Single Source provider for Visible Body Courseware

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) is conducting a single source procurement for Visible Body Courseware, a proprietary software from Cengage Learning, specifically intended for regular and AP biology curriculum courses for fiscal year 2025-2026. The procurement is a non-competitive solicitation focused on acquiring a specialized educational technology product unique to Cengage Learning, Inc. The advertisement will be open from August 29, 2025, at 4:00 PM to September 22, 2025, at 4:00 PM, providing a fifteen business day period for potential vendor engagement. Visible Body Courseware will serve as an instructional technology resource for biology education, with the procurement limited to the exact product manufactured by Visible Body. The solicitation is formally identified as SS-26-028 and covers the procurement of software licenses and associated courseware materials. The primary contact for this procurement is Kim Whitwam, Director of Purchasing, who can be reached at whitwamk@fsdbk12.org for any potential inquiries.

The procurement is specifically designated as a single source acquisition, which means no competitive bidding is anticipated, and only Cengage Learning, Inc. is considered eligible to fulfill the contract. The justification for this sole source approach is based on Visible Body's exclusive ownership of intellectual property rights and the absence of adequate market substitutes. The contract is geographically scoped to St. Johns County, Florida, and is part of the state's procurement framework. The estimated contract value is not-to-exceed $3,200 for the fiscal year, representing a relatively modest investment in educational technology. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises are mentioned in the documentation. The procurement is structured to directly acquire the Visible Body Courseware without competitive alternatives, emphasizing the product's unique capabilities and direct alignment with the educational institution's curriculum requirements.