NOTICE TO BIDDERS ADDENDUM #1 INVITATION TO BID (ITB) #CCPS-INSTR-01-2018 SPPECH AND LANGUAGE SERVICES APRIL 19, 2017 This Addendum is hereby incorporated within the bid documents for the ITB titled Speech and Language Services (ITB #CCPS- INSTR-01-2018). Except as modified herein, all other terms and conditions of the ITB remain unchanged. This Addendum includes responses to vendor questions that were submitted on or before the April 12, 2017, 4:00 PM EDT deadline for questions. The deadline for submission of bid proposals remains 1:00 PM EDT on April 25, 2017. Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) reserves the right to reject any and all offers and to accept the offer which is in the best interest of CCPS. Questions/Answers Who are your current SLP vendors and what prices do they charge? Below is the bid tabulation from the last solicitation. How many SLPs (FTE) did each vendor provide to your District for the current 2016-2017 school year? Some of the SLPs were only able to provide services for a limited time period and not the entire year so the following is an approximation: Soliant 2 Ardor 2 Cell Staff 1 Adriane Hope Sayles- conducts assessments as needed (approx. 0.2F TE) Maria Krukar - 0.6 FTE Progressus - 0 A few other agencies have provided short-term, part-time coverage as well. What was the annual expenditure for these services 2017 ytd and for the previous 2 calendar years (2015 & 2016)? 2017 year to date expenditures are unavailable at this time. Approximately $600,000 was spent in 2016. It is anticipated that approximately $500,000 to $600,000 will be spent on SLP contracted services for the 2017-18 school year. How many work days are they assigned for the school year? 190 (180 school days/10 PD days) What is the average SLP caseload by discipline in your District? Ideally around 40 students; however, current caseloads are higher due to a shortage of SLPs (current range is 45 55). Listed under Services to be performed: on page 11 of your ITB, please clarify the approximate number of SLPs needed for each of the areas for which you are seeking coverage for items 1-3: Full-time and part-time Likely 4 or 5 full-time or possibly to 6-8 part-time SLPs. CCPS prefers full-time.
Parentally placed private schoolsone therapist approx two days per week Coverage for therapist on extended leave- We do not have this information at this time; each year it seems that a therapist requires a medical leave. Services appear to include the Infants & Toddlers population; please clarify if SLP caseloads are paired between the two populations: prek-12 and Infant & Toddlers or if you have specific and segregated SLP assignments for Infants & Toddlers. Infants and Toddlers Program (ITP) is typically staffed separately and we do not have an anticipated vacancy for ITP at this time; however, we do have 3-4 year olds on Extended IFSPs who require services in schools by the SLP assigned to the school. What is the anticipated date of award? A recommendation for award will be presented at the May 11, 2017 meeting of the Board of Education of Calvert County. Once the award has been made, how will vendors be notified of the decision? Written notice will be sent to all vendors who respond to the solicitation. Is a certificate of insurance required for bid submission? To clarify, only one (1) original bid is required for submission? You do not require any copies of the bid to be submitted? Only one copy of the proposal should be submitted. Do you have a preference for binding the bid? Stapled, binder clip, in a binder, etc? No preference; however, the proposal should be organized and easily read. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like,from India or Canada) Whether we need to come over there for meetings? The SLP would need to be able to provide services at the school and attend meetings, but the vendor management would not. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada) Can we submit the proposals via email? Proposals must be submitted a prescribed by the ITB. We staff therapist and nurses nationwide. We are interested in responding to the bid you have open for Speech and Language Services. As I was reading through the bid documents I see that it says, we must completed Subcontractors Form (Attachment V). In order to be considered as a vendor, do we have to subcontract some of the work in this contract? No, you do not need to subcontract work to be considered for this solicitation. If your company does not subcontract, mark N/A on Attachment V. Our company is currently under contract with CCPS for SLP services. Will we need to respond to the solicitation? Yes, you will need to submit a proposal in order to be considered. The previous solicitation and renewal periods expire June 30, 2017. I saw on pg. 5 section N that Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) are encouraged to respond to this solicitation notice and Vendors who provide materials, supplies, equipment, and/or services under this Contract are encouraged to subcontract with MBE. Is it your preference for the Vendor to be a MBE in order to be considered for the award? There is no MBE requirement for this solicitation. Could you please let me know the projected weekly hours of service for the SLP? 35 hours is considered full-time If the hours are on an As Needed Basis or Part-Time, can you please let me know the number of weekly hours that the SLP worked during the 2016-17 academic year? I am aware that the hours might not be the same for the 2017-18 academic year. However, this will provide us with a better understanding on how we should calculate our cost proposal for Calvert County Public Schools. A full-time SLP gets paid for 35 hours per week (7 hour day with a 30 min. lunch). The caseload for a full-time SLP averages 40-50 students. A half-time SLP would likely have 20-25 students. Consideration is given to the number of therapy units when assigning caseloads.
How many SLP s do you foresee needing for the 2017-18 school year? Likely 4 or 5 full-time or possibly to 6-8 part-time SLPs. Are Testing Materials/Equipment or Evaluation Materials/Equipment to complete the provision of services for Speech Services provided by Calvert County Public Schools or the Vendor? Access includes computers, Internet within CCPS schools, copy machine, fax machine and some instructional materials and office supplies. The SLP assigned to a CCPS public school has access to all of these things listed, although the instructional materials are typically a combined effort between materials available and the SLP's materials. CCPS has assessments and protocols for the SLP to utilize. The SLP servicing parentally placed private schools is more limited to what is available at the private schools. Who will be the representative from Calvert County Public Schools to determine which materials/equipment are required for the Speech Services? Materials are housed at the school. In the event additional materials are needed to service or assess students the Director of Special Education will make the final determination. Would you consider certified therapy assistants such as CFY or SLPA? Yes, we will consider CFY SL. No, not SLPAs at this time. What grades will the SLP provide services for? And what will be the caseload? This depends on the assignment and can vary from ages birth to 21, although the majority of services would be elementary and middle school age students. What would be the payment terms of Calvert County Public Schools (Net 30)? Net 30 is reasonable. To pay invoices, does the board meet monthly to release payment for the month? Do you remit payment only once a month? If so, do you have a calendar of the board meeting dates? Board approval is not required for payment of vendor invoices. The Director of Special Education and Assistant Superintendent approve invoices for contracted SLP services. If you don t have a board meeting calendar, is there a specific time of the month the board will meet to approve payments? Board approval is not required for payment of vendor invoices. The Director of Special Education and Assistant Superintendent approve invoices for contracted SLP services. Do you require vendors to guarantee the provision of therapy services, or is it understood that vendors will begin recruiting on a best efforts basis upon contract award? It is understood that vendors will begin recruiting/identifying candidates upon contract award. Can we incur in any penalties or be liable for any damages for not having a SLP available upon your school s request in a timely manner or would your school terminate the RFP contract with our company? Per the ITB, the contract may be terminated. We are located in the state of Florida and we do not have an office in the State of Maryland. Is it your preference for a company to have an office in the State of Maryland? There is no requirement that the vendor have an office in Maryland. What was the typical duration of contracted services in the last school year? This varied from 3 months to the entire school year. We have some who have continued over multiple years. We added providers throughout the school year as caseloads increased or unexpected vacancies arose. How many students will be receiving services, by discipline, under this RFP? This varies by location and the service hours for the individual students. This also depends on the number of vacancies we are facing. What are the required documents for the providers to start working at the district? For Example: Fingerprint, State License, Criminal Background Check, TB Test, any other specific Certifications. Fingerprint, criminal background check, and MD licensure as a speech and language pathologist are required. We also require about 3 hours of Safeschools training which is completed on-line.
In the event that the district will find a permanent employee of the district and our services will no longer be needed, will the district provide the awarded vendor with a 30 day termination written notice? CCPS will follow the termination process as stated in the ITB. How will proposals be evaluated and weighted? Proposals will be reviewed based upon the services being offered and the ability to provide the services, the pricing, and references. Are resumes requested or required with our proposal or at the time of the award? If is permissible to submit resumes, fingerprints, and licenses of potential candidates after the contract is awarded? Resumes are not required with proposal. It is permissible to submit resumes, fingerprints, and licenses of potential candidates after the contract is awarded. How many contracted hours of services were utilized last year? We do not have this information broken down by hours. Do you have job descriptions for the jobs listed? Yes, the SLP job description is posted on Calvert County Public Schools website under Employment tab. Are therapists required to utilize a service log to notate direct and indirect services hours? Yes. Therapists must use the Maryland Online IEP service log. Could you please let me know the projected service needs/ number of vacancies for the upcoming school year? We are projecting that we will need to fill an equivalent to approximately 5 full-time vacancies some of which can be split into part-time vacancies as most positions are split between schools. As part of the anticipated vacancies we expect one to hire an SLP approximately 2 to 3 days per week for private school students. Our vacancies are typically on-going throughout the year; as caseloads increase we may need an additional day per week at a school or two and at times we have staff who are on medical leave on a temporary basis. Is this the first time Calvert County Public Schools has issued a RFP for Speech and Language Services? Are you satisfied with your current vendors? Are you releasing an RFP because you are looking for new vendors, additional vendors or just protocol? We are satisfied with vendors we have contracted with over the past few years. Our RFP is due for renewal and we anticipate that we will need additional vendors this year. Would the district pay for mileage traveling between school campuses on the same day? If so, what will be the district IRS Standard Rate? CCPS pays the time of the contract therapist (hourly rate) for travel in between schools and travel between sites in the same day. If a contractor wishes to charge for mileage reimbursement, this should be indicated on the proposal form under other required expenses. In the event that mileage is reimbursed, this would be at the IRS standard rate. If more than one location, what is the average or approximate distance between locations? We would typically assign schools within 7 to 10 miles for travel between schools; 20 miles would likely be the most. How many schools are typically on a therapist s caseload? This ranges from one to three. Are IEP meetings billable? Yes. Are orientation sessions, professional development and other district-sponsored meetings billable? Fingerprinting/intake through human resources is not billable, but the required on-line Safeschools trainings are billable. In the event that CCPS requires participation in PD or district-sponsored meetings this is billable. Contract therapist are typically expected to work professional development days and all school days. Are we allowed to bill for paperwork and documentation? As long as it is completed within the contracted hours the therapist is assigned. This should be done during planning time within the school day.
Are we allowed to bill for mileage and travel between school sites? Mileage between sites is billable and the hourly rate of the therapist during travel between sites is billable. Mileage to the first site and travel home is not billable. How many hours are in a typical school day (i.e. how many hours are therapists allowed to be on-site and billing) 7 hours billable; 7.5 hours on-site w/ a 30 minute lunch How many SLPs does the district have on staff? 22 How many district SLPs are retiring this year? Possibly one or two Does the district currently have any SLP compensatory time to make-up? Yes, a minimal amount at this time. Are resumes required at the time of proposal submission or only upon award? Upon award Is the district interested in SLPs with specialized skill sets? This is not required Is the district interested in bilingual SLPs? This is not necessary, but could be of benefit in some cases. If yes, what languages? Spanish Will the district accept therapists currently in their Clinical Fellowship (CF) year and working towards the Certificate of Clinical Competency? If yes, does the district require the vendor to provide clinical supervision? Yes, CCPS accepts CFs and provides the clinical supervision. Is a narrative required or are you just evaluating based on our responses to Attachments I-VI? No, a narrative is not required. Is therapy currently delivered in-person, or are any services provided electronically (telepractice)? We have a few schools where a portion of the services are provided via teletherapy; we prefer in person/on-site. We often will use teletherapy for short-term coverage for a therapist s absence. Would you be willing to accept a vendor that provides Speech services via an online delivery platform with a live, certified, MD state licensed and credentialed therapist? Yes, if we are unable to fill with on-site SLPs; however, teletherapy is not our preference. How many students are currently receiving Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services? We have over 500 students receiving SLP services. How many Speech-Language Pathologists are currently being used to provide services to students? 31 - although some are part-time. How many contract Speech-Language Pathologists are currently working under CCPS? Seven; although this varies. Does the district intend to award multiple vendors? Yes.