RFP for Cisco Flex Subscription 2025-26-Update.pdf

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, color, disability or veteran status.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Instructions

1. Bidders must submit sealed proposals in an envelope clearly labeled with the Item Description shown above on the outside of the envelope. The proposal envelope and any information relative to the proposal must be addressed to:

Purchasing Department, Suite 206 ATTN: Thomas Morgan 797 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903

2. Bidders must include at least one original, one copy, and a digital PDF copy on a flash drive.

3. Proposal responses must be in ink or typewritten.

4. Bidders are advised that all materials submitted to Providence Public Schools for consideration in response to this Request for Proposals shall be considered to be public records as defined in R.I. General Law Section 38-2 et seq, without exception, and may be released for public inspection. All proposals submitted become the property of Providence Public Schools.

5. Bid proposals that are not present in the Providence Public Schools Purchasing Department at the time of opening for whatever cause will be deemed to be late and will not be considered.

Postmarks shall not be considered proof of timely submission.

6. Questions regarding this request for proposals must be submitted to the Subject Matter Expert via email by the question deadline listed above. Questions will be answered via addendum to be posted publicly on the Providence Schools website. Bidders are responsible for checking the website for all addenda distributed in response to questions and requests for additional information.

ANGÉLICA INFANTE-GREEN

Commissioner

DR. JAVIER MONTAÑEZ

Superintendent

Providence Public School District Purchasing Department 797 Westminster Street

Providence, RI 02903-4045 tel. 401.456.9264 fax 401. 456.9252 www.providenceschools.org

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Cisco Flex Enterprise Subscription Renewal 2025-2026, 2026-2027

DATE AND TIME TO BE OPENED: June 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM

PRE-BID CONFERENCE (IF APPLICABLE): None

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (NAME): Scott B. Barnett

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (EMAIL): Scott.Barnett@ppsd.org

QUESTION DEADLINE: May 29, 2025 by 4:30 pm.

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/title38/38-2/INDEX.HTM

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, Notice to Vendors General Terms

1. Providence Public Schools reserves the right to award the contract on the basis of the lowest responsible evaluated bid proposal.

2. In determining the lowest responsive evaluated bid proposal, cash discounts based on preferable payment terms will not be considered.

3. No proposal will be accepted if it is made in collusion with any other bidder.

4. Providence Public Schools reserves the right to award to a single vendor, to split the award between multiple vendors and to reject any and all proposals. Unless otherwise specified, Providence Public Schools reserves the right to make the award by item or items or by total as may be in its best interest.

5. As Providence Public Schools is exempt from the payment of Federal Excise Taxes and Rhode Island Sales Tax, prices quoted are not to include these taxes.

6. In case of error in the extension of prices quoted, the unit price will govern. In the event there is a discrepancy between the price written in words and written in figures, the prices written in words shall govern.

7. Awards shall be subject to the General Terms set forth herein, which terms shall be deemed accepted by the Bidder upon submission of the bid proposal, subject to the provisions of this paragraph, and shall be further deemed to be incorporated into the contract upon issuance of the award. Any proposed exceptions, modifications, or deviations from the terms, conditions, and specifications contained herein must be listed and fully explained on a separate sheet attached to the Bidder’s detailed conditions and specifications and referred to separately in the Bids. Such proposed exceptions, modifications, or deviations shall be an additional variable for consideration by the Providence Public School District in addition to vendor qualifications, price, quantity, and/or scope of services. In all cases not indicated by Bidders as an exception, modification, or deviation, it is understood that the terms, conditions and specifications of the Providence Public School District shall apply. No exception, modification, or deviation shall be deemed accepted, approved, or otherwise incorporated into the contract unless expressly set forth in the award notice.

8. Proposals must meet the attached specifications. Bids may be submitted on an “equal in quality” basis. Providence Public Schools reserves the right to decide equality and determine whether bids are responsive. Bidders must indicate brand or make offered and submit detailed specifications if other than brand requested.

9. A bidder who is an out of-state corporation shall qualify or register to transact business in this State, in accordance with R.I. General Law Section 7-1.2-1401 et seq. as amended)

10. Delivery dates must be shown in the bid. If no delivery dates are specified, it will be assumed that an immediate delivery from stock will be made.

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE7/7-1.2/7-1.2-1401.HTM

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

11. Only one shipping charge will be applied in the event of partial deliveries for blanket or term contracts.

12. For contracts involving construction, alteration and/or repair work, the provisions of State Labor Law concerning payment of prevailing wage rates apply (See R.I. General Law Section 37-13-1 et seq. as amended).

13. All proposals will be disclosed at the opening date and time listed above. After a reasonable lapse of time, tabulation of proposals may be viewed on the Providence Public School’s website (https://www.providenceschools.org/Page/4634).

14. Awards will be made within ninety (90) days of the proposal opening. All proposal prices will be considered firm, unless qualified otherwise. Requests for price increases will not be honored.

15. No goods should be delivered and no work should be started without a Purchase Order from Providence Public Schools.

16. Prior to commencing performance under the contract, the successful bidder (the “Contractor”) shall attest to compliance with provisions of R.I. General Law Section 28-29-1, et seq. If exempt from compliance, the Contractor shall submit a sworn Affidavit by a corporate officer to that effect, which shall accompany the signed contract.

17. Prior to commencing performance under the contract, Contractor shall, submit a certificate of insurance, in a form and in an amount satisfactory to Providence Public Schools.

a. Errors & Omissions insurance plus General Commercial Liability coverage of one million dollars per incident with $ two million aggregate claims.

18. The Contractor will not be permitted to: assign or underlet the contract; or assign either legally or equitably any monies or any claim thereto without the previous written consent of the Director of Purchasing.

19. The Contractor shall not be paid in advance.

20. The contract shall be in effect from the date of award through June 30, 2027 or for such other duration as may be agreed to in writing and signed by the parties, unless terminated by either party at any time, with or without cause.

21. In the event of termination by District or the Contractor prior to completion of the contract, compensation shall be prorated on the basis of hours actually worked, and the Contractor shall only be entitled to receive just and equitable compensation for any satisfactory work completed and expenses incurred up to the date of termination.

22. Failure to deliver within the time quoted or failure to meet specifications may result in default in accordance with the general specifications.

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE37/37-13/INDEX.HTM https://www.providenceschools.org/Page/4634 http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE28/28-29/INDEX.HTM

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

23. The Contractor must conduct a criminal background check, at the Contractor’s expense, of all employees employed under the contract who interact with students, except District employees.

The Contractor shall provide a copy of the background check report(s) to the District, upon request.

24. The Contractor is not an employee of District and is not entitled to fringe benefits, pension, workers’ compensation, retirement, etc. District shall not deduct Federal income taxes, FICA (Social Security), or any other taxes required to be deducted by an employer, as this is the responsibility of the Contractor.

25. The Contractor understands products produced as a result of the contract are the sole property of the District and may not be used by the Contractor without the express written permission of the District.

26. The Contractor agrees to hold District and the City of Providence harmless from any and all damages incurred by District or the City by reason of the Contractor’s negligence or breach of contract, including without limitation, damages of every kind and nature, out-of-pocket costs, and legal expenses.

27. The contract may not be modified or amended in any way except by mutual agreement in writing and signed by each party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and subject to the provision concerning exceptions, modifications, or deviations set forth in Paragraph 7 hereinabove, the General Terms shall not be modified or amended in any way by subsequent agreement. In the event of a conflict between the General Terms and any subsequent modification or amendment to the contract, the General Terms shall control.

28. The Contractor expressly submits itself to and agrees that all actions arising out of or related to the contract or the relationship between the parties shall occur solely in the venue and jurisdiction of the State of Rhode Island.

29. District agrees and acknowledges that Company and its licensors own all intellectual property rights in and to the Products including, without limitation, all trademarks, trade names, service marks and copyrights in the Products and all underlying software programs and related documentation. District agrees and acknowledges that District and any school shall not acquire any right, title or interest in or to any Company’s intellectual property (IP), including, without limitation, software, trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property of Company and no other rights are granted by Company to the District or any school in Company’s IP by implication, estoppel or otherwise. District further acknowledges and agrees that Company shall continue, during the term hereof, to expand and modify its Products, in its sole discretion.

30. Data and Release (Representations and Warranties):

a. In connection with Company’s provision of the Products to District and to allow for the proper functioning and purpose of the Products, the District agrees to and shall release certain data to the Company and agrees to permit the Company to collect certain data from District’s users of the Products (collectively, “Data”). Certain of this Data may be

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99), in which case it will be known as FERPA Data (“FERPA Data”). Certain portions of the Data may be considered Personally Identifiable Information (“Personally Identifiable Information”). De-Identified Data (“De-Identified Data”) is data generated from usage of Company Products from which all Personally Identifiable Information has been removed or obscured so that it does not identify an individual student and there is no reasonable basis to believe the remaining information can be used to identify a student. For the purposes of this agreement De-Identified Data will not be considered Personally Identifiable Information and, thus, shall not be deemed FERPA Data, as defined above, or COPPA Data, as defined below. Personally Identifiable Information may be collected from students under the age of 13 during the normal course of such students’ use of the Products and thus may be subject to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, in which case it will be known as COPPA Data (“COPPA Data”), but with respect to both COPPA Data and FERPA Data, such Data may only be used for the purpose of facilitating and enhancing the use and functionality of the Products and in connection with Company’s providing the Products to District and its users. Company will access, use, restrict, safeguard and dispose of all FERPA Data and COPPA Data related to this Agreement in accordance with FERPA and COPPA, respectively. Notwithstanding such release or collection, the FERPA Data, COPPA Data, and Personally Identifiable Information remain the property of the District.

b. Company in providing Products to the Customer may use external service providers as required to facilitate a variety of operations, known as Third Party Service Providers.

Outsourced operations may include, but are not limited to: web hosting, assisting with providing customer support, database reporting, analytics, and assisting with marketing or billing. As a result of this relationship, Third Party Service Providers may have access to Personally Identifiable Information. Company Partners are obligated to take appropriate commercially reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of all District information they receive in connection with Company Product and are subject to other legal restrictions that prohibit the use of District information for any purpose other than that described below for specific Company purpose. Any data exchanged with Third Party Service Providers will be deleted or transferred, per District request, when no longer needed, or at contract expiration. Company Partners should be submitted when bidding.

c. Company assures that data is secured and protected in a manner consistent with industry standards at a minimum and has attached documentation reflecting Company’s existing data privacy and security guidelines and/or policies. The guidelines and/or policies will apply to both Personally Identified Information and De-Identified Data. Company’s use of Personally Identifiable Information shall be for the exclusive use of the District and/or third parties identified and approved by the District. Company may use De-Identified Data for the following purposes: to improve the Product, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Product, and for research or other purposes related to developing and improving the Product. Company’s use of such De-Identified Data may survive termination of this Agreement.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

d. “Personally Identifiable Information" or "PII" means information provided to Company in connection with Company’s obligations to provide the Products under the Agreement that (i) could reasonably identify the individual to whom such information pertains, such as name, address and/or telephone number or (ii) can be used to authenticate that individual, such as passwords, unique identification numbers or answers to security questions or (iii) is protected under Applicable Laws. For the avoidance of doubt, PII does not include aggregate, anonymized data derived from an identified or identifiable individual

e. District represents and warrants that:

i. any such FERPA Data released to Company has been released pursuant to, among other things, a limited exception under FERPA acting for the District as a “School Official” with a legitimate educational interest for the purposes of providing the Products; and

ii. District has complied fully with FERPA and, among other things, has specified at least annually in a FERPA notification to parents/guardians that it uses outside contractors/consultants as “School Officials” to provide certain institutional services and functions such as those set forth in this Agreement.

f. Company shall function as a school official of the District and agrees to the following conditions, as required by 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g and 34 C.F.R. Section 99.31:

i. Company is performing a service or function for which the District would otherwise use employees;

ii. Company is under the direct control of the District with respect to the use and maintenance of education records;

iii. Company is subject to the requirements of 34 C.F.R. Section 99.33(a) governing the use and re-disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records; and

iv. Company represents that it has the knowledge, skill and resources necessary to provide and maintain a web-based educational product or platform that is sufficiently secure and encrypted to protect confidential information.

g. Company and District each represent and warrant that any COPPA Data and FERPA Data released and/or shared by Company and/or District for the purposes of this Agreement shall be covered by that party's respective agreement with the other party regarding FERPA Data and COPPA Data and no further agreement shall be needed by the other party for such release or sharing.

h. Company and District agree that all such FERPA Data is provided on an "as is" basis and neither party shall be liable for any express or implied warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, and fitness for a particular purpose. Further, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct, neither party shall be liable to the other for any damages in whatever form or under any theory of liability for the "as is" data, even if advised of such.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

31. Data Transfer Protocol. The District will assign a team representing technical and academic expertise (“District team”) to work with Company to establish the automated data transfer. The project timeline, services provided by Company, and tasks required of the District Team will be finalized in a Statement of Work provided by Company and agreed upon by the District.

Company will need to provide a detailed data definition and layout document that the District team will use to map their data system(s) to Company’s data feed specification. At that point, Company will work with the District team to establish scheduled, automatic data transfers between the District student data system(s) and a secure file transfer protocol (“SFTP”) site hosted by Company. Company will provide their data validation rules to the District team.

Every time new data is published to the SFTP, Company will validate the data, load the successful records into the Company data system, and send an email to the District team notifying them of potential errors.

32. Ownership and Protection of Confidential Information

a. By virtue of this Agreement and providing District with the Products, the parties may have access to information of the other party that is deemed confidential (“Confidential Information”). Confidential Information includes information, ideas, materials or other subject matter of such party, whether disclosed orally, in writing or otherwise, that is provided under circumstances reasonably indicating that it is confidential or proprietary.

Confidential Information includes, without limitation, all business plans, technical information or data, product ideas, methodologies, calculation algorithms and analytical routines; and all personnel, customer, contracts and financial information or materials disclosed or otherwise provided by such party (“Disclosing Party”) to the other party (“Receiving Party”). For the purposes of this agreement De-Identified Data will not be considered Confidential Information. Confidential Information does not include that which (a) is already in the Receiving Party’s possession at the time of disclosure to the Receiving Party, (b) is or becomes part of public knowledge other than as a result of any action or inaction of the Receiving Party in violation of this Agreement, (c) is obtained by the Receiving Party from an unrelated third party without a duty of confidentiality, or (d) is independently developed by the Receiving Party.

Confidential Information means any and all information of either party disclosed or otherwise made available to or learned by the parties under this Agreement, which is designated as “confidential” or “proprietary” or which, under all of the circumstances, ought reasonably to be treated as confidential, and includes, but is not limited to, school data and, all school student records and personnel records of both parties.

Company, the District, and each school partner will maintain the confidentiality of any and all Personally Identifiable Information exchanged as part of the Agreement.

Confidentiality requirements will survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

To ensure the continued confidentiality and security of student data, Company and school security plans will be followed

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

b. Ownership. Confidential Information of either party (and any derivative works thereof or modifications thereto) is and will remain the exclusive property of that party or its licensors, as applicable. Neither party shall possess nor assert any lien or other right against or to Confidential Information of the other party. No Confidential Information of either party or any part thereof, will be sold, assigned, leased, or otherwise disposed of to third parties by the other party or commercially exploited by or on behalf of Company, its employees or agents.

c. Method of Transfer. Company will employ industry best practices, both technically and procedurally, to protect the Data from unauthorized physical and electronic access during transfer.

d. Restrictions on Use. The Receiving Party shall not use Confidential Information of the

Disclosing Party for any purpose other than in furtherance of this Agreement, with the understanding that the Company also retains aggregate, de-identified, anonymized information for improvement, research and development purposes. The Receiving Party shall not disclose Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party to any third parties except as otherwise permitted hereunder. The Receiving Party may disclose Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party only to those employees, subcontractors or agents who have a need to know such Confidential Information and who are bound to retain the confidentiality thereof under provisions (including, without limitation, provisions relating to nonuse and nondisclosure) no less restrictive than those required by the Receiving Party for its own Confidential Information. The Receiving Party shall maintain Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party with at least the same degree of care it uses to protect its own proprietary information of a similar nature or sensitivity, but with no less than reasonable care under the circumstances. Each party shall advise the other party in writing of any misappropriation or misuse of Confidential Information of the other party of which the notifying party becomes aware.

e. Exclusions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Agreement shall not prevent a party receiving a judicial order or other legal obligation from disclosing Confidential Information of the other party, provided that the other party is promptly notified and cooperates to allow intervention to contest or minimize the scope of the disclosure (including application for a protective order). Otherwise, neither Company nor any of its personnel may release confidential data or results if such data or results include individual person, District- or state-identifiable data or results, either directly or inferentially, unless agreed by the parties in writing on a case by case basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement shall limit Company’s ability to use De-Identified Data for product development and research purposes as permitted under FERPA.

f. Destruction of Confidential Information. At no cost to the party that owns the Confidential

Information, the other party shall upon (a) written request by the owner at any time, and

(b) upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, securely eliminate or return promptly in the format and on the media in use as of the date of the written request, all or any requested portion of Confidential Information that may be in the other party’s possession or control.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation,

g. Breaches and Misuse. A Security Incident is a suspected, attempted, or imminent threat of unauthorized access, use, disclosure, breach, modification, disruption or destruction to or of District Data. In the event of a Security Incident, Company shall investigate the Security Incident, identify the impact of the Security Incident and take commercially reasonable actions to mitigate the effects of any such Security Incident. If the Security Incident results in a Security Breach, a documented, unsecured disclosure, access, alteration or use of the data, not permitted in this Agreement, which poses a significant risk of financial, reputational or other harm to the affected End User or the District, Company shall, (i) timely provide any notifications to individuals affected by the Security Breach that Company is required to provide, and, (ii) notify District of the Security Breach, subject to applicable confidentiality obligations and to the extent allowed and/or required by Applicable Laws. Except to the extent prohibited by Applicable Laws, Company shall, upon District's written request, provide District with a description of the Security Breach and the type of data that was the subject of the Security Breach.

The parties will each cooperate fully in resolving any actual or suspected acquisition or misuse of Confidential Information.

33. In the event of termination by District or Company prior to completion of the contract, only the segment of fees attributable to non-licensing shall be subject to proration. Compliance with FERPA and COPPA is subject to survival of any provisions in accordance with their specific terms. Company obligations to comply with FERPA requirements will survive the expiration or termination of this contract.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, BID FORM 1: BIDDER INFORMATION

Name of Bidder (Firm or Individual): __________________________________________________

Business Address: __________________________________________________________________

Contact Name: ____________________________________________________________________

Contact Email Address: _____________________________________________________________

Contact Phone Number: _____________________________________________________________

Delivery Date: _____________________________________________________________________

Total Cost (in writing): ______________________________________________________________

Total Cost (in numbers): _____________________________________________________________

Signature of Representation

Title

Agrees to Bid on: Cisco Flex Subscription Renewal 2025-2026 and 2026-2027

DATE AND TIME TO BE OPENED: June 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM

An Equal Opportunity Employer. The Providence School Department does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, Request For Proposal

Objective

The Providence School Department hereby requests proposals from qualified vendors to provide all technical items listed below.

Proposals should be for a RENEWAL of the product subscriptions below for a two-year period.

Line No. MFG Part # MFG Description/Line Notes Qty

Yr 1 cost

Yr 2 cost

Cisco FLEX EA Dates of 7-1-2025 - 6-30-2027 FY26 FY27

001 A-FLEX-

EAPL

CISCO ENTW ON-PREMISES

CALLING QTY- 500

002 A-FLEX-PL-

COMMON

CISCO ON-PREMISES COMMON

AREA ADD-ON QTY- 130

003 A-FLEX-PL-

ACCESS

CISCO ON-PREMISES ACCESS ADD-

ON QTY- 40

004 A-FLEX-

NUPL-A

CISCO NU ON-PREMISES CALLING

ACCESS QTY -40

Objective