental to the uninformed offerors. Only such addenda/errata, when issued by MCPS, will be considered binding on MCPS.

mailto:procurement@mcpsmd.org https://procurement.maryland.gov/ mailto:saudy_espinaldeveloz@mcpsmd.org mailto:procurement@mcpsmd.org

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Contact by offerors with any other MCPS employee regarding this solicitation until the contract is awarded by MCPS will be considered by MCPS as an attempt to obtain an unfair advantage and result in non-consideration of its RFP response. The MCPS Procurement website address is www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/procurement/.

19.0 UNNECESSARILY ELABORATE BROCHURES

Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the offeror’s lack of cost consciousness. Elaborate artwork and expensive visual and other presentation aids are neither necessary nor wanted.

20.0 BID PROTESTS

Any bid protests, including appeals, will be governed by the applicable MCPS Department of Procurement Regulations. The burden of production of all relevant evidence, data and documents and the burden of persuasion to support the protest is on the offeror making the protest.

21.0 CONTRACT

MCPS plans to enter a contractual agreement with Respondent(s) to whom the award(s) is made and intends to make MCPS General Contract Articles, attached hereto and incorporated herein as Appendix A, part of the contractual agreement, except and unless modified by MCPS. In addition, the Contractor will ensure that all private duty nurses abide by the provisions of the MCPS General Contract Articles.

Proposals must clearly identify any variances from or objections to the specifications in this RFP and the terms and conditions of the MCPS General Contract Articles. Lacking any response to the contrary, MCPS will infer that the Respondent agrees to the specifications of this RFP and each term and condition of the MCPS General Contract Articles. Respondents should note that any variance may provide a basis for MCPS to reject the proposal. In particular, the provisions set forth in Articles 5, 12-14, 16-18, 21-24, 26, and 28 of the MCPS General Contract Articles are non-negotiable.

22.0 WORK-BASED LEARNING FOR EMPLOYER

In an effort to build a robust program to offer students work opportunities through apprenticeships and internships, MCPS partners with employers to find talented youth for high demand careers.

MCPS trains and supports youth employees for your organization so you can help our talented youth move into careers that support your business.

Please acknowledge below your interest in partnering with MCPS and the work-based learning program. If you are not interested in participating in this program, it does not impact the award of this bid favorably or negatively.

Yes, I am interested in partnering

If yes, please complete the information in the following link and someone will contact you with more http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/procurement/ https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/work-based-learning/employers/ https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/work-based-learning/employers/

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information:

MCPS Employer Interest Form

No, I am not interested in partnering

23.0 NOTICE TO BIDDERS

The appropriate items below must be completed as part of the RFP. Failure to comply may disqualify your bid. Type or print legibly in ink.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeneDlCM1ric_Ln7Nc1TikWcrn4Txc50RaxS-6nCF_S6Vc5eQ/viewform

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I. VENDOR INFORMATION: As appropriate, check and/or complete one of the items below.

1. Legal name (as shown on your income tax return)

2. Business Name (if different from above) _

3. Tax Identification Number

A copy of your W-9 must be submitted with this bid response.

II. VENDOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION: This will be filed as your permanent contact information.

Company Name

Address

Bid Representative’s Name

Phone Number/Extension

Email Address

Website

III. VENDOR'S CERTIFICATION: Upon notification of award, MCPS intends to enter into a contract agreement. By signing below, the undersigned acknowledges that he/she understands the intent to contract with

MCPS.

A. The undersigned proposes to furnish and deliver supplies, equipment, or services, in accordance with specifications and stipulations contained herein, and at the prices quoted. This certifies that this bid is made without any previous understanding, agreement or connection with any person, firm, or corporation making a bid for the same supplies, materials, or equipment, and is in all respects fair and without collusion or fraud.

B. I hereby certify that I am authorized to sign for the bidder and that all statements, representations, and information provided in this response to the Request for Proposals, including but not limited to the Non- Debarment Acknowledgement, are accurate.

IV. ANTI-LOBBING

The Contractor will comply with the Byrd Anti-Lobbing Amendment (31 U.S.C 1352) and certifies to the tier above that it will not and not used Federal appropriated funds to pay a person or organization for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a member of Congress, officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a member of Congress in connection with obtaining any Federal contract, grant or any other award covered by U.S.C 1352. If applicable, contractor will complete the disclosure of lobbying with non-Federal funds using Lobbying Activities Form (Form SF-LLL) and submit to {insert name of contracting entity} annually.

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By (Signature)

Name and Title

Witness Name and Title

No, I am not interested in partnering