St Joseph School District

All bid deadlines are 11:59pm Pacific Time the date of the bid deadline listed unless otherwise noted.

IFCB Posted : Dec 21, 2015

Bid Deadline : Friday, Jan 22, 2016

Questions Due By : Friday, Jan 15, 2016

Applicant Address : Saint Joseph, MO 64501

IFCB ID : 160012929

IFCB Requirements :

· All Questions and Bids must be submitted using the on-line IFCB system. If for some reason the system is down before the respective deadline, please email your bid to info@crwconsulting.com or fax it to 918.445.0049. Bids or questions submitted in this fashion will be disqualified if the on-line system is active at the time of submission.

· Bidder must agree to participate in USF Program (AKA “E-rate”) for the corresponding funding year.

· Please include the correct Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) on your bid.

· By submitting a bid, bidder certifies that the bidder does have a valid (non-red light status) SPIN for the E-rate program at the time of submission. Should the Applicant discover that the bidder is on red light status, or if the FCC classifies the bidder as on red-light status before work is performed and invoices are paid, the contract will be null and void and the applicant will have no payment obligations to the bidder.

· Bidder is expected to provide the lowest corresponding price per E-rate rules. See http://www.usac.org/sl/service-providers/step02/lowest-corresponding-price.aspx for details.

· Contracts must not prohibit SPIN changes.

· Bidder must agree to provide the Applicant the choice of discount methods (SPI or BEAR).

· Bidder will be automatically disqualified if the District determines that the bidding company has offered any employee of the District any individual gift of more than $20 or gifts totaling more than $50 within a 12 month period.

· All contracts awarded will be contingent upon E-rate funding and final board approval. The applicant may choose to do all or part of the project upon funding notification.

· All contracts awarded under this IFCB bidding process may be voluntarily renewed by the applicant, upon written notice to the provider, for five consecutive one year terms.

· Prices must be held firm for the duration of the associated E-rate Funding Year(s) or until all work associated with the project is complete (including any contract and USAC approved extensions).

· NETWORK UPGRADE/CATEGORY 2 – VENDORS WISHING TO SUBMIT BIDS FOR THE CATEGORY TWO CABLING PROJECT (PROJECT A) MUST ATTEND ONE OF TWO MANDATORY SITE VISITS. BIDS RECEIVED FROM VENDORS WHO DID NOT ATTEND EITHER MEETING WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

· Service providers are required to bid the entire project – Project A, Project B and/or Project C. Bids for individual components of any projects will be disqualified.

· DISQUALIFICATION FACTOR: Vendors are required to submit bids via the template “Internal connections – Template V15 – 1” for each individual school that is receiving equipment and a separate template for all shared equipment. Please name each template for the name of the school and project. Example: “Smith Elementary School Wireless Project” or “Wireless project shared equipment for all schools.” Vendors that do not submit bids in the required template format will be disqualified from the process.

· If the Applicant is requesting bids for equipment with specific make and model numbers listed, the Applicant will also accept bids for functionally equivalent equipment.

Services and Equipment Requested :

UPDATE: 1/12/16 - UPDATED MAPS WITH AP PLACEMENT HAVE BEEN ADDED

UPDATE 1/8/16: INFORMATION PROVIDED DURING WALKTHROUGH IS BELOW:

1. Cat 6e cabling needs to be rated at 550mhz

2. J hooks will be sufficient in the main hallways only to burden the wait of the cables

3. There needs to be minimum of a 2 foot service loop placed on the drops in the classrooms

4. We will post new maps with designation of were AP’s are located in the buildings

UPDATE 12/21/15: AN ADDITIONAL DOCUMENT TITLED 'Instructions for C2 Bids' IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.

CATEGORY TWO PROJECT DETAILS -:

There is another document available for download (SJSD RFP) that details the Applicant’s Category Two projects. There are three separate projects - Project A (Cabling), Project B (Switches) and Project C (Wireless Controllers and WAPs). Service providers are required to bid the entire project – Project A, Project B and/or Project C. Bids for individual components of any projects will be disqualified. Applicant will accept bids for functional equivalents when a preferred Make/manufacturer is listed.

Also attached are several additional documents detailing the Floor Plans and Prevailing Wage Rate information.

CATEGORY TWO MANDATORY SITE VISIT FOR PROJECT A (CABLING):

PROVIDERS WISHING TO BID ON THE CATEGORY TWO CABLING PROJECT (PROJECT A) MUST ATTEND ONE OF TWO MANDATORY WALKTHROUGHS SCHEDULED ON JANUARY 8, 2016 AND JANUARY 12, 2016 AT 9:00 AM FOR BOTH DATES. MEET AT 3401 RENNICK, ST JOSEPH, MO 64507. BIDS RECEIVED FOR THE CABLING PROJECT (PROJECT A) FROM VENDORS WHO DID NOT ATTEND EITHER MEETING WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

CATEGORY TWO DISQUALIFICATION FACTORS:

VENDORS WISHING TO SUBMIT BIDS FOR THE CATEGORY TWO CABLING PROJECT (PROJECT A) MUST ATTEND ONE OF TWO MANDATORY SITE VISITS.

Vendors are required to submit bids via the template “Internal connections – Template V15 – 1” for each individual school that is receiving equipment and a separate template for all shared equipment. Please name each template for the name of the school and project. Example: “Smith Elementary School Wireless Project” or “Wireless project shared equipment for all schools.” Vendors that do not submit bids in the required template format will be disqualified from the process.

Service providers are required to bid the entire project – Project A, Project B and/or Project C. Bids for individual components of any projects will be disqualified.

We would also like for providers bidding on Category Two projects to also submit your bids in normal format – a word/excel/PDF as you normally would. The winning Category Two vendor(s) will be required to complete, for each school and all shared equipment, the 2016 USAC C2 Templates when they become available. Once available, the templates will be due in a 14 day time period.

There is an additional document associated with this IFCB. Please click the buttons to download the document.

SJSDRFP.pdf
PrevailingWageRateSt.Joe46.pdf
ElemSchools.zip
HighSchool.zip
MiddleSchools24.zip
InternalConnectionsTemplateV151691.xlsm
InstructionsforC2Bids14.pdf
ElementarySchoolsUpdated112.zip
HighSchoolsUpdated112.zip
MiddleSchoolsUpdated112.zip

Bid deadline has been reached.

Questions Received with Applicant Answers ( Ask Questions? )

How does the Cabling project differ from the original IFCBID# 160002677 that bid on 25 November, 2015?

Answer:
There is not much difference except for 2-3 additional drops and what is specified in the RFP under Cabling Scope.

On the previous IFCB/470 a vendor made a complaint to USAC. Out of an abundance of caution, we decided (after consultation with USAC staff in DC) to cancel the entire old 470 and start the bidding process over completely.

To bid the category two do you have to bid a,b and c as one bid or can you bid just one part of a, b or c?

Answer:
You can bid individual projects, but you have to include all components of that project. Project A is cabling, B is switches, C is wireless. You could bid just project C (wireless) but you have to bid all components requested in that project in order to submit a valid bid. If you submit an incomplete bid for one of those projects your bid will be disqualified.

Is this the same project that bid earlier this year? Is it a complete re-bid?

Answer:
Complete rebid. During the bidding process for the previous IFCB/470s a vendor made a complaint to USAC. Out of an abundance of caution, we decided (after consultation with USAC staff in DC) to cancel the entire old 470 and start the bidding process over completely.

Do we have to attend another walk thru if attended earlier walk thru?

Answer:
Yes, vendors will have to comply with the walk-through requirement on this IFCB, even if you have attended a previous walk-through, in order to place a bid on the cabling project (walk-throughs are only required if you’re bidding on the cabling project). USAC suggested that we make a clean start with this 470, which means vendors interested in the cabling project will have to comply with the new walk-through requirement. We apologize for this inconvenience but we’re proceeding this way based upon direct USAC guidance.

1. Aerohive would like to schedule a web demo introduction, please select a day over the next several weeks for availability. 2. What does the current WLAN consist of?

Answer:
Aruba controllers with 945 AP’s. I am familiar with Aerohive and have seen product demonstrations previously, I’m going to decline the webinar offer.

1) Does the St. Joseph School District intend to contract with one single vendor for the entire cabling job consisting of 24 schools buildings? 2) Please clarify item #6 in the "Scope of Cabling" document. It states, "Provide updated as-built documentation (CAD drawings, Excel spreadsheets) of the campus cabling installed." What does this mean specifically?

Answer:
1) Yes

2) SJSD wants to have a document of the cable runs installed in the building. This can be an excel document with room # and cable drop number as an example.

The RFP states that the proposed controllers will need to be able to use current SJSD Aruba Network licenses and manage roughly 300 APâ€™s that will not be replaced in the scope of this project. If a vendor were to offer an end to end solution using WAV2 technology from another manufacturer, including replacement of these 300 APs, at a lower cost than the Aruba solution requested in the RFP, would SJSD be interested in such a proposal? Would there be other requirements or investments the school has made in this 300 AP solution that would also need to be replaced?

Answer:
Yes, as long as it is a cost effective proposal. Please keep in mind that the E-rate rules dictate that we are not allowed to accept any individual gifts of $20 or more, or $50 over a 12 month period.

The RFP indicates that cost will be the most heavily weighted factor in selecting the awarded vendor and the district will score each weighted factor totaling 100% scale. Are the points available for each category an â€œall or nothingâ€ score or will partial points be granted to each vendor in the 5 different weighted categories? How will a non-Aruba bid be weighted if they are the lowest cost solution for the school? Will they be awarded all 25 points and will all others be scored at zero points for this pricing portion of the scoring?

Answer:
Points will be awarded on a sliding scale and will not be awarded on an “all or nothing” basis. The district declines to answer the rest of your questions at this time.

The RFP states the district will accept bids for functionally equivalent equipment. Erate mandates that the bidding process be open and fair. How is equivalency to be determined? Can you tell us which manufacturers, other than Aruba, the school considers â€œequivalentâ€?

Answer:

We will adhere to E-rate rules that require applicants to accept bids for “functionally equivalent equipment.” We do not have a list of manufacturers at this time, we will evaluate each proposal as submitted.

From a Wireless Equipment perspective, are there specific performance requirements, quantity of users, types of users or a specific experience the school is trying to accomplish with this RFP?

Answer:
No, there are no specific performance requirement except what was posted in the 470 in regards to using the existing AP’s and licensing that SJSD currently owns to keep the project cost down.

For the existing 300 Aruba APs purchased in 2014, is there a manufacturers warranty or support agreement currently in place? If yes, can the school provide a detailed explanation of what that covers, for what specific time period and provide a copy of that support or warranty agreement? Does the School own these AP's, are they being leased or financed or possibly a managed service of some type?

Answer:
The SJSD owns the licensing and AP’s that are covered under a Aruba support contract until July 2016. We have not bid out maintenance on this 470 and maintenance/support contracts are beyond the scope of what we have bid out (and what USAC will fund based upon this 470).

What are the model numbers and quantities of all of the existing Aruba APs?

Answer:
Total of 945 AP’s

Models are 105 & 115

Do you know if it is technically possible for a non Aruba AP to work with the existing Aruba network Licenses? If so, please explain how.

Answer:
I do not know

What are the model numbers of the existing 300 APs and are they wav 2?