RFP 26-001 Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)

City Schools of Decatur (CSD), an independent public school district in DeKalb County, Georgia, is soliciting competitive proposals for the acquisition and implementation of a fully integrated, cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to replace its current SmartFusion platform from Harris School Solutions. The procurement encompasses software licensing on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, comprehensive implementation services, and ongoing support with defined service level agreements, with the solution required to support approximately 340 total users and 64 active users across Finance, Human Resources/Payroll, and Procurement/Supply Chain functions. The ERP system must deliver core functionality including general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, procurement, contracts, fixed assets, budget management, grants management, project management, payroll, benefits administration, talent acquisition, and related ancillary functions, while maintaining 99.9% monthly uptime availability, real-time module integration, compliance with Georgia Department of Education requirements and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), seamless integration with Google Workspace for identity management and multi-factor authentication, and full data ownership by CSD with no offshore data movement. The solution must integrate with existing systems including Frontline Education (Absence Management, Professional Growth, Recruiting & Hiring, Time & Attendance), Infinite Campus Student Information System, and third-party benefit administrators (Campus Benefits, State Health Benefit Plan, VALIC), as well as Adobe Sign and DocHub for electronic signatures, while supporting a single FEIN for payroll processing and locally collected funds management at individual school sites. Proposals must be submitted in sealed format with one original and four printed copies plus one electronic copy via the Bonfire portal by February 13, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. EST; an optional pre-proposal conference was held on January 8, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. EST via Google Meet, with a written questions deadline of January 21, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. EST and responses posted by January 28, 2026. The evaluation process includes administrative review, written proposal evaluation, scripted demonstrations anticipated for April 16-17, 2026, reference validation, and optional site visits, with an award recommendation to the School Board on May 12, 2026, and anticipated contract award on May 13, 2026. The initial contract term is five base years from execution with five additional one-year renewal options at CSD's sole discretion, subject to Board of Education approval and funding availability, with preferred go-live dates of July 1st or December 31st and a requirement that contract pricing be held firm for the entire initial five-year term.

The RFP documents do not identify any specific set-asides or restrictions limiting responses to particular organization types, disadvantaged enterprises, or certified business categories. CSD's incumbent vendor is Harris School Solutions, which currently provides the SmartFusion ERP system and maintains an annual maintenance and cloud-based subscription fee arrangement; the district also utilizes Frontline Education products, Infinite Campus for student information management, Google Workspace as the sole identity provider, and auxiliary applications including SoftDocs for document management. The RFP does not specify a disclosed budget range or estimated award value; however, pricing proposals must be submitted using a provided Excel template in Appendix B and will be evaluated on lowest cost/best value, lowest total cost, and/or total cost of ownership calculations at CSD's sole discretion, and proposers are expected to include standard historical data conversion at go-live with optional pricing for additional conversion services. CSD reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, waive irregularities or informalities, and award the contract to the firm presenting the best and most advantageous proposal based on evaluation criteria outlined in Section III of the RFP. The district has indicated comfort with implementation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 application systems and understands potential budget requirements, and all costs associated with onsite scripted demonstrations and interviews are the responsibility of offerors. CSD is a governmental entity subject to the Georgia Open Records Act, and all proposals become the exclusive property of CSD and will not be returned.