Applicant tracking system ITN#26-0059

The School Board of Sarasota County, Florida is soliciting competitive sealed proposals through an Intent to Negotiate (ITN) process to procure a cloud-based Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that may be deployed as a stand-alone platform or integrated with candidate relationship management (CRM) capabilities. The solution must be scalable, mobile-responsive, and handle end-to-end recruitment processes from sourcing through onboarding. Key objectives include simplifying the application process, improving sourcing and search functionality, enhancing candidate status tracking and onboarding management, enabling talent pools with targeted communications via email and SMS, centralizing job advertising with one-click posting to Indeed and ZipRecruiter, and presenting all applications in a single dashboard for recruiters and hiring managers. The system must support approximately 15–20 HR users and 150 non-HR users; process 50–75 active job postings on average with doubling during April–July; manage 700–800 new hires annually; handle 4,500 new applications yearly; and accommodate 10 onboarding documents requiring electronic signatures. Required features include resume parsing, mobile responsiveness, advanced candidate search, interview management and scheduling, comprehensive onboarding and pre-boarding capabilities, role-based reporting and analytics, integration with Skyward HR/Finance and Outlook, and compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity requirements and Florida Public Records Law. Proposals are evaluated on a maximum of 100 points across six categories: background and ability to execute scope (15 points), qualifications of assigned personnel (10 points), fee schedule (15 points), references (5 points), approach and methodology (35 points as amended by Addendum #2), and reporting services (20 points), with optional presentations adding up to 50 additional points for selected finalists. Vendors must provide three commercial references from comparable projects within the past 36 months and demonstrate a minimum of three years of experience providing Applicant Tracking Systems. Written questions were due February 16, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. EST, and sealed proposals are due March 9, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. EST via the VendorLink electronic portal. Recommended awards will be posted on April 14, 2026, with School Board action scheduled for April 21, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. EST. The contract term is three years with pricing, terms, and conditions remaining firm for the full period, renewable for two additional one-year periods based on mutual written consent and funding availability.

The School Board encourages participation by Small Business Enterprises, Minority-Owned Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses through the completion of the Small/Minority Business Enterprise Certification Form. All proposals must include executed certifications regarding non-debarment, non-use of coercion for labor services, and confirmation that the company is not owned or controlled by a foreign country of concern as defined by Florida Statute 287.138, specifically the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro, or the Syrian Arab Republic. The School Board currently operates WinOcular as its ATS and uses Outlook for email communications; the selected vendor must integrate with the existing Skyward HR/Finance system, with the integration method (webhook versus API) to be determined post-award. The organization has a total workforce of approximately 6,000–6,500 employees and is subject to OFCCP and EEO compliance and reporting requirements. The School Board has not approved a fixed budget and is conducting this ITN to understand market offerings and pricing while identifying the solution providing the best value, indicating that award amounts will be determined based on competitive proposals rather than a predetermined budget ceiling. The District reserves the right to award to a single proposer or make multiple awards, reject any or all proposals, waive minor irregularities, and negotiate further terms and conditions with the highest-ranked proposer or subsequent proposers if agreement cannot be reached.