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Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials
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Developing educational leaders in school operations
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Mandate Waivers
Back to Mandate Waivers Page
PDE-417 Upper St. Clair School District
Section 1 - The specific Law/Regulation/Standard to be waived: Please provide the appropriate legal citation and specify the provision(s) from which relief is sought.
Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 as Amended Section 807.1 Purchase of Supplies.
Section 2 - Specify the need for the Waiver:
Currently, the district is ending the first year of a five-year agreement with Aramark Corporation which is providing facilities management services. Included in the original draft of contract was a provision that Aramark supply the district with all cleaning chemicals, plastic and paper products for the needs of the district’s physical plants. The district’s solicitor determined that these items are required by law to be bid annually. Consequently, the district is requesting this waiver so the items could be included as part of the facilities management contract and not bid annually in the future.
Section 3 - Explain how the waiver will enable the school district to 1) improve its instructional program and/or 2) operate in a more effective, efficient or economical manner.
When the district bid the chemicals and paper the specifications included an alternative flat rate for the entire school year to make the cost comparable to the capped flat price that had been proposed by Aramark under its facilities management service contract. While the bidder accepted this option, it has substituted products and has interpreted its bid proposal as an "estimate" of the total cost, not a flat rate. We believe that this has occurred because of the competitive bid process that is not conducive to this type of flat rate pricing. We now find ourselves in the position of being in dispute with the vendor to whom the bid was awarded not only as to charges but also as to whether the performance of its product is "equal" to that specified. It is not cost-effective to re-bid these items at this point in the school year, nor is it likely that we would attain the desired results. The flat rate structure offered by Aramark will create a savings for the district in the cost of advertising and evaluating bids and by capping our costs for these supplies. In addition, we can hold Aramark responsible for the preventive maintenance of our facilities using the products that are guaranteed by it and not have questions as to the quality of alternative products and their application under the facilities management service company.
Based upon the district’s experience, including these products as part of the facilities management contract will yield significant savings to the district over the current bidding process prescribed by law, and it will allow the district to hold the service provider to the standards of its agreement in the performance of its functions.
Section 4 - Explain benefits to be obtained by the waiver, and supply supporting data and information.
Section 5 - If the purpose of the waiver is to improve the instructional program, please explain how the program will operate under the waiver.
N/A
Section 6 - Describe the evaluation process the district will use to determine: 1 ) the effectiveness of an innovative program; 2) the effectiveness of a revised instructional program, which shall include measures of student performance; and 3) the effectiveness of changes in the operations of the school district.
The effectiveness of changes in the operations of the district will be evaluated by tracking the amount of product used annually in each category by the district and determining cost for these products by calculating the prices obtained for the same by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit III Joint Purchasing Program. The difference in the total amounts calculated will be savings to the district.
PDE-417 Upper St. Clair School District
Section 1 - The specific Law/Regulation/Standard to be waived: Please provide the appropriate legal citation and specify the provision(s) from which relief is sought.
Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 as Amended Section 807.1 Purchase of Supplies.
Section 2 - Specify the need for the Waiver:
Currently, the district is ending the first year of a five-year agreement with Aramark Corporation which is providing facilities management services. Included in the original draft of contract was a provision that Aramark supply the district with all cleaning chemicals, plastic and paper products for the needs of the district’s physical plants. The district’s solicitor determined that these items are required by law to be bid annually. Consequently, the district is requesting this waiver so the items could be included as part of the facilities management contract and not bid annually in the future.
Section 3 - Explain how the waiver will enable the school district to 1) improve its instructional program and/or 2) operate in a more effective, efficient or economical manner.
When the district bid the chemicals and paper the specifications included an alternative flat rate for the entire school year to make the cost comparable to the capped flat price that had been proposed by Aramark under its facilities management service contract. While the bidder accepted this option, it has substituted products and has interpreted its bid proposal as an "estimate" of the total cost, not a flat rate. We believe that this has occurred because of the competitive bid process that is not conducive to this type of flat rate pricing. We now find ourselves in the position of being in dispute with the vendor to whom the bid was awarded not only as to charges but also as to whether the performance of its product is "equal" to that specified. It is not cost-effective to re-bid these items at this point in the school year, nor is it likely that we would attain the desired results. The flat rate structure offered by Aramark will create a savings for the district in the cost of advertising and evaluating bids and by capping our costs for these supplies. In addition, we can hold Aramark responsible for the preventive maintenance of our facilities using the products that are guaranteed by it and not have questions as to the quality of alternative products and their application under the facilities management service company.
Based upon the district’s experience, including these products as part of the facilities management contract will yield significant savings to the district over the current bidding process prescribed by law, and it will allow the district to hold the service provider to the standards of its agreement in the performance of its functions.
Section 4 - Explain benefits to be obtained by the waiver, and supply supporting data and information.
Section 5 - If the purpose of the waiver is to improve the instructional program, please explain how the program will operate under the waiver.
N/A
Section 6 - Describe the evaluation process the district will use to determine: 1 ) the effectiveness of an innovative program; 2) the effectiveness of a revised instructional program, which shall include measures of student performance; and 3) the effectiveness of changes in the operations of the school district.
The effectiveness of changes in the operations of the district will be evaluated by tracking the amount of product used annually in each category by the district and determining cost for these products by calculating the prices obtained for the same by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit III Joint Purchasing Program. The difference in the total amounts calculated will be savings to the district.