“RFP 2024-4 E-Rate Cat 2 Switches

The Gordon County School System(“GCSS”) requests your proposal to provide a total of 6 (six) Meraki MS355-24X Switches with 1025W Power Supplies and 20 (twenty) Alcatel OS6560- P48x4 Switch with 2 920W Power Supplies and standard rack mount hardware. Functionally equivalent equipment will also be considered. Prices shall remain firm for the entire proposed period. Offers that do not guarantee prices through this period shall be considered “non- responsive” and will not be considered. Responses to this Request for Proposal shall be submitted in a sealed envelope marked “RFP 2024-4 E-Rate Cat 2 Switches” as per the attached specifications. Proposals may be mailed or delivered to the Gordon County School System, Purchasing Department, 7300 Fairmount Hwy SE Calhoun Georgia 30701 or hand delivered to the Purchasing Department prior to the time of bid closing. Proposals will be received up to 2:00 pm March 21, 2024. at the Central Office located at 7300 Fairmount HWY SE Calhoun Georgia

30701. Late entries will be disqualified. Interested parties are required to use the enclosed proposal form and instructed to carefully read all terms and conditions in this letter and the attached pages before completing their offer. RFP shall be reviewed carefully and awarded in an equitable manner as specified in this document. Information shall be provided to the Board for their final approval. The Gordon County School System reserves the right to accept or reject all offers, to waive any irregularity in proposals received, to award the entire proposal to one vendor or to make awards by group or by line item whichever is in the best interest of Gordon County School System. Additionally, the Gordon County School System may unilaterally terminate this contract in whole or in part, for the school system’s convenience, availability of unobligated funds, or because of failure of the contractor to fulfill the contract obligations in any respect. Your interest and participation are solicited and appreciated. Sincerely, Michelle Steward Purchasing Agent 2 General Terms and Conditions 1. Three (3) references to similar structures (such as schools, colleges, and universities) shall be included with the proposal. References shall include complete name of institute, address, contact person, phone number and E-mail address, if available. 2. Indicate if you have ever defaulted on a contract or been denied a proposal due to non- responsibility to perform. If so, provide the facts and circumstances. 3. Proposals must be on the form provided within this Request for Proposal, sealed within an envelope marked as shown in the cover letter. Six (6) copies are requested (1 original, 5 copies). Please use the checklist at the end of this document to make sure all required components are included. 4. The vendor shall provide all specific or special warranties or guarantees of materials, equipment, and incidentals, as required to complete a project. 5. The vendor shall be responsible for the payment of any required taxes or fees associated with the contract. 6. The vendor warrants to the GCSS that all materials and equipment furnished under this contract shall be of excellent quality free from faults and defects to ensure quality results and performance for the project's completion. 7. The Solicitation (RFP) shall only be modified by a Solicitation Addendum. 8. The contract will be awarded to the vendor responsible whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous and of the best value to GCSS. The successful vendor will be chosen using an e-Rate approved method of evaluation. All bidders will be notified of the winning vendor. 9. By the submission of this proposal, the vendor agrees not to assign the contract to others unless specifically authorized in writing by the GCSS and its designee. 10. No awards of any kind are made at the time of closing. A copy of the tabulations and/or the awards will be available upon request for any who submitted an offer. This information may be obtained after the offer has been awarded. 11. Final acceptance for GCSS will be contingent upon the approval of their Governing Board. 12. Neither GCSS nor any party submitting a response will be bound unless and until a written contract mutually accepted by both parties is negotiated as to its terms and conditions and is signed by GCSS and a party containing such terms and conditions as are negotiated between those parties. GCSS reserves the right to waive non-compliance with any requirements of this Request for Proposal and to reject any or all proposals submitted in responses. Upon receipt and review of responses, GCSS will determine the party(s) and proposal that in the sole judgment of GCSS is in the best interest of GCSS (if any is so determined), with respect to the evaluation criteria stated herein. GCSS then intends to conduct negotiations with such party(s) to determine if a mutually acceptable contract may be reached. 13. Request for Proposals are subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. You should consult your attorney on how to protect proprietary data submitted in proposals if you wish. Subject to the provisions of the Open Records Act, the details of the proposal documents will remain confidential until the final award. 3 14. A primary contact person shall be assigned to GCSS for all communications relating to services provided by the successful vendor. This is essential to retaining a professional and successful relationship. 15. Any materials or supplies provided by the service provider and found not in accordance with specifications shall be rejected at no cost assigned to the GCSS. 16. All services requested shall be complete and to the satisfaction of the GCSS or its designee before payment is made. 17. Despite