Purchasing & Bids / Invitation to Bid

Whenever an entity of the District requests services, equipment and/or materials in excess of $5,000.00 it must be competitively bid per BOE policy# 1075. Upon receiving an Invitation to Bid, the vendor should carefully read the entire document. It is the vendor's responsibility to obtain all bonds, insurance, and any other requested documents, as outlined in the Invitation to Bid.

Pre-bid conferences may be held for formal, sealed bids to provide vendors with the opportunity to ask questions regarding the bid. In these cases, the bid solicitation will outline the time and place of the pre-bid conference and indicate if attendance is mandatory in order to participate in the bidding process.

A public bid opening is required for formal, sealed bids. Public bid openings are on the date and time specified in the solicitation in the Purchasing Department located 9000 Old Santa Fe Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64138-3998. Bids must be stamped "received" in the Purchasing Division prior to the stated deadline in order to be accepted.

Any and all procurement of goods and/or services by Hickman Mills C-1 School District must be predicated by the issuance of a purchase order as stipulated in section 3.5.1.A of Hickman Mills Board of Education Policy:

"Purchasing of supplies and materials is made on the basis of a purchase order signed by the purchasing agent working under the supervision of the budget director. All purchases should be initiated by a purchase order signed by an administrator or a director in charge of a department, and signed by the purchasing agent or associate superintendent. The district shall not be liable for purchase made in any other manner."

A purchase order is the district's instrument for payment. Without a purchase order being issued, funds will have not been properly encumbered which in turn would render the district unable to process any claim for payment that does not refer directly to an issued purchase order.

RFP

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is used in lieu of an Invitation to Bid when sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the District. When the District issues an RFP, it will contain a scope of work to be addressed by the proposal. Only the names of the responders will be identified at the opening of the RFP.

Using the process of Request for Proposal must promote overall economy for the purpose intended and encourage maximum practicable competition that satisfies the needs of the District. An award may be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the District.

Purchases

Purchases between $101.00 and $5,000.00 can be processed by a Request for Quotation in written form via fax or electronic media. Vendors should supply catalogs or other literature regarding their products to the Purchasing staff for review.

Construction Services

Per BOE policy# 2040; "All construction, remodeling, or renovation of any district facility or site shall conform to federal, state and local building codes, statutes and regulations and shall be let by competitive bids".

Annual Contracts are used to purchase certain goods and services the District buys repetitively over the course of a year. These contracts are bid for commodities, equipment or services for a specified period of time, usually one-three years with possible 1-year renewals. Awards may be made to qualified, single or multiple vendors who meet specifications and conditions