Workers' Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract)

"Savannah-Chatham County Public School System\n208 Bull Street / Savannah, Georgia 31401 / (912) 395-5600\n\nMarch 28, 2024\nLadies and Gentlemen:\n\nThe Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (\"SCCPSS\u201d) would like to take this opportunity to announce\nthat it is requesting proposals for RFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual\nContract).\n\nEnclosed is a Request for Proposals (\"RFP\u201d) packet, which provides instructions for the submission of proposals\nand identifies the goods and/or services requested by the SCCPSS. All proposals should be submitted electronically\nin the PDF format by email to the following SCCPSS Purchasing Department email address:\npurchasing@sccpss.com.\n\nProposals will be accepted prior to the deadline, April 30, 2024, at 2:00:00 p.m. (ET). Time is of the essence, and\nany proposal received on or after this deadline for submission will not be

accepted. Offerors are responsible for ensuring\nthat their proposals are timely received and stamped by Purchasing Department personnel. If an Offeror does not receive\nan email confirmation that its proposal has been received and registered between 9:00:00 a.m. (ET) and 5:00:00\np.m. (ET) on the day the proposal is sent or prior to the deadline for proposal submissions on the date proposal\nsubmissions are due, then the Offeror should email or call the Purchasing Department at (912) 395-5572 to confirm\nreceipt. While SCCPSS will accept all proposals received by the purchasing@sccpss.com email account before the\ndeadline, offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit proposals. It shall not be sufficient to show that the proposal\nwas sent by email before the scheduled deadline. Any proposal not received by the District by 1:59:59:99 p.m. (ET)\non April 30, 2024 will be rejected.\n\nAll emails transmitting proposals must contain the following information in the subject line in Upper case:\n\u201cPROPOSAL FROM [OFFEROR\u2019S NAME], PROPOSAL NUMBER, PROPOSAL NAME, CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL\nCLOSING DATE AND TIME.\u201d A copy of the proposal register will be posted to the District's website after the closing date.\n\nPlease include with your proposal all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited to, a copy\nof your firm\u2019s current business license and certificate of insurance. Failure to include all of the information and/or\ndocuments requested by this solicitation could result in the Offerors\u2019 submittal not being considered by the\nSCCPSS.\n\nIf you have any questions concerning this solicitation, please submit them in writing to Joan Carter, Purchasing\nManager at purchasing@sccpss.com. Please note that all communications relating to this solicitation must be directed to\nthe Purchasing Department pursuant to SCCPSS policy.\n\nIf an offeror is unable to submit a proposal at this time but would like to remain on the list of potential\nvendors for the SCCPSS, please complete and return only the \u201cNo Proposal Statement Form\u201d included with this\nRFP packet to purchasing@sccpss.com, with the Proposal Number, Name and No Proposal Statement\u201d in the\nsubject line.\n\nThank you for your interest in providing goods and services to the SCCPSS.\n\nSincerely,\n\nEr L. Scales, era CPPB\n\nSenipr Director of Purchasing\n\nMission - To ignite a passion for learning and teaching at high levels.\nVision - From school to the world: All students prepared for productive futures\n\u201cAN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER\u201d\n\nRFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract) | Page 1\nBased on SCCPSS General RFP Template 4/4/2022\n" "REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP): 24-44\nWORKERS COMPENSATION THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATION SERVICES (ANNUAL CONTRACT)\n\nIl. INTRODUCTION\n\nThe Board of Public Education for the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham (the \"District\u201d), the\nbody corporate responsible for public education in Chatham County, which is commonly known as the Savannah-\nChatham County Public School System (\"SCCPSS\"), seeks sealed proposals as specified in this Request for\nProposals (\"RFP\u201d) RFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual\nContract).\n\nIt is worth noting atthe outset that the competitive sealed proposal (\"RFP\u201d) process differs from competitive\nsealed bidding in two important ways:\n\n1) It permits discussions with competing Offerors and changes in their proposal, including price; and\n\n2) It allows comparative judgmental evaluations to be made on various criteria (in addition to-cost) for\naward of the contract.\n\nVeendors who wish to be awarded a contract by the District to provide the goods and/or services requested\nby this RFP shall be referred to herein as the \u201cOfferor(s)\" or \u201cBidder(s).\u201d To be considered for an award of a\ncontract under this RFP, Offerors should carefully read this solicitation document, and all of the forms, product\nspecifications, service requirements, contract documents, or other materials that may be attached hereto or\nreferenced herein. This RFP and the associated documents identify the goods/and or services requested by the\nDistrict, contain the instructions for preparing and submitting proposals, and outline the process by which the\nDistrict will award a contract for those goods and/or services, if it decides to award a contract at all.\n\nIl. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THIS RFP\n\nA. A \u201cCone of Silence\u201d Applies to this RFP.\n\nA \"Cone of Silence\u201d is imposed upon this RFP after advertising and terminates at the time the District\nawards a contract. Except as specifically set forth below, the Cone of Silence prohibits any communications in\nany form (whether written, oral, or electronic) by, or on behalf of, a prospective Offeror for this solicitation,\nincluding any persons affiliated with or in any way related to a prospective Offeror, with any District employee,\nany member of the elected Board of Education that serves as the District's governing body, the Superintendent\nor her staff, and any other persons involved in evaluating the proposal, such as program managers or members\nof any selection committee. The Cone of Silence is intended to prohibit lobbying for, or against, a particular\nOfferor or Offerors and to prevent prospective Offerors from circumventing the process for selection set forth in\nthis RFP.\n\nThe Cone of Silence does not apply to oral communications with the Director of Purchasing, or the\nDirector of Purchasing\u2019s designees, at pre-proposal conferences, site visits (as applicable), presentations before\nselection committees, contract negotiations with offerors selected for award, or at other times expressiy allowed\nby this solicitation. Written communications expressiy authorized by this solicitation, such as (1) the submission\nof the proposal itself, (2) requests for interpretation, requests for material substitutions, protests, or similar\ninquiries to the purchasing department, (3) documents circulated at oral presentations before selection\ncommittees, or (4) documents circulated in connection with contract negotiations with the offeror(s) selected for\naward are also permitted in communication with the Director of Purchasing or the Director of Purchasing\u2019s\ndesignees. The Cone of Silence does not apply to presentations allowed by Board policy or to the Board of\nEducation at a duly called public meeting.\n\nIn addition to any other penalties provided by law, violation of the Cone of Silence by any offeror may\nresult in the rejection of the offeror's response and disqualify the offeror from being awarded any contract as a\nresult of this solicitation. Any person having personal knowledge of a violation of these provisions shall\nimmediately report such violations to the District's Purchasing Department.\n\nRFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract) | Page 2\nBased on SCCPSS General RFP Template 4/4/2022\n" "B. The Goods and/or Services Requested by the District.\n\nThe goods and/or services requested by the District in this RFP are described in more detail in\n\u201cAttachment A- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and\nContract Requirements,\u201d which is incorporated into this RFP by this reference.\n\nC. The Advertising Dates for this RFP.\n\nThis RFP is being advertised on the Purchasing Department page of the SCCPSS website,\nwww.sccpss.com, from March 28, 2024 until the deadline for submitting proposals. This RFP is also being\nadvertised on the Georgia Procurement Registry (\"GPR\u201d) from March 28, 2024 until the deadline for submitting\nproposals.\n\nThis Request for Proposals (RFP) is also being advertised in the Savannah Morning News, the\nnewspaper for legal notices in Chatham County, on the following dates:\n\nMarch 28, 2024 and April 11, 2024\nD. Pre-Proposal Conferences Held by the Purchasing Department.\n\nAn optional pre-proposal conference is scheduled to be held at 208 Bull Street, Room 303, Savannah,\nGeorgia 31401 on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 10:00 am.\n\nE. The Deadline for Submitting Proposals in Response to this RFP.\n\nThe deadline for submitting any proposals in response to this RFP, unless extended by the District, shall\nbe:\n\n2:00:00 p.m. (ET): on April 30, 2024\n\nTime is of the essence, and any proposal received on or after this deadline for submission will\nnot be accepted. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their proposals are timely received and stamped by\nPurchasing Department personnel. If an Offeror does not receive an email confirmation that its proposal\nhas been received and registered between 9:00:00 a.m. (ET) and 5:00:00 p.m. (ET) on the day the proposal\nis sent or prior to the deadline for proposal submissions on the date proposal submissions are due, then\nthe Offeror should email or call the Purchasing Department at (912) 395-5572 to confirm receipt. While\nSCCPSS will accept all proposals received by the purchasing@sccpss.com email account by 1:59:59:99 p.m.\n(ET) on April 30, 2024 offerors should not wait until the last minute to submit proposals. It shall not be sufficient\nto show that the Proposal was sent to email before the scheduled deadline. Any proposal not received by\n1:59:59:99 p.m. (ET) on April 30, 2024 will be rejected.\n\nThis deadline may be extended for all prospective offerors within the discretion of the Director of the\nPurchasing Department or her designee for any reason. A non-exclusive list of reasons why the deadline may\nbe extended include: the issuance of addenda to this RFP or the associated specifications, a total absence of\nproposals, District closure due to inclement weather, etc. The Director ofthe Purchasing Department will either\nextend the deadline for all offerors or not all.\n\nOfferors may withdraw proposals at any time up to the scheduled time for receipt of proposals.\nOfferors may resubmit proposals provided it is prior to the scheduled time for receipt of proposals.\n\nProposals can only be modified after the submission deadline to the extent allowed by the District.\nCare should be taken to ensure that information provided is accurate, complete, and consistent. Omission of any\nof the required information may subject the Offeror to disqualification. The District reserves the right to request\ninformation from Offerors. An Offeror\u2019s failure to return requested information may result in the rejection of\nOfferor's proposal as \u201cnon-responsive.\u201d\n\nRFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract) | Page 3\nBased on SCCPSS General RFP Template 4/4/2022\n" "F. Procedure for Delivery and Submission of Proposals and Withdrawal of Proposals.\n\nOfferors shall timely deliver Proposals by email to purchasing@sccpss.com. The proposal and all\nrequired forms shall be submitted as PDF documents attached to the email.\n\nAll fee proposals will be written as outlined on the fee proposal form provided herein and submitted as a\nseparate PDF file labeled \u201cRFP 24-44 Fee Proposal\u201d. NO FEES OR SERVICE COSTS SHALL BE\nIDENTIFIED OR DISCUSSED WITHIN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL DOCUMENT, OR DURING ANY FIRM\nINTERVIEWS, IF CONDUCTED.\n\nAll emails transmitting proposals must contain the following information in the subject line in\nUpper case: \u201cPROPOSAL FROM [OFFEROR\u2019S NAME], RFP NUMBER, RFP NAME, CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL\nCLOSING DATE AND TIME.\u201d\n\nPlease include with your proposal all documents requested by this solicitation, including, but not limited\nto, a copy of your firm\u2019s current business license and certificate of insurance. Failure to include all of the\ninformation and/or documents requested by this solicitation could result in the Offerors\u2019 submittal not\nbeing considered by the SCCPSS.\n\nIf a required form has a signature block for a notary, please sign that form in the presence ofa\nnotary and have the form notarized.\n\nTo withdraw a proposal prior to the scheduled deadline, please email purchasing@sccpss.com.\nAll withdrawal emails must contain the subject line \u201cWithdrawal of Proposal by [Offeror's Name]-\nProposal Number-Proposal Name.\u201d Proposals may not be withdrawn after the scheduled deadline for\nproposal submissions, except as allowed by law with the consent of the District.\n\nReasonable abbreviations of the Offeror's Name and the RFP Name that clearly identify the offeror and\nthe solicitation while reducing the length of the subject line ofthe email will be accepted. Whether an abbreviation\nis reasonable and clearly identifies the offeror and the solicitation shall be determined in the sole discretion of\nthe District.\n\n6 Receipt and Tabulation of Proposals.\n\nProposals and modifications shall be time-stamped by the Purchasing Department upon receipt and the\nPDF saved to a limited access computer file prior to the submission deadline where it will be kept confidential\nuntil proposal registration, unless sooner withdrawn by an Offeror as allowed by this solicitation. Proposals\nformally withdrawn prior to proposal registration will not be publicly opened or considered but may be maintained\nby the District for its record keeping purposes. After the deadline for proposal submissions, proposals will be\npublicly registered and the proposal register will be posted publicly on the District's website.\n\nProposals and modifications will then be shown only to Board agents having a legitimate interest in the\nsolicitation, which may include outside consultants engaged by the District to participate in the proposal evaluation\nprocess. Only after award ofthe contract shall proposals be open to public inspection. Ifthis RFP is cancelled\nbefore the award of a contract, the District will retain, but not make open to public inspection, copies of the\nproposals it received to help preserve the competitiveness of a future solicitation process for the same goods\nand services, until the District completes the purchase of the goods and/or services requested in this solicitation\nor decides not to purchase them at all in the near future.\n\nH. Timely-filed, Signed Proposals Considered an Offer.\n\nAn Offeror's timely-filed, signed proposal shall be considered an offer on the part ofthe offeror which may\nbecome a binding contract on the Offeror if accepted by the District at the conclusion of the proposal evaluation\nprocess. By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP, Offeror agrees that proposal will remain open for\nacceptance by the District for at least ninety (90) days without any changes in terms or pricing.\n\nRFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract) | Page 4\nBased on SCCPSS General RFP Template 4/4/2022\n" "In event that the Offeror refuses to perform its promises made in its offer after acceptance by the District,\nthe District may take such action as it deems appropriate to redress the offeror's failure to perform, including\nlegal action for damages or equitable relief, including specific performance, for the Offeror\u2019s lack of required\nperformance.\n\nl. Non-Response by Prospective Offerors.\n\nIf an Offeror does not wish to submit a proposal in response to this RFP but would like to remain on the\nlist of potential vendors for the District, please complete and return only the \u201cNo Proposal Statement Form\u201d\nincluded with this RFP packet to purchasing@sccpss.com.\n\nJ. Form and Formatting of Proposals.\n\nThe form and formatting requirements for proposals requested by this RFP are described in \u201cAttachment\nA- Goods and/or Services Requested, Format of Proposals, Evaluation Criteria for Award, and Contract\nRequirements\u201d and in the attached Proposal Form.\n\nK. Bid Bonds.\nA bid bond IS NOT required with offeror's proposal for this RFP.\nL. Performance and Payment Bonds.\nPayment and Performance bonds ARE NOT required for this RFP.\nM. Offeror\u2019s Essential Credentials and Business Structure to be considered a \u201cResponsible Offeror.\u201d\n\nTo even be considered for a possible award of a contract for the goods and/or services requested by this\nRFP, an Offeror must be deemed a \u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror by the District's Purchasing Department.\n\nTo be considered a \u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror for the purpose of this RFP, an Offeror must be licensed and\nhave the capacity to provide the goods and/or perform the services requested by this RFP and must be able to\nmeet the minimum licensing, bonding, insurance, and contractual requirements ofthis RFP. The District reserves\nthe right to request an Offeror provide additional information or documentation to demonstrate that it is a\n\u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror. Failure to provide the requested additional information, in itself, will be sufficient grounds\nfor the District to declare the Offeror to be not \u201cresponsible\u201d for the purposes of this RFP.\n\nTo be considered a \u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror, the Offeror\u2019s majority (51%) ownership, whether public or\nprivate, must be held by citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States.\n\nTo be considered a \u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror, the Offeror must attach to its proposal a copy of any and all\nbusiness licenses needed for the Offeror to provide the requested goods and/or services, including any local\nbusiness licenses needed to provide the good and/or services requested by this RFP in Chatham County.\n\nIf the Offeror is a corporation, a copy of a current Annual Corporate Registration issued by the State in\nwhich the Offeror is incorporated is required to demonstrate that the Offeror is a \"responsible\u201d Offeror.\n\nWhile any lawful form of business may be a \u201cresponsible\u201d Offeror, if the Offeror is a partnership or joint\nventure, a copy ofthe contractual agreement between the partners or the participants in the joint venture must\nbe provided with the Offeror\u2019s proposal. The partnership or joint venture agreement must be adequate to its\npurpose of establishing a safe and well-structured good faith relationship between the participants, and must\ncomply with all applicable laws, including Antitrust Laws. The agreement must include adequate provisions to\naddress unforeseen events such as the demise of any one of the partners or joint venture companies, and the\nlike. If the Offeror is a partnership or joint venture between two existing business entities, including, but not\nlimited to, a corporation or LLC, then all partners should be routinely and on a daily basis in the business of\nproviding services which are closely similar or identical to those Services solicited by this RFP. If the District\n\nRFP 24-44 Workers Compensation Third Party Administration Services (Annual Contract) | Page 5\nBased on SCCPSS General RFP Template 4/4/2022\n"