Request for Qualifications

K-12 School Assignment Optimization Plan

The Guilford County Board of Education seeks to select a Qualified Firm to provide a School Assignment Optimization Plan, including school boundaries and special programs, for existing and future GCS schools and academic programs. Guilford County Schools assigns its approximately 73,300 Pre-K through grade 12 students to schools using a system of school attendance boundaries, magnet lotteries, and special assignment processes. In order to optimize the utilization of the district's schools both now and in the future, the school district is soliciting qualified applicants who can provide the district with an assignment optimization plan to accomplish this goal.

One (1) original and ten (10) copies of the RFQ submission should be delivered to the address shown below no later than 4:00 pm EST, January 31, 2017. The Board may determine in its sole and absolute discretion whether to accept any responses that are not received by the date and time set forth in this paragraph. RFQ submissions may not be submitted via facsimile machine or electronic mail. Respondents should allow sufficient mail delivery time to ensure timely receipt. Failure to provide all requested information or otherwise comply with these provisions may disqualify a response. Firms should submit their response to:

Mr. Donald Reid
Guilford County Schools
Purchasing Officer
501 W. Washington Street
Greensboro, NC 27401
Phone: (336) 370‐3238
Fax: (336) 271‐3345

In addition to the submission of hard copies, respondents should also submit an electronic copy of their response in Adobe PDF format. GCS will retain, and is under no obligation to return, all materials submitted in response to this RFQ. Please make specific reference in the response and in any accompanying cover letter or document to any legitimately and appropriately confidential or proprietary materials contained in the response and mark the material accordingly. All questions or requests for information regarding this RFQ should be submitted in writing by email to: Mr. Donald Reid at reidd@gcsnc.com no later than 12:00 noon on January 25, 2017. All responses to questions or requests received by this deadline will be posted online at http://purchasing.gcsnc.com/BidCurrent/PurchasingQuoteList.aspx by January 26, 2017. Late requests will not receive a response.

The Guilford County Board of Education is committed to providing equal opportunities for participation in all aspects of Guilford County Schools contracting. The Board of Education actively seeks to identify qualified minority, handicapped, and women-owned business enterprises and has adopted a verifiable goal of 12.46 % percent for participation by minority and women-owned business enterprises, and such business enterprises are encouraged to submit their qualifications. After review of the submitted qualifications, selected firms may be requested to make a formal proposal and presentation.

School Assignment Optimization Services

Guilford County Schools assigns its approximately 73,300 Pre-K through grade 12 students to schools using a system of school attendance boundaries, magnet lotteries, and special assignment processes. In order to optimize the utilization of the district's schools both now and in the future, the school district is soliciting qualified applicants who can provide the district with an assignment optimization plan to accomplish this goal through the development of updated 10-year school level projections and a plan to show the potential modification of school boundaries, assignment patterns and the location of magnet programs in various elementary, middle, high and special schools. The boundary optimization plan must also address the assignment of Pre-K students in elementary school-based classrooms, as well as the assignment of Exceptional Children in the district's elementary, middle, high, and special schools.

The selected firm will provide Guilford County Schools with a student assignment plan that will optimize the GCS student utilization for each school both now and in the future.

Statement of Qualifications

Desired Qualifications

1. Acted as the principal Firm that produced a comprehensive student assignment optimization plan for a school district of similar size and academic program breadth and complexity.
2. Extensive experience in the operation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geographic and data analysis software, student assignment methods, and school facility use analysis.
3. Extensive experience developing long-range (5 and 10-year) projections for school districts of similar population size.
4. Requires a minimum of five (5) full years working in the field of school district student assignment planning.
5. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Highly organized and able to work with school district leadership, staff, elected officials and members of the public.
6. Experienced in writing concise analytical reports using large amounts of data.

Submittal Format

Firms submitting their qualifications for GCS projects must follow the format below. Material must be in 8‐1/2 x 11-inch format. Submittals shall include divider tabs labeled with the boldfaced headers below; e.g., the first tab would be entitled "Letter of Interest", the second tab "Firm Information", etc. Double‐sided printing is encouraged. Provide one (1) original, ten (10) copies and a flash drive containing an Adobe PDF copy of the submittal. Submittals shall include the following information; sections should be placed in order and identified as detailed below:

I. Letter of Interest

Submit a letter of interest, including a brief description of the firm's overall qualifications to perform the work successfully. This letter should introduce the firm (team) or individual and must be signed by a representative of the firm with authorization to sign contracts.

a. If submitting as a team, note which team member (company) is the prime consultant or lead joint venture partner, or if it will be a prime‐sub consultant(s) contractual relationship.

b. Identify primary contact person for your firm (team).

II. Firm Information

This section must include name of firm, address, telephone number, fax number, email address, home page URL, type of firm (i.e., corporation), and North Carolina or other state business license number. Provide a brief history of the firm including the year the firm was established as presently organized. Include total number of staff by job category, and registration. Include a company profile that lists the primary services (disciplines) offered. Identify location of the office that will be responsible for the implementation of services provided to GCS.

III. Sub‐Consultants

Provide organizational chart showing the relationship between team members. Describe firm information for each sub‐consultant including a company profile, contact information, years in business, number of employees, and location of the sub‐consultant office that will be responsible for the implementation of services provided to GCS.

IV. Resumes

Identify the key personnel you anticipate working on the project(s); provide resumes outlining area(s) of expertise, role on projects, number of years employed by firm along with total years of direct experience, and professional licensing information. Experience while employed at another firm must be clearly identified. Resumes should represent projects conducted during the last 5 years.

V. Project Experience

Provide a comprehensive list of school projects your firm has worked on, indicating services provided and projects that were federally funded. Project examples should be recently completed and related to this project, and represent the type of approach and quality of work you anticipate completing for GCS. To be used as references, list at least five school projects including:

1. Project name
2. Owner name and address
3. Contact person, phone number, and e‐mail address
4. Written references from project owner
5. Services provided
6. Examples of project deliverables
7. Overall project approach and methodology
8. MWBE Participation including dollar amount and percentages (both your firm and the contractor's participation)

VI. Diversity

If firm is designated as a Minority/Woman owned Business Enterprise, include appropriate documentation pertaining to NC or other Statewide Uniform Certification (SWUC). Describe methods firm utilizes to ensure participation of Minority/Women owned businesses.

VII. Financial/Legal

Provide financial statements for the last two years. Include a statement of the firm's insurance coverage, including general liability, professional liability errors and omissions, automobile, and workers' compensation carried by the firm. Describe any legal action brought against the firm in the past five years and the resolution of the action if a final determination has been made.

VIII. Declaration

Submit a declaration under penalty of perjury by an authorized corporate officer or principal, stating that reasonable diligence has been used in preparation of the Statement of Qualifications submitted in response to the RFQ and that all information provided is true, correct and complete.

Selection Process

Statements of qualification will be evaluated by a selection committee. The committee may include administrators, school staff, Board of Education, and community members.

If deemed beneficial some members of the selection committee may visit school districts for which the firm has completed assignment optimization projects prior to the final selection recommendation and approval.

The recommendation of the selection committee will be subject to a successful contract negotiation. If an agreement cannot be reached the district reserves the right to negotiate with other qualified firms.

Selection Criteria

Finalists for contract consideration by the district will be selected on the basis of qualifications and demonstrated competence as evidenced by the information presented in the qualifications submittal.

Evaluation of qualifications may include, but is not limited to the following:

1. Proposed approach to the GCS student assignment optimization project.
2. Past performance on similar projects as indicated by written references from owners.
3. Experience and qualifications of personnel assigned to the project(s).