Guilford County Schools 501 West Washington Street Greensboro, NC 27401 ADDENDUM # 4 BID NO. 189-5938 Commodity: School assignment optimization & Facilities condition assessment Using Agency Name: Guilford County Schools Date: May 10, 2017 Answers to questions received Q1. What percentage of the final decision will be based on MBE/WBE designation? A1. Per V. Selection Process, page 8 of 8 of the RFQ, the proposals will be evaluated by a selection committee, and that committee will determine their methodology for selection. Q2. Are there local companies that the District has worked with that are MBE/WBE that could be part of a teamed proposal? A2. Yes Q3. Under II. General Information - School Assignment Optimization Plan, #2 requests the firm provide options to optimize utilization of existing facilities. Is there a minimum or maximum number of options GCS would like to receive? A3. A minimum number of options will be determined during contract negotiations. Q4. Under II. General Information - Comprehensive Facility Condition Assessment, #5 mentions using the long-range school assignment master plan (and the FCA we develop) to create a multi-year CIP. Please confirm: o GCS currently has a master plan and when was it last updated A4. GCS does not currently have a long-range school assignment master plan. The optimization analysis developed as a part of this RFQ will lay the groundwork for the development of a long-range school assignment master plan. o Who developed the plan no response o Will it be made available for review no response Q5. As a part of the FCA, GCS is looking for a multi-year CIP, however, the duration/look-ahead for the report is not specified. Please confirm the number of years the CIP should address, 2018 -? A5. Please refer to G. Facility Reinvestment Calculations on page 5 of 8 provide analyses, and project funding, for a period not less than 25 years. Q6. Does the ARCHIBUS data input (from the FCA, other GCS data and potentially from the Optimization Plan) need to be complete by December 11, 2017? A6. The Archibus data input must be complete and uploaded by December 11, 2017. Q7, Will all facility attributes be loaded into ARCHIBUS prior to the start of the FCA in July? A7. All existing facility attributes will not be available in Archibus prior to the start of the FCA in July.
Q8. Under III. Scope of Services - A. School Assignment Optimization Plan. Educational Adequacy indicates that GCS has baseline standards for instructional programs. Will this data be provided to the consultant for evaluation? A8. Yes, GCS baseline standards will be provided to the consultant for evaluation. They can currently be accessed using the following link: http://www.gcsnc.com/pages/gcsnc/departments/facilities_construction/804181101381920514/baseline _Facilities_Standards. Q9. Under III. Scope of Services A. School Assignment Optimization Plan. In the educational adequacy section will data for academic proficiency and socio-economic data be available for review? A9. The GCS Accountability and Research Department will be able to coordinate the provision of academic proficiency data as reported to the State of North Carolina and as governed by student confidentiality guidelines and laws. The GCS Student Information, School Nutrition Services and Facilities Planning departments will be able to provide socio-economic data insofar as it conforms to student confidentiality guidelines and laws. Q10. Under III. Scope of Services A. School Assignment Optimization Plan. The educational adequacy section refers to consideration of instructional programs and class sizes. Will the pending legislation mandates be included for this review? A10. Yes, the legislation as currently adopted by the State Legislature is included with this response and will be provided for this review. Please note that the capacity impacts of this legislation may be different between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years, and may change depending upon further legislation adopted by the State Legislature. Q11. Under III. Scope of Services A. School Assignment Optimization Plan. This section states that GCS will provide school capacity, use and utilization data. Please confirm that GCS will list all attributes of student geo-code data. A11. The GCS Facilities Planning Office currently has many years of historic geocoded student data that will be provided to the contractor and in accordance with the requirements of student confidentiality guidelines and laws. Q12. Under III. Scope of Services - B. Facility Condition Assessment. Please define the extent of the FCA by providing the exact number and names of buildings and square footages that require surveys. Information in the RFQ indicates there are 127 schools, however, Exhibit A only lists 110 elementary, middle and high schools. A12. All 127 schools/programs will be included in the FCA, although some of those programs are located in buildings not owned by GCS (i.e. on college and university campuses). Q13. Is there a preferred sequence for scheduling? For example, should school buildings be surveyed first, and if so, is there a priority to survey Elementary, Middle or High Schools in a particular order? A13. GCS school buildings should be surveyed first, then the contractor should survey administrative and support buildings. The sequence of the surveys should be determined and described by the contractor. Q14. Are Administrative Buildings and other district owned buildings included in the FCA? A14. Yes.
Q15. Are CAD files or dimensional plans available for all GCS sites to be surveyed as a part of the FCA? A15. CAD files are available for the majority of facilities on GCS sites, however, these drawings are to be verified by the vendor for each facility. Q16, Confirm the hours of access to schools and other GCS buildings both during the summer and when school is back in session in August. A16. Access to schools and GCS buildings will be arranged once the contractor has been selected and a contract has been executed. GCS administrative and school-based staff normally work a 4-day/10-hour work week during the summer, when school is not in session. Access to buildings outside of this work schedule will be arranged on a site-by-site basis. Once school begins on August 28 th, 2017, school access by the contractor will be arranged on a site-by-site basis. Q17, Under III. Scope of Services - C. Integration of GCS Supplied Facility Condition Data. Can the quantity of supplemental data be further defined? A17, Facility condition data, beyond that contained in digital files, can also be accumulated by the contractor through interviews of GCS Maintenance and Facilities staff. Q18. Under IV. Format of Qualifications Submission Tab 2 Consultant Organization, Personnel Experience and Qualifications. Please clarify the details in points i. viii. In this section as some sentences span multiple numerals. A18. i. A narrative of how the staff will function during each phase of the project ii. Each position within the Project Organization and the role and responsibilities of the individual(s) in that position iii. Number of teams and number of personnel to serve on each team (if more than one team is required to meet the project schedule) iv. Composition of each typical team; typical teams are expected to include an architect, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer as a minimum. Additionally, there should be at least one individual experienced in demographics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and or with school assignment boundary creation and or revision. v. Composition of special teams or positions, which may be used on an as needed basis. vi. The role of the Consultant s sub-consultant(s) Q19. Under IV. Format of Qualifications Submission Tab 4 Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Participation Plan. Please clarify the request to include participation data as dollar amounts and percentages. A19. Please include the amount your firm contracted with MWBE firms on project(s) as dollars contracted, and what percentage the dollars contracted with MWBE firms where as a part of the total amount contracted. For example, if you had contracts totaling $100,000, and contracted $50,000 to MWBE firms, it would be expressed as $50,000 in dollars, and 50% in percentages. Q20. Under IV. Format of Qualifications Submission Tab 6 Financial Statements. Please clarify if financial statements should be included for the prime firm only. A20. Yes.
Q21. Under IV. Format of Qualifications Submission Tab 7 Legal Actions. Please clarify if legal action information should be included for the prime firm only. A21. Yes. Q22. Under VI. Proposed Project Schedule. Please clarify the definition of: Project Completion December 11, 2017. Does this mean that GCS expects all the deliverables listed in section I. Deliverables, by December 11, 2017? A22. Yes. Q23. How does GCS plan to use the final report information? A23. GCS plans to use the final report information to develop a long-range school facilities master plan, a capital improvement plan, and a plan for the optimal assignment of its students to the district s schools for the next 10 years. Q24. Please explain the level of detail of the information available for school capacity, use, and utilization per school (i.e. is individual room data available or exportable in excel per school such as room use, room number, and square footage)? A24. Excel-based school capacity data is available, based upon the number of classrooms in each facility and how each is being used. There are also recently assembled CAD drawings (for most schools) that are available for the vendor s use, although the square footages contained in those drawings are to be verified by the vendor on the ground and evaluated in light of the district s baseline standards. Q25. Additionally, are digital floor plans available, labeled with room data such as use, room number, and square footage per school? A25. School use diagrams (showing how each room in each school is currently being used) are available for the vendor to use, although many of these drawings are not to scale. As mentioned in the previous answer, recently developed CAD drawings of most schools will be available for the vendor s use, but these drawing square footages are to be verified by the vendor for each facility. Q26. Do GCS baseline standards referenced on page 2 include up-to-date capacity models and space programs for all school types (i.e. comprehensive, theme, magnet or other specialties)? or will space programs need to be developed and confirmed as part of this scope? A26. GCS baseline standards are for traditional school models. Magnet, theme and other specialties space programming will be developed and confirmed as a part of this scope. Q27 Is there an updated strategic plan or a master education plan that will help provide the team guidance? A27. GCS has a 5 and 10-year facilities needs survey (as of December 2015) that can be shared with the vendor. This needs survey was prepared for the State of North Carolina as a broad overview of need, and is not as comprehensive in scope as what is being requested through this RFQ. Q28. The scope as written does not mention community engagement. Please confirm input for the effort will be staff driven and the consultant team will not be responsible for facilitating or participating in community engagement activities. A28. The consultant team may be required to participate in community engagement efforts, depending upon what is agreed upon in the negotiated contract.
Q29. What is driving the December 11, 2017 completion date? A29. GCS has been in need of a comprehensive facilities condition assessment for some time, but most critically since the district merged in 1993. This FCA will provide the district with a thorough evaluation of all its facilities needs so that district leadership, our Board of Education, and our Board of County Commissioners can fully plan for the appropriate maintenance of existing facilities and the construction of new school capacity in the future.