INVITATION TO RESPOND STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM …€¦ · STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM JUNE 21,...

BOARD CHAIR BOARD MEMBERS

Georgia “Joy” Bowen Maggie Lewis-Butler

DeeDee Rasmussen

BOARD VICE CHAIR Rosanne Wood

Alva Swafford Striplin

SUPERINTENDENT

Rocky Hanna

INVITATION TO RESPOND RFI# 395-2018

STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM JUNE 21, 2017 10:00AM

The School Board of Leon County, Florida is soliciting competitive sealed requests for

information from qualified suppliers for purchasing a STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM as

listed on the attached response forms.

SEALED responses will be received, subject to the terms and conditions as specified in the

attachment, in the Purchasing Department for Leon County Schools, which is located at 3397 W. Tharpe St. Tallahassee, Florida 32303, NO LATER THAN 2:00 PM ON JUNE 21, 2017. IF

THE RESPONSE IS HAND DELIVERED, PLEASE LEAVE THE RESPONSE WITH THE

RECEPTIONIST AT THE FRONT DESK.

The opening, which is not open to respondents, will be at 10:00 AM on June 22, 2017.

Questions related to this RFI should be addressed to Ms. June Kail and submitted via e-mail to

[email protected].

The deadline for all questions is June 8, 2017.

RESPONSES MUST BE SUBMITTED IN A SEALED ENVELOPE WITH THE FOLLOWING

INFORMATION MARKED CLEARLY ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE PACKAGE:

COMPANY NAME

RFI NUMBER

OPENING DATE AND TIME OF THE RFI

NO FAXED RESPONSES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

We look forward to receiving your response and appreciate your interest in working with Leon

County Schools.

Sincerely,

June Kail

Purchasing Director

Leon County School Board

2757 West Pensacola Street • Tallahassee, Florida 32304-2998 • Phone (850) 487-7110 • Fax (850) 414-5194

www.leonschools.net “The Leon County School District does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex (including transgender, gender nonconforming status, sexual orientation and diverse gender

identities) marital status, age, ethnicity, religion, military status, pregnancy, disability or genetic information.”

Building the Future Together

http://www.leonschools.net/

SCHOOL BOARD OF LEON COUNTY FLORIDA RFI# 395-2018 of 46

Table of Contents

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) TENTATIVE SCHEDULE ........................................................ 5

NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE VENDORS...................................................................................................... 6

Invitation ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Vendor Requirements .............................................................................................................................. 6 Inquiries ................................................................................................................................................. 6 The RFI Response ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Examination and Changes of RFI Documents ............................................................................................. 7 Preparation of Proposal ........................................................................................................................... 7 Submission of Proposal/Period of Acceptance .......................................................................................... 7 Proposal Preparation ............................................................................................................................... 7 Required Information and Format ............................................................................................................ 7 Award of Contract .................................................................................................................................... 8 Disclosure of Proposal Content ................................................................................................................. 8 Phasing Requirements ............................................................................................................................. 8 RFI Finalist Selection Process .................................................................................................................... 9

I. INTRODUCTION AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ...................................................... 10

II. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 12 The School Board of Leon County, Florida ................................................................................ 12 Current Student Information System Environment ................................................................... 12 Applications Portfolio .............................................................................................................. 13 Student Information System Vision .......................................................................................... 15 SIS Implementation Roadmap.................................................................................................. 17 District Resources .................................................................................................................... 17

III. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................... 19

Pre-qualification Requirements ............................................................................................... 19 General Requirements ............................................................................................................. 19 Project Scope .......................................................................................................................... 20

3.1 Functional Services Scope ................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Technical Services Scope ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Implementation Services Scope .......................................................................................................... 22 3.4 Support Services Scope ....................................................................................................................... 22

System Scalability and Performance ........................................................................................ 22 Data Query and Reporting Facilities ......................................................................................... 23

IV. PROPOSAL FORMAT ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSE ...................................................... 24

RFI Closing Date and Time ...................................................................................................................... 24 RFI Exceptions and Deviations (Tab 0) ..................................................................................................... 26 Proposal Certification Form .................................................................................................................... 26 Addenda 26 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... 26

Executive Summary (Tab 1)...................................................................................................... 26 Firm Qualifications (Tab 2) ....................................................................................................... 27


2.1 Firm History and Background (Section 2.1) ........................................................................................ 27 2.2 Firm Required Financial Information (Section 2.2) ............................................................................. 28 2.3 Customer References (Section 2.3) ..................................................................................................... 28 2.4 Project Team Organization (Section 2.4) ............................................................................................ 29 2.5 Project Team Experience and Proposed Staffing (Section 2.5) ........................................................... 29

Proposed Solution (Tab 3) ....................................................................................................... 29

3.1 Response to Software Requirements (Section 3.1) ............................................................................ 29 3.2 Response to Technical Requirements (Section 3.2) ............................................................................ 29 3.3 Proposed Solution Approach .............................................................................................................. 30 3.4 Security Strategy (Section 3.4) ............................................................................................................ 31

Implementation Plan (Tab 4) ................................................................................................... 32

4.1 General Implementation (Section 4.1) ............................................................................................... 32 4.2 Project Management Approach (Section 4.2)..................................................................................... 33 4.3 Implementation Work Plan (Section 4.3)............................................................................................ 34 4.4 Data Conversion Plan (Section 4.4) ..................................................................................................... 35 4.5 Report Development (Section 4.5) ..................................................................................................... 36 4.6 Integrations and Interfaces (Section 4.6) ............................................................................................ 36 4.7 Training and Professional Development (Section 4.7) ........................................................................ 37 4.8 Testing (Section 4.8) ............................................................................................................................ 38 4.9 Operational Process Redesign (Section 4.9) ....................................................................................... 39 4.10 System Documentation and Manuals (Section 4.10) ...................................................................... 39 4.11 Disaster Recovery Plan (Section 4.11) ............................................................................................. 39 4.12 Knowledge Transfer (Section 4.12) ................................................................................................. 39 4.13 Staffing Plan (Section 4.13) ............................................................................................................. 39

Ongoing Support Services (Tab 5) ............................................................................................ 40

5.1 Support................................................................................................................................................ 40 5.2 Product Enhancement ........................................................................................................................ 41 5.3 User Community ................................................................................................................................. 41 5.4 Compliance Reporting ......................................................................................................................... 41

Staff Experience and Qualifications (Tab 6) .............................................................................. 42 Attachments (Tab 7) ................................................................................................................ 42 SIS – Total Cost Summary Forms Instructions (Tab 8) ................................................................ 42

8.1 SIS Total Cost Summary (Cost Form 1) ................................................................................................ 42 8.2 Student Information System Installation Services (Cost Form 2) ....................................................... 43 8.3 Student Information System Training Services (Cost Form 3) ............................................................ 43 8.4 Vendor Hourly Rates (Cost Form 4) .................................................................................................... 43

V. TERMS AND CONDITIONS ............................................................................................................. 44

EVALUATION OF SUBMISSIONS................................................................................................ 44 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND SBDO/LOCAL PREFERENCES .................................... 44 GENERAL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................... 44 INDEMNIFICATION .................................................................................................................. 45 GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE ................................................................................................. 46

APPENDICES (SEPARATE DOCUMENTS)

A. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

B. FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

C. COST SUMMARY FORMS

D. STAFF EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS


ATTACHMENTS (SEPARATE DOCUMENTS)

A. VENDOR QUESTIONNAIRE

B. CONFILCT OF INTEREST CERTIFICATE

C. APPLICATION FOR VENDOR STATUS

D. CUSTOMER REFERENCE FORMS

E. CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT

F. SWORN STATEMENT – NEW CONTRACTS

G. PROPOSAL IDENTIFICATION LABEL

H. PROPOSAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM


REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

THE DATES SHOWN BELOW ARE TENTATIVE AND ARE NOT BINDING AND MAY BE

SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

RFI DOCUMENT RELEASED JUNE 5, 2017

DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS DUE JUNE 8, 2017

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED JUNE 12, 2017

RFI DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS THURSDAY JUNE 21, 2017

BY NO LATER THAN

2:00 P.M. EST

INVITATION TO DEMO SOFTWARE SENT TO

SELECTED VENDORS

JUNE 27, 2017

VENDOR DEMONSTRATIONS OF SOFTWARE JULY 11 – 20, 2017

DUE DILIGENCE AND EVALUATION JULY 24 – 28, 2017

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND AWARD BY

SCHOOL BOARD - ESTIMATED

AUGUST 22, 2017

PROJECT START DATE – ESTIMATED SEPTEMBER 2017


NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE VENDORS

Invitation

The District is hereby inviting qualified vendors who have an interest in or are known to meet the

requirements of this RFI to submit a proposal in accordance with the policies, procedures, and

dates set forth herein.

All material submitted regarding this RFI becomes the property of the District and will only be

returned to the vendor at the District’s option.

The District reserves the right to withdraw this RFI at any time and for any reason and to issue

clarifications, modifications, and/or amendments it may deem appropriate.

Vendor Requirements

The selected vendor will be required to assume total responsibility for all services offered in this

proposal. The selected vendor will be considered the prime vendor and the sole point of contact

about all contractual matters.

The vendor warrants that it has full power and authority to grant the rights of its license agreement

to the District with respect to its program without consent of any other person or entity. The vendor

also warrants that neither the performance of the services by its company, nor the license to and

use by the District of its product and documentation will in any way constitute an infringement nor

other violation of any United States issued copyright, trade secret, trademark, patent, invention,

proprietary information, nondisclosure or other right of any third party.

The awarded vendor must maintain the required insurance and bonding, as specified, during the

installation. The awarded vendor shall be responsible for payment of any required taxes or fees

associated with the contract. The awarded vendor shall be responsible for assuring compliance with

all applicable codes and statutes and permitting requirements.

Inquiries

The vendor is responsible for clarifying any ambiguity, conflict, discrepancy, omission or error in the

RFI prior to submitting the proposal.

Inquiries concerning the content or subject of this RFI must be emailed to June Kail

([email protected] by June 8, 2017.

All inquiries regarding the project scope and specifications will be forwarded to the Director of

Applications, Technology & Information Services for review. Necessary modifications to the RFI will

be posted to the District website at http://www.leonschools.net/Page/4411 as an addendum by June

12, 2017.

Vendors are encouraged to check the website prior to finalizing responses to ensure any additional

requirements are incorporated into the submissions.

The RFI Response

All times listed in this RFI are stated as the time reference that is appropriate as of the date in

question for Tallahassee, FL {e.g., Eastern Standard Time (EST)}.

CLOSING DATE AND TIME

The original Vendor's proposal, submitted in response to this RFI, and signed by an officer of the

Vendor with contractually binding authority, must be received by Purchasing, 3397 W. Tharpe

Street, Tallahassee, FL 32303, 2:00 p.m., local time, Thursday, June 15, 2017.

If Proposals are hand delivered or delivered by a delivery service (i.e., UPS, Federal Express, or

private courier) they shall be delivered to the Leon County School Board, ATTN: June Kail,

Purchasing Director, 3397 W. Tharpe Street, Tallahassee, FL 32303.

The District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, to waive any irregularities and

technicalities and may, at its sole discretion, request a clarification or other information to evaluate

http://www.leonschools.net/Page/4411


any or all proposals. The District reserves the right to reject any and and/or all items proposed or

award to multiple Vendors. Prior to Board approval the District may cancel the RFI or portions

thereof, without penalty.

The District reserves the right, before awarding any contract, to require Vendor(s) to submit

evidence of qualifications or any other information the District may deem necessary.

The District, at its sole judgment, will award or reject any or all proposals as is in the best interest of the District and the decision shall be final.

Examination and Changes of RFI Documents

Vendor shall be solely responsible for examining the enclosed RFI documents, including any

Addenda issued during the Proposal period and for informing itself with respect to all conditions

which may in any way affect the amount, nature of the Proposal, or the performance of the services

in the event Vendor is selected.

Preparation of Proposal

The Vendor’s Proposal shall be formatted in accordance with Section IV: Proposal Format

Organization and Response. All Proposals shall be prepared by, and at the expense of, the

Vendor.

Vendors should not assume that their past and/or current experience with the District demonstrates

knowledge of the District’s current needs or that the Districts SIS Evaluation Committee possesses

knowledge of this experience. The evaluation of each Proposal will be based upon the evaluation

criteria applied to their Proposal submission.

Submission of Proposal/Period of Acceptance

Proposal shall be placed in an envelope or package and identified with the RFI number and the

name and address of the Vendor, please use the Proposal Identification Label provided in page

Attachment G.

Proposal Preparation

To ease comparability and enhance the review process, it is requested that proposals be organized

in the manner specified below. Failure to provide the required information will affect the evaluation

of the Proposal and may be grounds for disqualification. Responsive proposals should provide

straightforward, concise information that satisfies the requirements noted above. Expensive

bindings, color displays and the like are neither necessary nor desired. Emphasis should be placed

on skills and experience that respond to the needs of the District, the requirements of this RFI and

completeness and clarity of content.

Proposals should be mechanically bound (8.5 inch x 11 inch) pages printed (font size minimum 10

pt.) of on one side, including covers and dividers, and excluding financial information.

Required Information and Format

Proposals shall provide the required information in the following order and format. Failure to

provide the required information will affect the evaluation of the Proposal and may be grounds for

disqualification. Copies of the proposal signed by an authorized representative of the Vendor,

including name, title, address and telephone number of one individual who is the Vendor’s

designated representative.

Vendor shall submit the following documents/information:

RFI Cover Sheet of this RFI (Attachment G) and Proposal Acknowledge Form (Attachment

H) with an original signature of an agent authorized to bind the Vendor, title and all

requested information

Acknowledgment of any addenda


Statement setting forth the basis for protection of proprietary information, if any, as detailed

in the Disclosure section

All other requirements as requested in Section IV: Proposal Format Organization and

Response

Proposals should be prepared simply and economically with emphasis on specific experiences and

capability to perform work for similar government entities using a public procurement system.

It is the Vendor's sole responsibility to assure that its Proposal is received as stipulated. In

compliance with this RFI, the Vendor agrees to provide the services at the costs no higher than that

stipulated in its Proposal.

The District reserves the right to modify this RFI to be consistent with the successful Proposal and

to negotiate with the successful Vendor other modifications, if no such modifications give the

successful Vendor a competitive advantage.

The Vendor shall notify the District in writing if sub-Vendors will be used. The Vendor shall list that

portion of the work the sub-Vendor is to furnish or perform and assume complete responsibility for

the sub-vendor’s deliverables.

Award of Contract

Any contracts resulting from this RFI shall be awarded to the Vendor(s) whose proposal meets the

requirements of the RFI and is to the best advantage to the District, as established by the criteria

listed herein. Each category will be independently evaluated.

Disclosure of Proposal Content

A. All material submitted becomes the property of the District and may be returned only at the

District’s option. The District has the right to use any or all ideas presented in any reply to

this Request for Information. Selection or rejection of any Proposal does not affect this right.

B. The District is governed by the Public Record Law, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (F.S.).

Only trade secrets as defined in Section 812.081(1)(c), F.S. or financial statements required

by the District for road or public works projects as defined in 119.071(1)(c), F.S. (hereinafter

“Confidential Materials”), may be exempt from disclosure. If a Vendor submits Confidential

Materials, the information must be segregated, accompanied by an executed Non-Disclosure

Contract for Confidential Materials and each pertinent page must be clearly labeled

“confidential” or “trade secret.” The District will not disclose such Confidential Materials,

subject to the conditions detailed within the contract resulting from this RFI and the

successful Proposal, which is attached to this solicitation. When such segregated and

labeled materials are received with a mutually agreed executed contract, the District shall

execute the contract and send the Vendor a “Receipt for Trade Secret Information.”

PROVIDE THE APPROPIATE FORMS IF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS ARE BEING INCLUDED

IN THE PROPOSAL. PLEASE READ THE SECTION IN THE RFI DOCUMENT TO DETERMINE IF

THIS APPLIES. THE CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS WILL ONLY BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE

SIS SOFTWARE SELECTION TASK FORCE FOR THE DURATION OF THE RFI EVALUATION

PERIOD. THEREFORE, THE EVALUATION OF THIS MATERIAL WILL BE LIMITED TO THAT

TIME ONLY.

Phasing Requirements

The installation of the goods, training, and services described in this RFI must be phased and

scheduled to coincide with the District’s operational needs and based upon the software Vendor’s

best recommendations and practice.

The District anticipates going live for the start of the 2018-2019 school year, as such, activities such

as planning, requirements gathering, gap analysis, data conversion and training such be phased

and scheduled accordingly and realistically.


RFI Finalist Selection Process

Proposals from qualified Vendors will be evaluated by the District. Selected Vendors will be sent an

invitation to travel to the District to participate in scripted demonstrations of their proposed solution.

Selected vendors will be notified and provided the scripts and rules for the demonstrations once

evaluations are concluded.


I. INTRODUCTION AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The School Board of Leon County is interested in identifying an innovative and effective solution

to meet its enterprise Student Information System (SIS) and implementation needs. It will be

critical for the SIS to allow the District the flexibility to adapt to any new informational needs and

workflow processes that may be required.

The District intends to select a final Vendor and negotiate a contract in August 2017 and begin

implementation in September 2017. The District is anticipating a 12-month implementation

period for core student system functionality. Additionally, the District is expecting all other SIS

functionality to be fully implemented or integrated within 36 months of the initial project launch.

The School Board of Leon County is interested in soliciting proposals from qualified providers of

K-12 student systems whose product offering meets or exceeds current District requirements

and whose complete product offering provides a robust solution set that will allow the District to

continue to leverage this investment well into the future as the needs of the District continue to

grow and evolve.

This selection process will engage users of student data from across the schools and District

offices to review available and scalable student information solutions. These users will evaluate

the solution’s capabilities to meet the functional and technical requirements outlined in this RFI,

along with evaluating the Vendor’s ability to enable the District’s long-term vision of an

integrated data ecosystem centered on the student.

The District intends to implement a Vendor-hosted solution through an ASP or SaaS licensing

model and will not consider a traditional District-hosted solution. The District is requesting

proposals to include detailed information regarding the Vendors hosting and licensing options. If

multiple solutions are proposed, please include a separate pricing form for each

hosting/licensing model.

The software module listing on the following pages depicts the solution set of software that the

District is considering for purchase as part of this solicitation as follows:

1. Core Modules – The District intends on replacing the current modules in their existing

SIS software as part of this project.

2. Expanded Modules – Represents a new module that is being considered as part of this

project.

3. Implementation Services – Services the District anticipates the selected Vendor will

provide during the system implementation process.

The District anticipates that Vendors shall propose a complete software solution, including

hosting, software and the related implementation services.

Core Modules

Registration and Enrollment Attendance

Scheduling Health

Discipline Florida State Reporting

Exceptional Student Education Grading

Grade Book Guidance

Parent \ Student Portal Teacher Portal

Expanded Modules

Online Registration Document Management

Workflow Fee Management

Implementation Services


Project Management

Software Installation and Hardware Design/Install Coordination (3rd party apps if applicable)

Software Modifications

Testing

Data Conversion

Knowledge Transfer to Staff

Report Development System Documentation Development

Integration and Interface Development Ongoing Support and Maintenance Services

Implementation and Training Services Operational Process Redesign

Additional details and descriptions related to the specifics of the expected scope can be found in Section III, Sub-section 3: Project Scope.


II. BACKGROUND

Introduction

This section provides information on the District’s organizational structure, and the educational

services provided by the various departments, programs and schools. In addition, information

provided is focused on the overall expectations for the Student Information System, as well as

the District’s specific needs. It also describes existing services, issues, and infrastructure that

the District expects the Vendor to address and incorporate into their solution. Additionally,

included are some of the issues that need to be considered when migrating from the District’s

current Student Information System to the new system.

The School Board of Leon County, Florida

There are five members that make up the Leon County School Board. All five are elected from

the single district which they represent, where each must reside in that district; and one is

selected and serves as the Chair of the School Board.

Mission

The mission of the Leon County School Board is to prepare students to become responsible,

respectful, independent learners equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary to compete

in our global society.

Vision

The Leon County School Board offers an engaging, safe and respectful learning environment

that embraces change and produces successful learners who value diversity and are

conscientious contributors to our society.

The School Board of Leon County has approximately 33,000 students and employs 2,274

instructional personnel, 505 district personnel, and 1,450 support personnel. The District has

forty-eight (48) school and program sites. These include one preschool, twenty-four elementary

(24) (PreK-5), nine (9) middle school (6-8), six (6) high school (9-12), one (1) career & technical

education center and six (6) special district wide program centers for specific populations of all

ages and ability levels.

For bylaws and further factual and statistical information describing the Leon County School

Board please visit our website at: http://www.leonschools.net

Current Student Information System Environment

The District purchased and implemented its current enterprise Student Information System

(SIS), “Genesis” by Heartland Data Systems, during school year 2001–2002 and went live with

all District schools in August 2003. The District purchased and implemented the District grade

book system “Pinpoint”, by HMH during 2012 and went live with all teachers in August 2012.

These two systems have been closely integrated since 2012 with data transferring both ways to

meet certain functional requirements of grading, attendance and a parent student portal.

The Genesis SIS is the system of record for all critical electronic student information and

records, including enrollment and demographic data, classroom and daily attendance records,

grades and academic achievement records, course and subject assignments, high school

credits and transcripts, health information, parental and emergency contacts, and special

program details. The SIS is regularly used by all secretaries, clerks, counselors, librarians and

nurses, as well as school-based and central office administrators.

The SIS has been highly customized by the District. Data entry pages and panels have been

developed and implemented to meet various data collection requirements, business functions

and process workflows. Examples include District Promotion Standards, Attendance Policies,

Grading Policies and Course Offerings. Additionally, the District has developed custom

application DLLS and database triggers on some areas to facilitate data entry, process flow and

enforce data integrity.

http://www.leonschools.net/


The current SIS has come to the end of its useful life. It has been identified as a hindrance to the

District in terms of transactional efficiency and effectiveness, service delivery quality, and

adaptability to new educational delivery paradigms, (e.g. non-standard calendars, multiple

scheduling models, various grading methods, etc.). There is no viable upgrade path for the

existing system.

Applications Portfolio

The District has a full complement of systems required of a medium sized school district.

However, the District does not currently have a complete, integrated SIS as envisioned by the

state of Florida. It does however perform several the same functions through a variety of

applications as summarized in the following chart.

Table 1. Applications Portfolio

Application Description

Heartland Genesis

SIS

Student Information System currently being used throughout the District. Genesis

runs on Windows Server 2012 and relational database management system

(RDMS) is MS SQL Server.

Report cards for grades K-12 are produced directly out of Genesis.

Genesis has been highly customized for the District over the years by Heartland

Data System. This includes changes and updates for FL DOE state reporting and

any other FL DOE mandated changes.

The need for Genesis would be eliminated with the implementation of a new SIS

that meets the District’s requirements.

Skyward School

Business Suite

System of record for Finance, Payroll and Human Resources. Those systems are

not being replaced under this RFI. The new student system must be able to

interface with the existing Skyward SBS module where the two systems share

information about teacher/staff certification, professional development and cost

reporting.

Pinpoint Grade

Book

from Global Scholar, is used to record student grades and take attendance

throughout the District. Student and teacher schedule data is exported out of

GENESIS and imported into the Pinpoint grade book each day. Attendance data

is downloaded from the grade book and posted into GENESIS daily. Grades are

downloaded and posted into GENESIS each night. Primary grade-level report

cards are produced directly out of GENESIS each quarter. Secondary grade-level

report cards are produced out of GENESIS each quarter. Parent Access is the

parent system which delivers grade and attendance information through a secure

portal. Parent Access is an integrated module of Pinpoint.

The need for the Pinpoint Grade Book would be eliminated with the

implementation of a new SIS that meets the District’s requirements.

Focus SIS

from Focus School Systems, is the postsecondary system used by the District for

Adult Education and Workforce Development. Focus will continue to be used by

the District and will not be replaced. It is expected that the Vendor integrate with

this system to provide functionality for the smooth transition of District student to

post-secondary education.

PCS from School-link Technologies (SL-Tech), is the food service system used

throughout the District for Point-of-sales at the cafeterias. Basic student data is

exported from GENESIS SIS and is used to populate this system. Free and

reduced lunch information about students is exported from PCS and posted into


GENESIS. This system will continue to be used with the new SIS. There is no

real-time integration between this system and GENESIS.

Edulog from Education Logistics Inc., is Transportation’s bus routing and scheduling

system. Data is exported from GENESIS and used to populate this system. Any

data for FL DOE state reporting related to FTE is manually entered during survey

processing. There is no real-time access between this system and GENESIS.

Routing information from Edulog is manually entered.

This system will continue to be used with the new SIS.

Destiny from Follett Software Company, is the Library Management system that is used

throughout the District. Data is exported from Genesis and used to populate this

system. This system will continue to be used with the new SIS.

Mass

Communication

from Blackboard, is the call-out system used throughout the District. For

attendance purposes, each school takes period or daily absence data and

populates a web page in the system to initiate a call-out to the student’s parents or

guardians. Student and staff data is exported from GENESIS and populated in

Blackboard for initializing the system in preparation of a call-out process for any

purpose, but there is no real-time access with Blackboard and Pinpoint for

populating the daily absence call-out. This system will continue to be used with

the new SIS.

A3

the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) System used by the District. Student

data is electronically loaded nightly. IEP information from A3 is manually entered

in Genesis. The need for A3 would be eliminated with the implementation of a new

SIS that meets the District’s requirements. If the new SIS does not meet the

requirements, then the District will use the PEER system from FLDOE. The new

SIS would need to interface with PEER.

The functional requirements related to ESE for the new SIS are listed on the FL

DOE web site. The SIS must satisfy all FL DOE state reporting requirements

which requires that it maintain those data elements defined in the “Exceptional

Student Reporting Format” of the FL DOE’s web site, which as of April 2017 was:

http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/database-manuals-updates/2016-17-

student-info-system/index.stml

Educators

Handbook

used throughout the district to track referrals and behavior incidents. SESIR

related incidents are electronically transferred to Genesis nightly. The need for the

Educators Handbook would be eliminated with the implementation of a new SIS

that meets the District’s requirements.

Performance

Matters

used throughout the District for the entry and collection of assessment data. Once

collected leadership can tailor data to drive better decision making. This system

will continue to be used in the new system.

Educator from UCompass is the District’s LMS that is used exclusively at the district’s Virtual

School. The student and staff data is sent nightly to Educator. This system will be

replaced by a yet to be selected LMS.

Enterprise Data

Warehouse EDW

The District’s Enterprise Data Warehouse was developed in-house and is the

primary resource for providing student data to district user community. Data from

GENESIS is used to populate a MS SQL Server 2012 database nightly

functional Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) allowing users to authenticate

through active directory and access several parameter-driven reports written

exclusively in SQL Server Reporting Services (SRSS), currently there is no direct

http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/database-manuals-updates/2016-17-student-info-system/index.stml

http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/database-manuals-updates/2016-17-student-info-system/index.stml


user access to the database beyond TIS Data Services staff. When the new SIS is

implemented, it will require re-writing the interfaces, mapping the data elements

from the new SIS to the ODS, and populating the data on a nightly basis. The ODS

and eventual EDW will continue to be a vital part of the District’s information

systems after the new SIS is implemented.

Various

Instructional

Applications

Student, teacher and course data is exported nightly to various instructional

applications. The nightly export is to address movement of students across the

district to make sure that the student is presented with and has access to the

appropriate instructional applications. Interfaces to these systems must be

maintained in the new SIS.

Student Information System Vision

The District vision for the new SIS is to provide access to accurate, timely, and meaningful student data for all stakeholders (students, parents, staff, and community) for enhancing student achievement and creating life-long learners. The District envisions a new SIS that will provide efficient and effective technology support to classrooms, schools and administrative offices; aimed at improving data quality and decreasing administrative burden (e.g. eliminate double entry due to disparate data systems).


Registration &

Enrollment

Attendance

Scheduling

Gradebook

DisciplineFlorida State

Reporting

Grading, Report

Card &TranscriptESE

Student Health

Student

Guidance

Core SIS

Functionality

Access Laptop or

Computer

Tablet Mobile

Phone

Browser /

Web

Business

Processes

StakeholdersSchool-Based Student CommunityDistrict-BasedUsers

Portal(s) for Administrators, Teachers, Students, Parents

Authentication / Single Sign On

Sys

tem

Inte

gra

tions

LMS

Automated

Workflows

Ad-Hoc

Reporting

Shared /

Enabling

Extract Transform Load (ETL)

Document

Management

Stores

District EDWSIS DB District ODS

Data

Dashboard

CurriculumAssessment

MTSS


SIS Implementation Roadmap

The District envisions that the implementation of a fully integrated student data ecosystem could

take years. While this RFI is focused on the core SIS components of the solution, preference will

be given to vendors who align with District’s long-term vision. Listed below is a sample of the

functional roadmap the District envisions with traditional core SIS components in the bottom

row:

Figure 2: SIS Functional Roadmap

District Resources

During the Project, the District is responsible for providing and ensuring the committed and

timely participation of District resources required during each phase, including the following:

Title Roles and Responsibilities

Executive Sponsor Responsible for providing strategic direction to the Vendor team

regarding the District’s business objectives.

Responsible for the overall coordination and execution of District work

during this engagement, as related to user, technical, and management

interests. The Executive Sponsor will ensure the committed participation

of all appropriate personnel during this effort in work sessions, status

meetings and reviews.

District Project Manager Responsible for the oversight and activities of all the work streams of the

project. Will be the primary contact for the vendor.


Technical Leads

Knowledgeable and committed technical resources responsible for

gaining knowledge regarding maintenance and support of the application

and database architecture.

Business Process Owners Responsible for providing the Vendor with process and content

knowledge related to District business functions and operational

requirements as they relate to this engagement.

Key Stakeholders

(“Subject Matter Experts”)

Responsible for representing the key functional areas of the proposed

system within their business domain. Responsible for assessing the

impact of the proposed system within their business unit and escalating

any negative impacts or concerns.

Power Users (“Cohorts”) Responsible for providing Vendor with knowledge of the District business

processes; participation and feedback during Integrated testing; and

delivering the training (train-the-trainer) to District end users.

Technology & Information

Services (T&IS)

Knowledgeable and committed technical resources to provide technical

expertise on legacy infrastructure and systems.

Project Management Office

(PMO)

Responsible for the oversight and management of Project Managers and

Business Analysts and coordination of acceptance and approval of

artifacts, deliverables and change requests. PMO also participates in

review of said artifacts, deliverables and change requests.

Business Solutions Manger Responsible for overall product. Is an approver on said artifacts,

deliverables and change requests


III. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Pre-qualification Requirements

The Pre-Qualification Requirements represent those items that must be addressed in a

satisfactory manner for the proposal to be considered responsive and merit further evaluation by

the RFI Proposal Evaluation Committee.

1. Vendor must provide a detailed, (3) three-year product development plan. The plan

should include:

Future technical development activities and timelines;

Future enhancements to existing product functionality and timelines;

Future development of new product functionality and timelines.

2. Vendor solution must be in full production at a minimum of five (5) K-12 school districts,

with at least three (3) representing Florida K-12 school districts.

3. Vendor must have successfully submitted State of Florida DOE reporting for at least two

(2) years.

4. Vendor must have successfully completed a SIS software implementation in a Florida K-

12 school district with an enrollment of at least 25,000 students within the last 2 years

5. Vendor must propose a hosting solution that meets the District's minimum technical

architecture standards to merit further consideration.

6. Vendor solution must not require any client installed components including but not limited

to Flash.

General Requirements

The primary goal of this project is to replace the current SIS Information System which will

support the needs of all District personnel with an integrated, enterprise web-enabled system

that is vendor hosted and centrally managed. The new SIS will be configured around an

enterprise relational database with the capacity to support the District’s needs for the

foreseeable future (ten-years minimum). A key focus of the new system is its flexibility to meet

current and future needs of the District with minimal Vendor custom programming.

The new SIS must address the District needs detailed in the functional requirements

specifications detailed in Appendix A – SIS Functional Requirements and Appendix B – SIS

Technical Requirements.

The new SIS must feed the District’s enterprise data warehouse (EDW) through nightly

exports. The data warehouse is the central repository of not only data from the SIS, but all

other silos of data throughout the District, enabling users to access all the data they need

from one place. All the functionality and reports available in EDW will not be affected by the

replacement of SIS if data can be mapped from the new SIS to the same destination files in

EDW that the current SIS uses.

The new SIS must interface with the external systems that have been detailed in Section IV,

Sub-section 4.6: Integrations and Interfaces. These interfaces are in one of two categories:

(1) data exports designed for import into the external system (2) direct access of the SIS

tables for read and write access.

Training and professional development will be provided to administrators, faculty, the District

users, support personnel, and other staff to ensure the timely implementation and effective

use of the new system.

There must be a proven method for providing timely user and technical support.

Selection of the new SIS will consider not only purchase price, but also life-cycle costs

associated with maintenance, support, and training as well as being the best system for the

District.


Ease of use — by incorporating an easy-to-use user interface (including graphics, speech,

animation, and video as they evolve), the system must enable users to solve many problems

themselves.

Reliability/availability — the system must minimize hardware and software failure so people

will have the confidence to rely on it. Backup/Restore functions must not interrupt the District

users.

Maintainability — when problems occur or software upgrades are needed, support must be

available from a central location. SIS software upgrades must require little or no down time

and must be performed per the schedule of the District.

Supportability — to coordinate support when assistance is necessary, support staff must

have access to information regarding all previously reported problems and their solutions.

Project Scope

The requested proposal is for the procurement, implementation and support of a

comprehensive, fully integrated, operational Student Information System (SIS) that will meet the

information needs of the district over the next ten years. The District desires a single software

system to handle core SIS processing, and to replace as many additional student-related

systems as possible.

The District will be procuring a turnkey Student Information System, including all software,

hosting, hardware, training and implementation support. The District seeks a solution that

provides all the resources necessary for successful deployment, adoption and ongoing support.

The Vendor must fully enumerate all one-time and recurring resources, costs and requirements

that would be assumed either partially or fully by the District in terms of procurement and

support.

There are four (4) areas of services being procured through this RFI. They include:

1. Functional Services - Provide software to support functional requirements and operational

processes critical to the daily operation of schools

2. Technical Services - Provides SaaS hosting services

3. Implementation Services - Provide access to staff and/or project teams with the specialized

skills required to address the implementation needs of the District

4. Support Services – Provide ongoing operational support and SDLC services to include but

not limited to change management, incident management, unit testing, deployment and

performance tuning.

Each of these areas are described in the sections below.

Functional Services Scope

The proposed solution must meet or exceed all the Business/Functional Requirements

outlined in Appendix B: Functional Requirements of the RFI package. The requirements

listed, while thorough, are only for information purposes. The proposal is for a

comprehensive solution that meets the actual needs of various District stakeholders.

Detailed functional requirements must be elicited as part of a “Gap-Analysis” by the

Vendor during the Blueprint/Design Phase of the project. The Vendor must add/customize

the solution to meet District requirements to the satisfaction of stakeholders, whenever

there is a gap between available features/functionalities of the standard system vs. District

requirements.

There are 10 core functions that are included as part of the scope of this RFI, depicted

below. At a minimum the new SIS must include the major “Core: functional areas and any

items designated “Must” in Appendix B: Functional Requirements of the RFI package.


Within and across these core functions, the solution scope of work should enable the

following needs of students, users and administrators. This is intended to highlight critical

users’ expectations and requirements. It is anticipated that Vendor will include screen shots

of their product where it can help evaluators understand their response.

1. Support the multiple school structures and maintain the independence and flexibility

of District schools. The solution should provide configuration options for individual

schools in the following areas: student scheduling options, teacher and staff

assignment options, grading options, GPA calculations, attendance options, course

options, calendaring/extended days, and Summer School options.

2. Support users to understand a student’s story with ease. The solution should provide

a student profile that intuitively displays: current and historical data, student

performance, attendance, demographic data, State test/assessment data, and which

captures student interests and needs.

3. Monitor students and data through administrative, intervention, and instructional

lenses. The solution should have automated logic, clear workflows and handoffs, and

triggers that support users while they perform critical tasks related to: track special

populations, track student participation in programs/grants, comply with federal and

State requirements, support student mobility and school transitions (internal or

external), trigger alerts to improve coordination, and correlate student indicators

(discipline, grades, attendance).

4. Provide a complete view of student attendance in support of both Average Daily

Attendance requirements and school tracking methods, including: attendance

tracking over time, correlations analysis with student performance, truancy processes

and procedures.

5. Automate workflow and process controls, including: processes both within schools

and across schools, replace paper-based processes, provide clear handoffs,

auditing, transaction logging, time stamping, accommodate document attachments.

6. Reduce time consuming back-end processes, including: master scheduling,

maintenance — currently highly customized and complicated scripts for year-end

processes.

7. Provide access on-the-go in a mobile-friendly, responsively designed interface

across all workflows in the SIS, including: parent/student data access across

platforms, mobility for the classroom.

8. Support the whole student: Track services provided to students and families, provide

for confidentiality of sensitive student data, improve care coordination with providers

and school staff.

In evaluating the proposed solutions, the District will pay attention to the features and

functions that address the overall usability of the product for all district stakeholders. The

quality of the user experience will be a critical factor in the selection process. In the written

response vendors, should describe how their product has been designed to offer full

Registration &

Enrollment

Attendance

Scheduling

Gradebook

Discipline

Florida State

Reporting

Grading, Report

Card &Transcript

ESE Health

GuidanceCore SIS

Functionality


functionality in combination with ease of use. Additionally, vendors should also clearly

describe the reporting capabilities of the system such as built-in reports, ad hoc reports,

state reporting, data base queries, and custom reports development. The goal is to enable

all system users to perform efficiently and effectively in their roles serving students, parents,

teachers and other stakeholders.

Technical Services Scope

The District is only interested in a turnkey solution, including all software, hosting,

hardware and support, with appropriate provisions for the district to host the SIS at some

point in the future if necessary. The Vendor is responsible for all software and hardware

support and provisioning of the solution. In this context, support includes, but is not limited

to, software patches and upgrades, OS licensure, maintenance, backups, monitoring,

security, compliance etc.

The vendor must provide information regarding the hosting facility, including hosting

company name, contact person, contact number, and any service level agreements that

exist between the respective companies. See Section IV, Sub-section 3.2: Response to

Technical Requirements and Appendix A: Technical Requirements for additional

requirements.

In addition to the requirements detailed in Appendix A: Technical Requirements of the RFI

package, The District expects the responding proposer to describe the technology

components of the proposed solution in plain terms, both graphically and in narrative form.

Implementation Services Scope

The District seeks a solution that provides all the resources necessary for successful

deployment and adoption. Considering the District’s current-state environment of student

data systems, the District seeks the Vendors’ insight and expertise in creating a

recommendation for its implementation approach and phasing relative to the scope of

functionality and technology being implemented. The District would like Vendors to

consider the sequencing of implementation phases and activities, as well as any core

assumptions your response is based on, and factors that would materially affect the

duration of the implementation.

Vendors should clearly and succinctly describe their relevant implementation support

services (i.e., services provided during the implementation activities prior to go-live) and

provide implementation service cost and rate information in the Pricing Response section,

as instructed. Implementation services should include, but not be limited to: business

change management, communications program development and execution, stakeholder

engagement, and management and cultural change management.

Preference will be given to Vendors that provide a comprehensive implementation

approach with stakeholder engagement throughout the implementation which addresses

specific issues related to the District’s multiple and diverse stakeholder environment.

Support Services Scope

The District seeks comprehensive ongoing support services to include, tiered problem

resolution, software enhancements and configuration management.

System Scalability and Performance

The SIS must be scalable and able to process concurrent user transactions within acceptable

industry response times for similar types of transactions. Response time is defined as the

interval from the time a user sends a transaction to the time a visual confirmation of transaction

completion is received. The response times below are to be met under normal workload

conditions, including peak periods where most District offices and schools are performing similar


functions within the same short time (such as attendance accounting, student data inquiries, and

grade reporting and printing).

As a condition of the District’s acceptance testing procedure, response time for the new SIS will

be tested and measured by District’s technical staff.

The new system will be deemed satisfactory and acceptable if the following minimum response

time criteria have been met:

Unique transactions that the SIS is capable of performing must exhibit 5-second or less

response time. The SIS itself (using the proposed Vendor recommended database

platform, web server, and hardware) should be able to generate a basic web page within

1 to 3 seconds, given the specified load.

A database query could take up to five (5) seconds. The Vendor will be expected to

guarantee performance of their solution.

The field to field on-screen data entry response time will be less than .5 seconds

Specific exceptions will be made for complex functions such as generating a complex

search. For any specific functions that inherently require longer response times than the

range above, the Vendor must itemize these functions and state the anticipated

response times (with accompanying reasons) in the Vendor’s Proposal. The itemized

information must be available and clearly discussed in the Proposal as set forth in

Section 5 of the RFI.

Any other conditions or exceptions to the metrics stated in the above paragraphs must

be identified by the Vendor in the Proposal. These response time requirements are

intended to insure application usability and acceptable performance from a user’s

perspective.

Data Query and Reporting Facilities

The SIS reporting and query capabilities should allow for a wide variety of report types including

summary, detail, forms, drill down, as well as allowing for fast and easy report creation using

report wizards that easily integrate with Microsoft Office products and other third party

applications, such as Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). The District’s current

standard is Microsoft Office 2013 Professional for administrative users. Queries and reports

must be able to be “pushed” to users by role on a scheduled basis.


IV. PROPOSAL FORMAT ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSE

To maintain comparability and enhance the review process, proposals shall be organized in the

sequence shown below and shall include all the elements and information described in the

following sections:

Proposal Form

A. See Submittal Requirements for complete details.

It is not necessary to return every page of this document with the Proposal; return only the

pages that require signatures or information.

B. Vendors should submit one (1) original and five (5) printed copies of their proposal to

the Issuing Office. Vendor shall also submit five (5) electronic copies (flash-drive) of

their proposal with their response each containing the final RFI response in both Word

and PDF formats. The Appendix A –Technical Requirements, Appendix B – Functional

Requirements must be submitted in MS Excel format.

Note solicitation number and name of company on the flash-drive. Appendix C: Cost Summary

Forms should be provided in a separate, sealed envelope.

If confidential materials are submitted, such confidential materials shall not be included on the

master flash-drive. Confidential materials shall be segregated on a separate flash-drive, plainly

labeled “Confidential Materials”.

RFI Closing Date and Time

RFIs may be delivered up to but not later than 2:00 p.m., local time, June 22, 2017 to:

The School Board of Leon County, Florida

Attn: June Kail, Purchasing Director

3397 W. Tharpe St.

Tallahassee, Florida 32303

Proposals must be submitted on 8-1/2 x 11 white paper and shall include a table of contents

properly indicating the section and page number of the information included. Elaborate bindings

or other presentation aids are not required and will not enhance the overall evaluation of the

proposal. Three ring binder submittals are preferred, but will not affect scoring.

All responses must include the Proposal Identification Label. The cover sheet should include

the names, addresses and telephone numbers for the Vendor, authorized contact persons,

authorized signatures (i.e., the owner or other responsible person of the District), the nearest

regional office and members of the Vendor's proposal team.

Vendors may recite the contents of this RFI in their proposal. However, in the event there is a

discrepancy between this RFI (including subsequent addenda) and the RFI language included in

Vendor's proposal, the language of this RFI and its addenda shall prevail.

Proposals should be prepared simply and economically with emphasis on specific experiences

and capability to perform work for similar government entities using a public procurement

system.

The proposal should be organized as follows:

Tab Section Title

0 RFI Exceptions and Deviations

Proposal Certification Form

Addenda

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary


Terms and Conditions

Assumptions and Constraints

Subcontracting

Pending Litigation

Other Notable Items

2 Firm Qualifications

2.1 Firm History and Background

2.2 Firm Required Financial Information

2.3 Customer References

2.4 Project Team Organization

2.5 Project Team Experience and Proposed Staffing

3 Proposed Solution

3.1 Response to Software Requirements

3.2 Response to Technical Requirements

3.3 Proposed Solution Approach

3.3.1 Approach to Meeting SIS Requirements

3.3.2 Approach to Interfacing with Other District Mission-Critical Applications

3.3.3 Approach to the District and Florida DOE State Reporting

3.4 Security Strategy

3.4.1 Background on Security Architecture

3.4.2 Security Architecture

3.4.3 Managing Security

3.4.4 Software Licensing

4 Implementation Plan

4.1 General Implementation

4.2 Project Management Approach

4.2.1 Leadership

4.2.2 Project and Value Management

4.2.3 Resource Management

4.2.4 Risk Management Approach

4.2.5 Change Management Approach

4.2.6 Issues Management Approach

4.2.7 Quality Management Approach

4.2.8 Knowledge Transfer Approach

4.2.9 Communication Plan

4.3 Implementation Work Plan

4.4 Data Conversion Plan

4.5 Report Development

4.6 Integrations and Interfaces

4.7 Training and Professional Development

4.8 Testing

4.8.1 Unit Testing

4.8.2 Systems and Integration Testing

4.8.3 User Acceptance Testing

4.9 Operational Process Redesign

4.10 System Documentation and Manuals

4.11 Disaster Recovery Plan

4.12 Knowledge Transfer

5 Ongoing Support Services

5.1 Support

5.2 Product Enhancement

5.3 User Community

5.4 Compliance Reporting


6 Staff Experience and Qualifications (Appendix D)

7 Attachments

A VENDOR QUESTIONNAIRE

B CONFILCT OF INTEREST CERTIFICATE

C APPLICATION FOR VENDOR STATUS

D CUSTOMER REFERENCE FORMS

E CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT

F SWORN STATEMENT – NEW CONTRACTS

G PROPOSAL IDENTIFICATION LABEL

H PROPOSAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM

8 SIS – Total Cost Summary Forms Instructions

8.1 Student Information System Vendor Hosted Total Cost Summary (Cost

Form 1)

8.2 Student Information System Installation Services (Cost Form 2)

8.3 Student Information System Training Services (Cost Form 3)

8.4 Vendor Hourly Rates (Cost Form 4)

Instructions relative to each part of the response to this RFI are defined in the remainder of this section.

RFI Exceptions and Deviations (Tab 0)

Please list any exceptions to the District’s RFI or terms and conditions or document(s) related to

this RFI. For each exception, list proposed alternative language. Also, please provide

alternative language to better protect the goals and interests of the District, and to provide for a

turnkey implementation of the SIS. Identify any problematic gaps between any contemplated

contracts.

Proposal Certification Form

Include the RFI Cover Sheet (Attachment “G”) of this RFI with an original signature of an agent

authorized to bind the Vendor, title and all requested information.

Addenda

The Vendor must attach any addenda to this RFI that it has received, indicating the addenda

number and the date issued. Any changes to the RFI will be issued as an addendum and

transmitted electronically as stated herein.

Table of Contents

The table of contents shall clearly identify the material by section and by page number.

Executive Summary (Tab 1)

The executive summary shall summarize the contents of the technical proposal in a way that

gives readers a broad understanding of the entire proposal and must contain the following.

Terms and Conditions - A statement that the Vendor understands and shall comply with all

terms and conditions of the RFI (including the General Conditions). If a Vendor does not plan to

comply with one or more of the terms or conditions of the RFI, this must be stated; all exceptions

must be listed and fully described.

Assumptions or Constraints - A statement on whether the Proposal contains any assumptions or

constraints and must also identify and describe each such assumption and constraint. If neither

assumptions nor constraints are included in the Proposal, a statement to that effect must be

made.


Subcontracting - A statement that the products and services of the proposed solution shall be

provided solely by the Vendor or whether a subcontractor(s) shall assist. The Vendor’s use of

subcontractor(s) requires the prior written approval of the District.

Pending Litigation - The Vendor shall disclose any pending litigation to which they are a party,

including the disclosure of any outstanding judgment. If applicable, please explain how litigation

may materially impact the Vendor or the Vendor’s ability to fully perform and complete the terms

of this RFI.

Other Notable Items - The Vendor shall disclose any other items of note that may have material

impact the Vendor or the Vendor’s ability to fully perform and complete the terms of this RFI.

Firm Qualifications (Tab 2)

The purpose of this section is to provide the District with the ability to verify the experience and

knowledge claims made in the Proposal by the Vendor and to assess the Vendor's prior record

in providing services to other organizations. If the vendor’s Proposal involves the use of any

subcontractor, where the subcontractor's project involvement exceeds ten percent (10%) of the

Proposal Total Cost amount, the subcontractor must also comply with the Vendor qualifications

requirements identified in the following sections:

Firm History and Background

Firm Required Financial Information

Customer References

Project Team Experience and Proposed Staffing

In the event the Vendor elects to engage the participation of a sub-contractor, the District retains

the right to approve the selection of the sub-contractor and the proposed role that the Vendor

shall fulfill under this contract.

Vendors are advised that the information and responses to this section will assist the District in

determining the vendor’s financial viability and its commitment to the proposed Student

Information System.

Firm History and Background (Section 2.1)

Please describe the Vendor’s corporate background and experience. Specifically address your

corporate history and experience in developing, installing and supporting Student Information

System software for school districts whose needs and size are comparable to those of the

District. The District is particularly interested in your experiences and success in the State of

Florida.

The Vendor must provide the following information:

1. General information about the Vendor's organization.

2. Identification whether the firm is the prime Vendor or subcontractor on this project.

3. Date established.

4. Corporate office location.

5. Licenses & Certifications.

6. Documentation from the appropriate state’s department confirming firm’s legal entity type

(i.e. sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, corporation, Limited

Liability Corporation, etc.). For non-Florida businesses submit documentation from the

state in which the business was formed and documentation from the state of Florida

providing authorization to perform business in the state of Florida.

7. Federal Identification Number of firm.

8. Ownership interests.


9. Active Business venues (counties, states, etc.).

10. Present status and projected direction of business.

11. Number of technical and service staff available to support installation, training,

documentation, and maintenance efforts.

12. Number of technical staff devoted to new product development and/or enhancements to

current Local Instructional Improvement System and Student Information System

products.

Firm Required Financial Information (Section 2.2)

The Vendor must provide the following financial information.

1. Dunn & Bradstreet number and report, if available.

2. Annual Report for the last year.

3. Statement of Income and Retained Earnings for the last two fiscal years OR Balance Sheet

for the last two fiscal years OR Opinions concerning financial statements from a Certified

Public Accountant for the last two years, as applicable.

4. Statement of Changes in Financial Position for the last two years, as applicable.

5. The Vendor must identify each lawsuit against the Vendor, or any affiliate, subsidiary,

sister corporation, holding company, or owner of an interest of 10% or more in the Vendor,

and against the chief executive officer or president, treasurer, any executive vice president

or the corporate secretary during the ten-year term immediately preceding the date on

which the Proposal is submitted. For each lawsuit identified, please explain the nature of

the lawsuit and how it was resolved. If it is still pending, please identify whether a trial date

has been set. Also, identify where the lawsuit is pending and in which court. For purposes

of this section, the term “lawsuit” means any action filed in a state court, a federal court,

and any administrative District litigation and arbitration.

Customer References (Section 2.3)

The District is looking for the Vendor to demonstrate its experience with school districts

comparable in size to the District, as well as their experience with specific implementations in

the state of Florida. Please provide at least three (3) State of Florida references for the SIS with

the current software fully implemented and a student enrollment of 25,000 students or more.

Please do not provide references for customers using a product other than the one you are

proposing.

The customer references submitted must be active State of Florida contracts/customers. The

customer references must be organizations whose business processes are like or exceed those

performed by the District in terms of functionality and complexity; a customer that can

demonstrate that they meet all the Florida Department of Education state reporting requirements

using the proposed SIS software system.

For each reference, the Vendor shall provide the following information on the form provided in

Attachment D: Customer Reference Forms.

1. Customer name.

2. Customer address.

3. Current telephone number and fax number of a customer employee most familiar with

the project along with their email address for reference verification.

4. Time frame over which each project was completed.

5. List of products installed and in production.

6. Number of students in the school district.


In addition, for each of the proposed products (SIS) please list the number of customers the

Vendor has in Florida as well as the number of customers in other states indicating with an

asterisk those customers over 30,000 students.

The District reserves the right the contact any employee of the reference for verification of

experience.

Project Team Organization (Section 2.4)

Within the proposal, the Vendor must provide an organizational chart of their proposed project

team. The organization chart should include the Vendor’s and the District resources anticipated

to be required to provide the District an understanding as to how the Vendor envisions utilizing

its and the District’s resources.

The Vendor must provide a team to perform the scope outlined in Section III, Sub-section 3:

Project Scope. The Vendor’s team must have an ongoing on-site presence with core resources

dedicated to performing the tasks outlined in the “to-be” agreed upon Work Plan. The Vendor

must also have the capability to add staff with deep knowledge of the implemented technology

to support major enhancements/upgrades in a timely manner.

Project Team Experience and Proposed Staffing (Section 2.5)

Within the proposal, the Vendor must define the roles and responsibilities of each of its assigned

staff. In addition, please provide complete resumes of each staff member. Resumes should

include work history related to SIS installation assignments. If the Vendor's solution involves

use of sub-contractors in an amount great that 10% of the project’s budget, the response must

include resumes of any sub Vendors.

For each staff member proposed please provide the following information

1. Number of years of experience

2. Implementing any Student Information System product

3. Implementing the Vendor’s specific Student Information System product

4. Any K-12 school district experience; employee or contractor

5. State of Florida specific school experience; employee or contractor

6. Any Industry recognized certifications such as PMP, PMI-BA, ITIL v3, and BPM.

Complete and submit Appendix D: Staff Experience and Qualifications for each proposed

team member.

Proposed Solution (Tab 3)

Response to Software Requirements (Section 3.1)

Responses to the requirements referenced in Appendix B: Functional Requirements, of this RFI

must be provided in this section of the Vendor’s response. Use the excel sheets provided and

attach added explanation pages as necessary.

Response to Technical Requirements (Section 3.2)

In response to this section, please provide an overview of the proposed Student Information

System, including proposed hardware, software, technical architecture, and the proposed

technical approaches to addressing the major areas of functionality that are to be provided

within the Student Information system. High‐level diagrams showing major system components,

their interrelationships, and supporting diagrams and materials should be included to provide the

District with a visual, as well as narrative, representation of the future operating environment.


The District is only interested in a vendor-hosted environment with a future option for the District

to host the SIS at some point in the SIS lifetime. The District requires that the Vendor Hosted

SIS reside in a secure tier 3 or 4 data center within the geographical boundaries of the United

States. The Vendor shall complete Appendix A: Technical Requirements providing detailed

information concerning the following issues related to hosting, including but not limited to

maintenance, security, backup, performance, disaster recovery and District access to its data.

1. Upgrades and Maintenance

2. Logging and System Management

3. Hosting Infrastructure, Backup and Disaster Recovery

4. Integration and Data Import / Export

5. Performance and Benchmarking

6. Architecture and Supported Platforms

7. Security

8. Secondary (Non-Production) Environments

Proposed Solution Approach

Describe the overall functionality of the proposed solution. The Vendor’s SIS must provide

functionality that fully supports but is not limited to the major processes discussed in Section II,

Sub-section 3.1 and detailed in Appendix B: “Functional Requirements.

Approach to meeting SIS requirements as detailed in Appendix B

Approach to interfacing with other the District mission-critical applications (Section IV,

Sub-section 4.6: Integrations and Interfaces)

The District FLDOE and Federal Reporting

The proposed SIS must provide a single interface to perform all functionality being delivered by

the Vendor for the proposed SIS whether the function is being served by the Vendor’s software,

public domain software, or a third-party tool or software product.

Approach to Meeting SIS Requirements

Appendix B, Student Information System Functional Requirements Forms contain a matrix

of the application requirements for the SIS project. The Vendor is required to complete the

(Appendix B) matrix to indicate if they can meet the requirements of the individual

specifications. If the Vendor’s SIS product cannot meet specific application functional

requirements specified in Appendix B, then the Vendor should describe how they would

meet those requirements. Please describe how Vendor will go about meeting any unmet

SIS Functional Requirement that the District identifies as required to satisfy the SIS

Functional Requirements.

Approach to Interfacing with Other District Mission-Critical Applications

Within the proposal, please describe Vendor’s approach to interfacing with the other

District’s mission-critical applications. The District wants Vendors to address the following

issues or points:

Approach to the District and Florida DOE State Reporting

Within the proposal, please discuss how the Vendor intends to meet the Florida

Department of Education (FLDOE) State reporting requirements as defined on the FLDOE

web site for both PK-12 and Career & Adult Ed (WDIS) and McKay surveys. This includes

the method the District will utilize to access, report, correct errors, and/or extract data.

The FLDOE main web site is http://www.fldoe.org


Details for FL State Reporting (which includes PK-12 Surveys, FASTER and WDIS) are

under the Education Information & Accountability Services (EIAS) Department. The

database manuals and technical assistance papers can be found at,

http://www.fldoe.org/eias/dataweb/default.asp

Specifically:

o The current-year version of the “User’s Manual” (e.g. “2015-16 User’s Manual”).

o The current-year version of the “Student Information System”.

o Technical Assistance Papers:

o FTE General Instructions for most recent year

o FASTER User Manual found at http://www.fldoe.org/faster/

o WDIS Handbook (for Career & Adult Ed) at http://www.fldoe.org/arm/cctcmis/

In addition, please discuss the Vendor’s program to ensure continual compliance with

changes to FL DOE reporting requirements going forward.

Security Strategy (Section 3.4)

Background on Security Architecture (Section 3.4.1)

The SIS solution must satisfy general system security standards, District Policies related to

Student Records http://www.neola.com/leon-fl, Information Services (IS) Procedures, as

well as state and federal security and privacy laws, especially the Family Educational

Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html,

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPA) http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/

and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-

protection-act .

System security must be an integral component of the SIS' design and implementation.

The District is looking for a SIS that provides security down to the data field level based on

cascading site rolls (org chart).

Security Architecture (Section 3.4.2)

Please discuss the proposed SIS product security architecture and the security and access

structure, including:

User account structure;

User account and profile maintenance;

User group profile and maintenance;

User and group access security matrix (defining access to application menus and

functions); and,

Audit reporting of system and application access.

Managing Security (Section 3.4.3)

Please describe the recommended approach for defining and managing security levels

and the capabilities associated with each security level.

The District requires that security management be centralized, whereby authorized users

within the District can perform some security administration functions (e.g., create and

update an individual user’s security profile, reset passwords, etc.). It is expected that the

account creation is an automated workflow process derived from integration with the

District’s Active Directory Identity Management system.


Software Licensing (Section 3.4.4)

The District anticipates obtaining a perpetual software license from the successful Vendor.

Describe the following with respect to software licensing:

1. Describe your licensing scheme (enterprise, module versus system, concurrent

versus named, external Internet user(s), query versus user, etc.) and how that

works in a Disaster Recovery situation.

2. Describe how licensing is structured (alternatives, base software + per user

licenses, license costs, license-packs, incentives, etc.). Identify how costs are

determined for adding additional users after the initial purchase. Identify any

licensing distinctions for District users and business partners to access the system

remotely through the internet (e.g. employee self-service, Vendor checking on

status).

3. From time to time consultants, business partners or other non-employee type

personnel need to access the licensed software. Under your licensing agreement,

will these types of users have access?

4. In addition to the test, training and production environment (separate server). Are

you able to structure an environment that will allow the District to run additional

development, test and training instances without the need for additional product

licensing fees? Describe licensing options available for a development/test system.

Implementation Plan (Tab 4)

The Vendor shall provide an implementation plan in narrative format supported by an activity-

level project plan that details how the proposed solution is to be implemented.

This implementation plan should include the following elements:

1. General Implementation Approach

2. Project Management Approach

3. Implementation Work Plan

4. Data Conversion Plan

5. Report Development

6. Integrations and Interfaces

7. Training and Professional Development

8. Testing

9. Operational Process Redesign

10. System Documentation and Manuals

11. Disaster Recovery Plan

12. Knowledge Transfer

13. Staffing Plan

The Vendor should not feel constrained to only include the above items in the Vendor’s proposal

response if the Vendor feels that additional elements may add value to the overall

implementation. The District requests that the Vendor provide their work plan in a Gantt chart

format as part of the proposal response.

It is expected that the Vendor will lead the efforts in each of the implementation areas described

below unless stated otherwise. Further details on what is to be provided as part of the Vendors

proposed implementation plan are included in the following subsections.

General Implementation (Section 4.1)

The proposal shall provide a general understanding of the implementation approach you plan to

use for the District that addresses the following items:


1. Describe how you transition from the sales cycle to the implementation phase of the

project.

2. Describe key differentiators of the approach as it relates to implementing a solution on

time, within budget and with the ability to meet the needs of a diverse client like the

District.

3. Describe how you conclude on a phased implementation of software modules.

4. Describe your approach towards running parallel systems for a period of time.

5. Describe any unique tools, techniques or methods that you use.

Project Management Approach (Section 4.2)

The District expects the Vendor to provide project management resources leading to the

successful deployment of the system. This project manager will work as a team member with

the District’s Project Managers. It is expected that this project manager will be “on the ground”

as appropriate to team with the District’s PMO. This project manager can be an employee of the

Vendor or a partner of the Vendor. In either case, the costs for the project manager should be

clearly denoted in the separate sealed cost proposal.

The District intends to use a project management approach that is based on the Project

Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The District expects

the expect responding Vendors to adhere to such standards as part of the project.

Provide an overall description of the Vendor project management approach towards this type of

engagement discussing at a minimum the following strategies:

Leadership (Section 4.2.1)

The proposal shall demonstrate the vendor’s ability to lead and direct in a manner that

produces positive outcomes in a timely and efficient manner.

Statements shall be included that demonstrate the vendor’s ability to be flexible and

creative in performing the services; and related to the communication, interpersonal and

conflict resolution skills of its members.

Project and Value Management (Section 4.2.2)

The proposal should include a description of the team’s understanding of project

management and value management concepts including a description of the techniques

and approaches to managing schedules and costs.

Resource Management (Section 4.2.3)

The proposal shall describe the proposed approach to resource management.

Risk Management Approach (Section 4.2.4)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach to risk management. At a minimum,

the Vendor must describe its approach to risk identification, risk analysis, risk response

development, risk monitoring, and control or the methods employed in other district

implementations.

Change Management Approach (Section 4.2.5)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach to change management. At a

minimum, the Vendor must describe the change control system to be used and its

approach to change identification, impact evaluation, change authorization, and change

implementation or the methods employed in other district implementations.


Issues Management Approach (Section 4.2.6)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach to issues management. At a

minimum, the Vendor must describe the issue management control system to be used and

its approach to issue identification, impact evaluation, issue assignment, and issue

resolution or the methods employed in other district implementations.

Quality Management Approach (Section 4.2.7)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach to quality management. At a

minimum, the Vendor must describe its approach to quality planning, quality assurance,

and quality control or the methods employed in other district implementations.

Knowledge Transfer Approach (Section 4.2.8)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach to performing knowledge transfer to

District staff.

Communication Plan Approach (Section 4.2.9)

The proposal shall describe your proposed approach for communicating timelines to

affected stakeholders.

Implementation Work Plan (Section 4.3)

The proposal should include a description of its proposed implementation work plans. The

implementation work plan must identify and demonstrate an understanding of

Critical Path

Task dependencies

Project milestones and deliverables

Task Owners by Organization (including tasks involving the Vendor, the District and

third-party vendors if applicable)

The Vendor’s project work plan must identify tasks where the Districts’ subject matter and

technical staff will be working independently or collaboratively with the Vendor staff during the

design, development, configuration, and implementation phases of the Student Information

System solution.

The proposal shall describe the proposed approach to effectively managing the Implementation

work plan. At a minimum, the Vendor must describe the method for ensuring timely updates to

the work plan, the approach for managing and communicating to the District changes, and the

approach for tracking baseline versus actual or the methods and procedures employed in other

district implementations of similar size and scope.

The District requests that the Vendor address the following general project tasks in its work plan:

1. Plan the overall Student Information System implementation schedules with

assistance from the District (provide recommended District staffing levels);

2. Provide hosted hardware and install the SIS software supplied as part of its Proposal

and train the District level technical staff during the initial testing of the new system;

3. Customize Student Information System product to support the District’s business and

operational requirements;

4. Convert the District’s current SIS data from systems detailed in Section II, Sub-

section 3 and 4;

5. Integrate into the Student Information System, periodic and annual report data

elements required to support the District & Federal reporting needs;


6. Develop the SIS interfaces required to maintain other district’s operational systems

and other external systems with current updated student information as detailed in

Section IV, Sub-section 4.6: Integrations and Interfaces;

7. Test and provide a report to validate and verify that all SIS modules and functions

meet the Vendor’s acknowledged specifications as listed in Appendix A of the

Vendor’s submittal and prove that all SIS modules operate properly;

8. Coordinate the training of site level administrative and teaching staff personnel in

conjunction with the Student Information System roll out schedule;

9. Oversee the roll out of the new Student Information System to all school sites within

the District per the 12-month phase-in; and,

Address the most optimum and practical methods of supporting both business continuation and

disaster recovery.

The Vendor shall demonstrate an understanding of all these tasks in their Project Management

Plans.

Data Conversion Plan (Section 4.4)

There are approximately 15 years, of online student records data in the current SIS of record,

Genesis. The volume and quality of records in each of these categories vary significantly, which

include, but are not limited to:

Student Demographic Records

Student Contacts

Student Enrollment History

Student Attendance Records

Student Academic History/Transcript Data

Student Health and Immunization Records

Student Special Populations Data and Academic Program Indicators

Student Assessment Data

At a minimum, the District is expecting to convert the number of years of data to meet records

retention requirements and satisfy departmental data access needs. Vendors are encouraged to

estimate data conversion liberally and provide recommendations for balancing data conversion

preferences/requirements and related expenses based on best-practices and previous

experience.

As part of the response to this proposal, please provide your proposed SIS Data Conversion

Plan that will inform the District with your knowledge of, and intended approach to, data

conversion.

The Data Conversion Plan must describe all related tasks, preparatory actions, required

resources, time frames, work products and success criteria for the conversion.

Describe your scope of data conversion services and approach, including activities,

timeline, roles, responsibilities and contingencies of how the services will be provided.

Please detail the scope of data to be converted.

Provide an overview of the Data Conversion Process, covering the electronic file

conversion and manual data conversion processes, and when each one is applied

Describe your Conversion Communication Strategies on how you document the

procedures,

Software conversion includes the technological transition from the existing environment

to the new SIS environment


Data conversion includes the automated and manual conversion of existing and

historical data to the new SIS environment

Report Development (Section 4.5)

For specific reporting requirements, it is anticipated that the Vendor will take the lead on

developing any reports required as part of the initial deployment of the system. The Vendor is

expected to provide specialized knowledge and information to the District staff during the

development of needed reports, via technical training on the tools used for report development,

database schema and architecture, etc.

Provide information on your reporting approach including:

1. Description of various methods of reporting

2. Methods for the District to identify, specify and develop required custom District reports

during the implementation

Integrations and Interfaces (Section 4.6)

Integration with key District applications is paramount in achieving the goals and objectives of

this implementation. The SIS must facilitate secure data exchanges to/from the proposed

solution to existing District applications (both hosted internally and externally) and the enterprise

data warehouse. Existing District interfaces between core modules that currently exist (e.g.,

Grading, posting to Permanent Records) or shadow systems that will likely be replaced are not

included as they are assumed to be included in an integrated SIS System.

Below is a list of the highest-priority integration points, with which the current SIS has scheduled

or persistent data exchanges in existence today. Vendors will detail experience with these

integrations, as well as process, data standards and integration granularity in Attachment A in

the RFI Package.

Table 4-3: Critical District Applications Interfaces

Item

#

Application Name Application Purpose Export from SIS Import to SIS

1 ClassLink Single Sign On via One

Roster

Students Demographics

Student Schedules

Teachers

N\A

2 Blackboard Mass

Communication

Call-Out System Students Demographics NA

3 UCompass Educator Virtual School LMS Student Demographics

Student Schedules

Teachers

NA

4 A3IEP Exceptional Student

Education

Student Demographics

Referral Information

Compliance Data

5 Performance Matters Assessments Student Demographics

Student Schedules

Teachers

NA

6 Edulog Transportation Student Demographics Routes

Ridership

7 Undefined LMS Student Demographics

Routes

NA


Ridership

8 Destiny Library From Data Warehouse NA

9 PCS Nutrition Services Student Demographics Lunch Codes

Compliance

10 Skyward SBS Teacher Master N\A Staff Master

11 Curriculum Various Instructional

Applications

Students Demographics

Student Schedules

Teachers

NA

12 Enterprise Data

Warehouse

Reporting /Analytics All N\A

The District expects the Vendor to provide a migration plan to retain these existing flows as part

of the implementation of the SIS or propose an alternative solution within their software to

achieve the desired result.

1. Describe your approach towards interfacing and integration with other solutions including

use of specific tools, methods and standards.

2. Describe data exchange standards (e.g. XML, Web Services, EDI) supported or provided

by your product.

3. If local customized integrations are developed, do you provide any tools or assistance to

easily incorporate customizations into new version/releases of your software?

Training and Professional Development (Section 4.7)

The District prefers a Train-the-Trainer Training Approach and its expectations for this approach

are described below:

1. Train-the-Trainer Approach: The Vendor will incorporate a “train-the-trainer” approach

where key District team leads and subject matter experts will be trained through

implementation on their modules and then they will train the remainder of the District

staff in their respective areas.

a. There would be approximately 2-4 District Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) for

each module including one Module Lead. This training would be provided at a

District location.

b. Vendors will work with District SMEs and training teams to develop District-

specific scenarios to be used for each module in training.

c. Training materials supplied by the Vendor would be used by District SME’s and

Module Leads for training their staff.

d. Web conference or remote online tutorial sessions would be available to District

SME and Module Lead staff to participate in after initial training was completed in

their module.

e. Technical Implementation Training will include training the District IT staff (4) to

support the new system.

f. Vendors will provide training environments to conduct training. No identifiable

student data can be used in the trainings or in any training materials.

g. Vendors will be required to develop a training strategy that is not focused on

transactional processes (wherein users are trained how to complete basic

transactions with the new software), rather contextual training that explains how

the new business processes relate to the old.

http://panorama-consulting.com/services/business-process-reengineering/


The District is looking for Vendors to detail their training approach, methodology, materials,

training environments and services provided (number of people, location and number of days),

and provide examples of training tools/artifacts, where appropriate. Vendors are expected to

follow all security guidelines (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA) and leverage the Districts’ training best

practices, policies, branding/communication guidelines, procedures and workflows.

The Vendor should provide an overall description of their training approach, including the

following:

1. General timeframes in which training will be conducted

2. The Vendor must list the nature, level, and amount of training to be provided in each of

the following areas:

a. Technical training (e.g., programming, operations, etc.)

b. User training

c. Other staff (e.g., executive level administrative staff)

3. The Vendor will, in addition to any other matter required or deemed appropriate by the

Vendor for inclusion, identify its staffing model for providing training. This will include a

statement of the qualifications and experience of the Vendor’s training personnel.

Complete and submit Appendix D: Staff Experience and Qualifications for each

proposed team member.

4. The Vendor will be expected to develop an interactive mastery assessment training

component for each training module where users must demonstrate a configurable level

of mastery before being granted access to specific SIS modules.

For purposes of developing the costs for certifying the District trainers, an approximate total of

30 staff have been identified per the table below.

Table 4-3: District-level Trainers & Technical Support Personnel

Trainer Number

District-Level Functional Trainers 10

Grade Book 5

Scheduling 5

District-Level Technical Trainers 10

Please provide samples of your company’s SIS training materials on your proposal flash-drive.

Testing (Section 4.8)

The District expects the Vendor to validate that the customizations and configurations made to

its Student Information System will operate properly in the District’s technical and business

environment. The Vendor is responsible for establishing all appropriate testing environments to

support Student Information System testing activities. To ensure that each component of the

Student Information System has been adequately tested prior to implementation, the Vendor is

responsible for performing and/or overseeing the following minimum levels of testing: Unit

Testing and Systems and Integration Testing. The District will be responsible for User

Acceptance Testing in a Vendor provided environment.

The Vendor is responsible for testing and validating the successful installation and operation of

all third-party software that the Vendor provides as part of the solution. These testing levels are

described below in the following sections.


Unit Testing (Section 4.8.1)

Unit testing is performed by an application developer or tester on an individual software

module or component in the development environment. During Unit Testing, the

developer or tester must test all unit logic paths and conditions for accuracy, efficiency,

and conformance to the respective requirements.

Systems and Integration Testing (Section 4.8.2)

Systems and Integration Testing is testing the integration of the individual modules within

a subsystem, subsystems within a system, and the components of the overall Student

Information System. In addition, performance and stress testing of the Student

Information System application and related network must be conducted. Systems and

Integration Testing must be conducted in the Test Environment. Performance and stress

testing must be conducted in the Test Environment and Production Environment.

User Acceptance Testing (Section 4.8.3)

User Acceptance Testing provides end-users the ability to test the new system. Testing

at selected elementary, and secondary school sites may serve as User Acceptance

Testing for District modules. Formal User Acceptance Testing must also be scheduled

for District-level modules.

Operational Process Redesign (Section 4.9)

With the deployment of a new application, the District wishes to take advantage of capabilities

within the software that provide support for operational improvements. Vendors are requested to

describe their approach towards operational redesign including discussion on the optimal time in

which to conduct business process redesign sessions as it relates to implementation of the new

software.

System Documentation and Manuals (Section 4.10)

The Vendor is expected to provide user manuals and online help for use by the District as part

of the initial training and on-going operational support. Additionally, the Vendor is expected to

provide technical documentation.

1. Describe what documentation (user guide, technical guide, training materials, etc.) is

available on the system proposed.

2. Describe what types of additional documentation you anticipate developing during the

project and ay related costs. Related costs must be included in Appendix C: Cost

Summary Forms (Cost Form 1).

Disaster Recovery Plan (Section 4.11)

Please describe the services you provide around disaster recovery, if any, as part of your

proposed solution.

Knowledge Transfer (Section 4.12)

The Vendor should describe their process for ensuring that a transfer of knowledge occurs back

to District staff during implementation such that staff can support and maintaining the application

in the most proficient manner once the Vendor implementation engagement is complete.

Staffing Plan (Section 4.13)

In addition to providing responses to the following items, the Vendor must complete Appendix D: Staff Experience and Qualifications for each team member providing services under this RFI.


1. The Vendor must detail the type and amount of implementation support to be provided

(e.g., number of personnel, level of personnel, time commitment, etc.). Include resumes

for all personnel that will be assigned to the project. If the Vendor is using a

Subcontractor, please include information on subcontracting staff being used and their

specific role on the project.

2. Please provide a recommended overall project organizational structure for District staff

involvement during the project. Identify the roles and responsibilities of each component

of this structure. This includes an appropriate governance structure in which to manage

the project.

Ongoing Support Services (Tab 5)

The Vendor is responsible for maintaining the SIS during the term of the Contract including the

Vendor software warranty period and ongoing software maintenance through the life of the

contract for maintenance with the District.

Systems maintenance includes maintaining all SIS software components, including managing

and tracking the periodic release of application and source code,

The Vendor should discuss its approach to maintaining all version control methods and tools

used to control the release of SIS software versions and source code. This includes the

development and identification of a baseline software version and the tracking and deployment

of subsequent software versions. Please discuss how the Vendor ensures that all software

upgrades operate with the customizations made by the Vendor during the design, development,

and implementation of the SIS and any subsequent customizations made by the Vendor post-

implementation.

It is expected that any customizations made by the District would be included in this process to

ensure that future releases will not be negatively impacted.

Support

The District expects the Vendor to provide their support services, both during implementation,

go-live and post-implementation, and provide sufficient service levels to ensure that a high-

quality release management strategy can be executed during and after implementation. Within

the proposal please the support services offered including but not limited to:

As part of the proposal, please discuss your company’s Customer Call Center management.

1. Describe how your call center operates.

2. What services are included in your software support program?

3. What are the standard included service hours for contacting support with problems?

4. What is your program for extended hours of telephone support operations? How are

these services invoked and at what cost?

5. Role, and responsibilities of the District and the Vendor.

6. What approach do you use to track, report and manage end user calls for service?

7. What methods can users reach your call center representatives?

8. Are all communications with call center representatives logged?

9. Describe your Call Center Workflow Process.

10. Describe the size and structure of the call center services team.

11. Based upon the urgency of the customer software problem, describe your escalation

policies and procedures.

12. What guarantees or Service Level Contracts does your company provide for critical

support and emergency issues?

13. Any continuous improvement efforts underway or planned to improve the quality of call

center support services.


Product Enhancement

Please describe your company’s approach to product development.

1. Explain your product development lifecycle, including release planning, release

development, release testing and release rollout.

2. Are all product enhancements available to all customers as part of its annual

maintenance fees?

3. Explain your product enhancement process.

4. How are product enhancements determined?

5. What role do customers play in the product enhancement process?

6. How often are enhancements provided? Explain your company’s release schedule.

7. Describe the tasks required for the District following a new release?

8. Describe the installation process for installing new releases of the SIS software?

9. How far in advance the release notes are available for any new release, patch or point

release? It is expected that these release notes will be detailed in nature and cover

the technical and functional changes to the software.

User Community

The Vendor must clearly and succinctly describe any user group forums/events that are

available to Vendor’s customer base that are either managed by Vendor or are self-managed by

customers. Vendor’s description should include the frequency, format, cost and locations of

these forums/events, along with summary agendas from forums/events recently held.

If applicable, Vendors should describe if and how user group collaboration forums/events are

used to inform Vendor’s product strategy going forward. If applicable, Vendors should describe

any knowledge-based or Web-based sites that allow your customer base to contribute and

leverage lessons learned and/or specific solutions related to problems or challenges a client has

faced.

If applicable Vendors should describe in detail any program of product enhancement via Vendor

donated programming hours to the User Group, including how and when hours are allocated.

Finally, Vendors should describe any continuous improvement efforts underway or planned to

improve the quality of user group collaboration.

Compliance Reporting

The Vendor is expected to provide post-implementation software modification support to ensure

the SIS supports future compliance reporting to include, Federal Reporting, Florida DOE

Reporting, or Florida Code Regulation changes within the mandated compliance due date.

Please describe the program the Vendor has for keeping current with future compliance

reporting requirements including:

1. Detailed description of the proposed approach to managing and supporting the SIS

environment to meet future Federal Reporting, Florida DOE Reporting, or Florida Code

Regulation changes

2. Identification of the technical and oversight resources assigned to ensure the required

modifications are complete ninety (90) days prior to Federal Reporting or Florida DOE

Reporting compliance due date to provide the District with sufficient time to review that the

software does comply with the regulations

3. It is expected that the contract will stipulate that the Vendor must agree to the following

SLAs concerning State Reporting modifications from the official release date from the

FLDOE. The time referenced is concurrent time.


All data element code modifications (add, change, or delete) will be completed within

25 days.

All field modifications (add, change, or delete) will be completed within 35 days.

All formats modifications (add, change, or delete) will be completed within 50 days.

It is expected that the contract will also cover financial penalties for non-compliance of

the Florida DOE Reporting SLAs.

Staff Experience and Qualifications (Tab 6)

The vendor must complete Appendix D: Staff Experience and Qualifications form for any team

member providing implementation services under this RFI. This includes but is not limited to

staff serving in the following roles, Project Managers, Implementation Specialists, Data

Conversion, Integration Specialist, Security Specialist and Trainers.

Attachments (Tab 7)

Should any form not have sufficient space, Vendors may add attachments in the same format

provided herein. Notwithstanding any omissions or unspecified items in this RFI, the Vendor is

required to include all software and other components necessary for the successful

implementation and operation of the entire District, including auxiliary functions and entities. It is

incumbent upon the Vendor to point out any such omissions or unspecified items and to include

their costs, if any, on the appropriate cost forms. An attachment to that cost form, describing the

items, must accompany the Vendor’s response.

SIS – Total Cost Summary Forms Instructions (Tab 8)

The SIS Total Cost Summary Forms (Appendix C) must be used by the Vendor to provide the necessary pricing data for the proposal evaluation.

The cost forms must be submitted under a separately sealed envelope. The Vendor’s

response must contain all prices as defined on these forms. Vendors choosing to propose more

than one alternative must use a separate cost form for each of the sections of their respective

proposals differing from one another.

The proposal must provide cost forms, which reflect implementation costs of all SIS

components. The District is interested in a single fixed price enterprise license for operation of

the proposed SIS throughout the District.

The costs must be specified separately as follows:

Student Information System Vendor Hosted Total Cost Summary (Cost Form 1)

Student Information System Installation Services (Cost Form 2)

Student Information System Training Services (Cost Form 3)

Vendor Hourly Rates (Cost Form 4)

Individual Form Instructions

This section describes the necessary information to be provided on each required cost form.

SIS Total Cost Summary (Cost Form 1)

The SIS Total Cost Summary is an aggregate of all detailed costs. This summary sheet

addresses the following components for the District:

Hosting Services Fee (specify how many environments)

Vendor Hosted Student Information System Software Enterprise Licenses

2nd through 5th year, and Five-Year Total Software Licenses

Application Software Installation Services for the Student Information Systems

Data conversion services from existing legacy systems


Integration with other the District systems

Training costs for a Train-the-Trainer option for the SIS

The Vendor must specify the total cost of the Vendor hosted solution.

Student Information System Installation Services (Cost Form 2)

Vendor-supplied Student Information System Installation Services are to be detailed on Student

Information System Installation Services form. The District anticipates the following types of

Installation Services to be supplied by the Vendor:

On-site Implementation Project Management with the District Project Manager

SIS Installation and Implementation including application tailoring/customization

Student Information System customized report development

Student Information System and associated systems data conversion

H/R system staff data conversion and import

Student Information System data interfaces with other the District systems

Florida State Data Submission Interfaces (State Reporting)

These costs should be summarized on the Total Cost Summary (Cost Form 1)

Student Information System Training Services (Cost Form 3)

Please refer to Section III, Sub-section 3: Project Scope determine the magnitude and scope of

training services required to implement and support your proposed solution. The Vendor

should price a train the trainer model to certify the District trainers to a level equivalent to the

Vendor’s training staff.

SIS training costs should be summarized on the Vendor Hosted Student Information System

Total Cost Summary.

Vendor Hourly Rates (Cost Form 4)

Hourly rates for staffing are to be recorded on the Vendor Hourly Rates

Cost of “Project Manager”

Cost of “Data Conversion Specialist”

Cost of “Application Programmer”

Cost of “Systems Analyst”

Cost of “Applications Training Specialist”

This cost schedule will be used if the District wants to purchase additional support services. The

rates must be effective for the duration of the contract.

The District may consider purchasing additional days of SIS training. Please factor this into your

pricing solution.


V. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following Terms and Conditions shall govern the submission of Proposals and any

agreement resulting from this procurement.

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

The term of the contract shall be for an initial five-year period and by agreement

between the School Board and the Vendor, be extended for two additional years, and

if needed, 90 days beyond the expiration date of the current contract period. The

Board, through the Purchasing Department, may, if considering an extension,

request a letter of intent to extend from the awardee prior to the end of the current

contract period.

B. CANCELLATION

The Board shall have the right to cancel the Agreement for unacceptable

performance at any given time, giving the other party (30) days prior written notice.

EVALUATION OF SUBMISSIONS

Proposals will be evaluated by district staff for further consideration. Only proposals for systems

which meet the majority of the functional requirements and in which the company and/or

company staff has documented experience in projects of similar scope and size will be

considered. After initial review, the District may invite a selected vendor(s) to further discuss

their proposal.

The District reserves the right to reject any and all submissions. When the final selection is

made, a professional services agreement will be entered into with the successful Vendor. No

debriefing or discussion will be held with unsuccessful Vendors. The information contained in

this RFI is supplied as an aid to the Vendor in determining whether it will be able to supply the

software and services to the Board.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND SBDO/LOCAL PREFERENCES

A. NONDISCRIMINATION CONTACT INFORMATION

No person shall on the basis of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, religion,

national origin, age, or disability be denied employment, receipt of services, access to or

participation in school activities or programs if qualified to receive such services, or

otherwise be discriminated against or placed in a hostile environment in any educational

program or activity including those receiving Federal financial assistance, except as

provided by law. Any employee, student, parent or applicant alleging discrimination with

respect to employment, or any educational program or activity may contact Dr. Kathleen

Rodgers, Equity & Title IX Compliance Officer, 2757 W. Pensacola Street, Tallahassee,

FL 32304; (850) 487-7129; [email protected].

B. SBDO PROGRAM

The Board established the Small Business Development Office to support innovative

race and gender neutral strategies to promote qualified small business participation as

specified in Board Policy 6325.

C. LOCAL PREFERENCE

This RFI is subject to the local preference provisions as specified in Board Policy 6450.

GENERAL INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY


The Professional Liability Insurance provided by the firm/individual shall conform to the following

requirements:

A. The individual firm’s Professional Liability insurance shall be on a form acceptable to the

Board and shall cover those sources of liability typically insured by Professional Liability

Insurance, arising out of or the rendering or failure to render professional services in the

performance of this agreement, including all provisions of indemnification which is part of

this agreement.

B. The insurance shall be subject to a maximum deductible not to exceed $25,000.

C. If on a claims-made basis, the firm/individual shall maintain without interruption, the

Professional Liability Insurance until three (3) years after this agreement.

D. The minimum limits to be maintained by the firm/individual (9inclusive of any amounts

provided by an umbrella or excess policy) shall be $1 million per claim/annual aggregate.

Each insurance policy evidencing the insurance required hereunder shall bear the appropriate

endorsements whereby the insurance carrier waives any rights of subrogation acquired against

the Board and the Students by reason of any payment under such policy and shall provide that

such insurance carriers shall notify the Board in writing at least (30) days prior to any

cancellation, termination, non-renewal or modification to the firm/individual’s policy(ies) required

under this agreement.

Upon the execution of this agreement, the firm/individual shall furnish to the Districts Purchasing

Department a Certificate(s) of Insurance evidencing the firm/individual’s insurance coverage is

consistent with the terms of the agreement. “The School Board of Leon County, Florida” must be

listed as additional insured on all liability coverage’s except Workers’ Compensation. The

Vendor shall be responsible for assuring that the insurance remains in force for the duration of

the contractual period; including any and all option years that may be granted to the Vendor.

The certificate of insurance shall contain the provision that the School Board be given no less

than thirty (30) days written notice of cancellation. If the insurance is scheduled to expire during

the contractual period, the Vendor shall be responsible for submitting new or renewed

certificates of insurance to the School Board at a minimum of thirty (30) calendar days in

advance of such expiration. The firm/individual shall be in material breach of this agreement if

the firm/individual fails to obtain replacement insurance coverage prior to the date in which

coverage is terminated or expires. In this event the Board may terminate this agreement without

further liability to the firm/individual. Additionally, the firm/individual shall be liable to the Board

for any and all damages incurred due to the firm/individual’s failure to perform the agreement

terms.

INDEMNIFICATION

The firm/individual must enter into the following indemnification and hold harmless agreement:

The firm/individual (s) hereby agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend the Board, its

officers, agents and employees individually and collectively from and against all liabilities,

obligations, losses, damages, penalties, interest, claims, actions, assessments, fines, suits,

demands, investigations, proceedings, judgments, orders or injuries, including death to any, or

damage, of whatever nature, to any property and all costs including court costs and attorney’s

fees, and disbursements, whether suit is instituted or not, and if instituted, at all tribunal levels

(wherever raised by the parties hereto or a third party) imposed on, or incurred by or asserted

against the Board or any of them arising out of or in connection with or based directly or

indirectly upon (a) the firm/individual’s directors, officers, employees, agents, subcontractors or

representatives, of their duties and obligations under or pursuant to this agreement, including

without limitations, the failure to maintain insurance or notify the Board; (b) any material breach

of this agreement by the firm/individual(s); (c) false or inaccurate representation or warranty

made by or on behalf of the firm/individual(s); and (d) any act or omission, negligence, or


intentional acts of the firm/individual(s), or any of the firm/individual’s directors, officers,

employees, agents, subcontractors or other representatives.

GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE

All legal proceedings brought in connection with this contract shall only be brought in a state or

federal court located in the state of Florida. Venue in state court shall be in Leon County,

Florida. Venue in federal court shall be in the United States District Court, Northern District of

Florida; Tallahassee Division. Each party hereby agrees to submit to the personal jurisdiction of

these courts for any lawsuits filed there against such party arising under or in connection with

this contract. In the event that a legal proceeding is brought for the enforcement of any term of

the contract, or any right arising there from, the parties expressly waive their respective rights to

have such action tried by jury trial and hereby consent to the use of non-jury trial for the

adjudication of such suit. All questions concerning the validity, operation, interpretation,

construction and enforcement of any terms, covenants or conditions of this contract shall in all

respects be governed by and determined in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida

without giving effect to the choice of law principles thereof and unless otherwise preempted by

federal law.

INVITATION TO RESPOND STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM …€¦ · STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM JUNE 21,...

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