Food and Nutrition Design Consultant

Dickinson Independent School District (DISD) in Texas is soliciting proposals for professional food service design consultant services through a Request for Proposal issued on April 14, 2026. The procurement seeks a consultant to provide planning and design services for the renovation of McAdams Junior High School's food service kitchen, with specific focus on the student serving lines, reach-in cooler and freezer storage spaces, and dish room area. The consultant's responsibilities include evaluating current operations, documenting workflow inefficiencies and safety concerns, developing conceptual plans with multiple layout options, producing sketches and flow diagrams, and ensuring regulatory compliance with USDA, TDA, local health department, fire and life safety, ADA accessibility, and local building codes. All design plans and drawings must be completed and submitted to the DISD Food and Nutrition Services Director within three months of purchase order issuance, with deliverables including bid-ready plans, drawings, and technical specifications suitable for permitting and competitive bidding. Proposers must submit questions by May 13, 2026, with the proposal response deadline of May 15, 2026, at 10:00 AM Central Time, and contract award is effective upon Board approval on June 1, 2026. The pricing structure requires a firm, fixed price for the full scope of services that cannot be based on a percentage of renovation costs, equipment costs, or reimbursable expenses, though specific expense reimbursements for travel may be itemized separately. Proposers must provide three references from entities that have contracted for similar services, preferably school districts or local governmental agencies comparable in size and structure to DISD, and must demonstrate the ability to meet the three-month completion timeline.

There are no specific set-aside designations mentioned for disadvantaged enterprises in this procurement. However, the RFP includes significant restrictions on organizational conflicts of interest: any awarded firm, including parent companies, affiliates, and subcontractors, is ineligible to compete for or participate in the subsequent kitchen renovation construction procurement, effectively preventing the design consultant from bidding on construction contracts related to the same project. All proposers must complete standard certifications and compliance requirements including IRS W9 Form, Conflict of Interest declaration, Texas Ethics Commission Form 1295, and adherence to federal procurement standards under 2 CFR Part 200, USDA procurement standards, and TDA regulations, with additional Buy American Act compliance requirements for food-related items and federal compliance certifications applicable to Child Nutrition Program funds. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the documentation, and no specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the RFP materials. Records retention and comprehensive documentation requirements apply to all awarded contractors under federal Child Nutrition Program regulations.