Brenda, a district staff member, told the Finance & Audit Committee that the district posted RFP #26009 for independent auditing services on Nov. 20 and that proposals are due "tomorrow, the nineteenth, at 10AM." She said vendor questions were collected and answers posted to BidNet and that a selection committee will review responses once they arrive.

The RFP process is on a two-step schedule: staff will hand out proposal responses to the evaluation committee on Jan. 5 and return on Jan. 12 to review scoring and recommend an apparent award. "We'll do what we call an intent to award and we'll put that information out on BidNet so that all vendors are notified that we have made an intent to award and then we enter into contract negotiations with the apparent awarded vendor," Brenda said.

Committee members asked how the district scores proposals. The presenter said the procurement follows a "best value" format, where price is only one component of the evaluation and other criteria can justify awarding a higher-priced proposal. Staff emphasized that the evaluation committee signs a disclosure form agreeing not to share evaluation materials during scoring.

Staff also framed the contract term in the context of state law: because of TABOR, the district structures auditor agreements as one-year contracts with options to renew for up to four additional one-year terms rather than a single five-year commitment.

On procurement policy, presenters said they are reviewing signature-authority limits tied to a new enterprise resource planning system. Current district policy limits signature authority for $10,000 or more to two district officers; staff proposed raising thresholds and adding layered approvals handled through an automated ERP workflow so routine checks and vetting occur before an executive sign-off.

The committee discussed vendor interest: the platform showed 37 users viewed the solicitation, though staff cautioned that a view does not equal a submittal; an unnamed committee member estimated the district is likely to receive "anywhere from 6 to 9 responses" from firms able to handle K-12 audits.

Next steps: staff will collect proposals by the stated deadline, convene the evaluation committee on Jan. 5 to distribute responses, and return Jan. 12 with scoring results and a recommendation for the committee to consider.

A copy of the RFP (bid #26009) and the districts related procurement and monitoring documents were uploaded to the committees meeting folder for further review.