Policies                                                                                                                        No. 3065

Middletown Public Schools

Middletown School Committee Purchasing & Bid Procedures

PURCHASING AND BID PROCEDURES

I. INTRODUCTION

The School Committee views the purchasing of necessary supplies, equipment, and  services as essential to creating and maintaining a good educational program.

The purpose of this policy is to provide for the fair and equitable treatment of all persons  involved in public purchasing by the school department, to maximize the purchasing  value of public funds in procurement, and to provide safeguards for maintaining a  procurement system of quality and integrity.

All purchases shall conform with town ordinances for bidding and awarding contracts  unless the School Committee determines that the purchase at bid is not practicable or  consistent with its educational policy.

To maximize the value of limited educational funding, the district is strongly encouraged  to take advantage of national, state and local cooperative and joint purchasing agreements  as allowed by state law.

All purchases in the District shall be accomplished without regard to the race, national  origin, religion, or political affiliation of the vendor and to seek maximum educational  value for every dollar spent.

II. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

1. PURCHASING – LINE OF AUTHORITY/RESPONSIBILITY

Subject to the oversight, direction and control of the Superintendent of Schools, the  Director of Finance and Operations is responsible for the quality and quantity of  purchases made.

• The prime guidelines governing this responsibility require that all purchases fall  within the framework of budgetary limitations and that they be consistent with  the approved educational goals and programs of the District.

• The acquisition of supplies, equipment, and services are centralized in the  District's Business office, which functions under the supervision of the Director of  Finance and Operations, who oversees all purchasing transactions.

2. BIDS FOR CONTRACTS.

A. All contracts for more than $5,000 for general purchases and $ 10,000 for  construction shall be awarded pursuant to competitive sealed bidding process to  the lowest responsive and responsible bidder meeting specifications after proper  notice as prescribed by the Director of Finance. Excepted therefrom are the  engagement of engineering, architectural, legal, accounting, auditing, insurance,  planning and similar professional activities, or purchases otherwise exempt from  R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-55-1 et seq.

• This bidding procedure may be waived in the event that:

• The materials or services are needed for emergency repairs;

• For items of a non-competitive nature where there is only one supplier;  or

• Competitive negotiations are advisable.

• In the event an alternative to the method is utilized, the school department shall  comply with the requirements for such alternative method.

B. Purchases in excess of $5,000 in the aggregate for one vendor within one fiscal  year must go out to bid, unless done through a cooperative or joint purchasing  arrangement.

C. The School Committee may reject any bid and/or advertise for new bids when it  determines that a bid is not in the best interests of the district1.

D. Alterations in any contract may be made when authorized by the School  Committee.

3. EMERGENCY PURCHASES.

A. Emergency purchases2 may be made when there exists a threat to public health,  welfare, or safety under emergency conditions as defined in regulations or where  the procurement will be in the best interest of the school district.

• In such circumstances, the Superintendent of Schools may suspend public  notice, solicit bids and to award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder  meeting specifications.

• The Superintendent shall notify the School Committee as soon as practicable,  in writing, of any action taken pursuant to this section.

1 R.I. Gen Laws § 45-55-10.

2 R.I. Gen Laws § 45-55-8.

B. Emergency procurements shall be made with as much competition as is  practicable under the circumstances.

C. A written determination of the basis for the emergency, and for the selection of the  particular contractor, shall be included in the contract file.

4. RECORDS OF PURCHASING.

A. The School Committee shall do all purchasing pertaining to the public  schools and shall maintain records of receipts and expenditures in such  manner as shall be required by the state and by the department of finance  of the town.

B. Procurement information shall be a public record to the extent provided in  R. I. Gen. Law, Title 38, Public Records, and shall be available to the public  as provided in such statute.

• Records shall at all times be available showing receipts, expenditures  and encumbrances upon unexpended appropriations.

• Bids will be retained and available for public inspection for a period of  five (5) years.

C. The purchase of all materials, supplies and services must be processed on  Middletown Public Schools Requisition Forms. The requisitions should include a  detailed description of the item being purchased including the manufacturer,  make, model, if applicable, and any other information pertinent to the  identification of the item being purchased. Requests for purchase(s) must be  completed in full, computer generated and submitted to the Building Principal or  immediate supervisor.

D. Purchasing requests should include a detailed description of the item(s) being  ordered.

• Bid items should include shipping; fifteen percent added or the amount  obtained from the vendor. These items do require that shipping costs be  added.

• If the order is from a State Master Price Agreement, the order should include  the MPA#, Item #, FEIN #, terms, etc. The Master Price Agreement also  includes shipping.

• All requisitions shall indicate the account to be charged.

E. Expenditures of funds allocated to the public schools shall be made only  by authorized vouchers signed by the superintendent of schools, and the  chairman or clerk or such member of the School Committee as may be  designated by the School Committee for that specific purpose.

5. MISCELLANEOUS

A. Once available funding has been identified by the Building Principal or  Supervisor, the Building Principal or Supervisor submits the requisition to the  Finance Office via the Financial Accounting Program.

B. No employee of the Middletown School Department shall purchase or contract for  any service without an official requisition of the Middletown School Department  signed by the School Business Administrator and/or Superintendent.

• All requests will be reviewed by the business Office against program budgets  previously approved by the School Committee.

• The Finance Office will verify available funding before approving purchases.

• The purchase order is encumbered into the accounting system and the  purchase order is then submitted to the Director of Finance for approval and  distribution to the vendor.

• When an order is complete, a copy should be signed, dated and returned along  with any packing slips to the Finance Office.

• If there are any problems with the order, dated notes should be recorded on  the face of the copy for Accounts Payable to reference with regard to payment.  In the case of a very large order that may have backordered items, the items  should either; a) be cancelled in writing with copies of the letter attached to the  copy and the purchase order returned to the Finance Office for payment; or b)  copies of the paperwork submitted to Accounts Payable for a partial payment.

• In that case, the original purchase order is retained and a copy sent to  Accounts Payable.

• If an order is to be cancelled, the source must cancel the order in writing with  the vendor, explaining the reason for the cancellation. A copy of this document  must be part of the official record of the purchase order and must be kept on  file in the Finance Office. Also, if a return receipt is received, that receipt  should be sent to Accounts Payable to be retained with the original order.

• If merchandise is received in error and the error is on the part of the vendor,  the vendor is responsible for the return of the merchandise. If the error is on  the part of the District, the merchandise must be returned through a method  that provides proof of return. Methods allowed for proof of return included

UPS and return receipt.

• All expenditures of funds, whether District Funds, Grant Monies or other  sources must be approved in advance.

• All purchases must be supported by properly approved requisitions, purchase  orders, or other documents.

• Purchase orders shall be the primary method of purchasing and shall be  identified specifically with the authorized budget line item.

6. COOPERATIVE AND JOINT PURCHASING ARRANGEMENTS.

A. When the Superintendent of Schools deems it advisable, the school district  shall utilize cooperative purchasing and joint purchasing arrangements as  well as the State of Rhode Island master price agreements to the extent  allowable pursuant to state law, rule and regulation.

B. __Sequence for approval of a cooperative or joint purchasing arrangement. __

When utilizing cooperative purchasing arrangements enabled by R.I. Gen  Laws §§ 45-40.1-1 et seq, the School Administration shall follow the below  sequence prior to engaging in such purchases:

1) Identify appropriate cooperative purchasing entities with respect to  purchasing needs of the District.

2) Seek written approval of the Superintendent of Schools, the  Business Manager, and the School Committee.

3) Prior to the School committee granting its approval, it shall be  provided with information related to the following:

The intended uses for the cooperative purchasing arrangement.

Reasonable assurances that the pricing provided through the cooperative  arrangement are intended to maximize the purchasing value of public  funds in procurement of goods and services.

4) Any approved cooperative entity shall then be submitted to the  Attorney General’s Office pursuant to R.I. Gen Laws § 45-40.1-4 (f)  (as applicable).

5) The agreement shall then be filed with the keeper of the local  public records and with the R.I. Secretary of State.

Reference

Statutes and Regulations

R.I. Gen Laws § 16-2-9.2 Joint Purchasing Agreements.

R.I. Gen Laws § 16-13.1-15 Collaborative Purchasing.

R.I. Gen Laws § 45-40.1-1 et seq. Rhode Island Inter-local Cooperation Act.  R.I. Gen Laws § 37-2-56 State Master Bid List.

R.I. Gen Laws § 45-55-1 Municipal Purchasing.

R.I. Gen Laws § 45-55-6 Competitive Negotiations.

Charter and Code

Charter: Sec. 814. Purchasing; financial records and vouchers.

Code:

§ 33A.001 PURPOSE.

§ 33A.004 PUBLIC ACCESS TO PROCUREMENT INFORMATION.

§ 33A.161 JOINT PURCHASING.

§ 33A.160 MASTER PRICE AGREEMENTS.

§ 33A.161 JOINT PURCHASING.

§ 33.08 BIDS FOR CONTRACTS.

Policy History:

3060 – Purchasing Procedures

3070 – Bid Purchasing Procedures

1st Reading – October 15, 2015

2nd Reading and Approval – November 19, 2015

Review - September 18, 2025

3 Year Review Due - September 2028