COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE SOLUTION

Location:	North Carolina
Posted:	Mar 25, 2026
Due:	Apr 8, 2026
Agency:	State Government of North Carolina
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	70 - General Purpose Information Technology Equipment (including software). D - Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunication Services
Solicitation No:	251-27-94
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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Memorandum from Purchasing Department

Letter of Instruction for RFP #251-27-94

To: Prospective Parties

Thank you for your interest in the Wake County Public School System. Please review the

following instructions prior to submitting your proposal.

• Prior to submitting and executing the proposal, please make sure you read and

understand the terms and conditions referenced. All proposals are subject to the

terms and conditions outlined herein. All responses will be controlled by such terms

and conditions and the submission of other terms and conditions, price lists, catalogs,

and/or other documents as part of an offeror’s response will be waived and have no

effect either on this Request For Proposals or on any contract that may be awarded

resulting from this solicitation. The attachment of any other terms and conditions by

the Offeror may be grounds for rejection of that proposal. Offeror specifically agrees

to the conditions set forth in the above paragraph by signature to the proposal.

• Please read carefully the section titled CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITED

COMMUNICATIONS DURING THE RFP PROCESS. All questions should be directed to

bids-pgooding@wcpss.net.

• Offerors are cautioned that this is a request for offers, not a request to contract, and

WCPSS reserves the unqualified right to reject any and all offers when such rejection

is deemed to be in the best interest of WCPSS.

• In submitting a proposal, the Offeror agrees not to use the results there from as part

of any news release or commercial advertising.

• Submit one (1) signed, original executed proposal response and one (1) electronic copy

on a flash drive (emails not accepted) of your proposal simultaneously to the address

identified below.

• Clearly mark each package with: (1) Vendor name; (2) the RFP number; and (3) the

due date. Address the package(s) for delivery as shown in the table below. If Vendor

is submitting more than one (1) proposal, each proposal shall be submitted in separate

envelopes and marked accordingly. For delivery purposes, separate envelopes from a

single Vendor may be included in the same outer package. Proposals are subject to

rejection unless submitted with the information above included on the outside of the

proposal package.

• Bidders must be registered as a vendor in the North Carolina electronic Vendor Portal

(eVP). Vendors who are not already registered may do so at evp.nc.gov. There is no

cost to register.

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Request for Proposal #251-27-94

1551 Rock Quarry Rd – Bldg. F

Raleigh, NC 27610

Refer ALL Inquiries to: Petra Gooding

Telephone No: 919-588-3456

E-Mail: bids-pgooding@wcpss.net

COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE SOLUTION

Contract Type: Agency Specific Term Contract

DUE DATE: April 8, 2026 @ 2:00 pm

Using Agency Name: WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

NOTICE TO VENDORS

Sealed proposals, subject to the conditions made a part hereof, will be received at this office (1551 Rock Quarry Road,

Building F, Raleigh, NC) until 2:00 p.m. on the day of opening and then opened, for furnishing and delivering the

commodity as described herein. Refer to page 2 for proper mailing instructions.

Proposals submitted via facsimile (FAX) machine or email in response to this Request for Proposal will not be acceptable.

Proposals are subject to rejection unless submitted on this form.

EXECUTION

In compliance with this Request for Proposal, and subject to all the conditions herein, the undersigned offers and agrees

to furnish and deliver any or all items upon which prices are proposed, at the prices set opposite each item within the

time specified herein. By executing this proposal, I certify that this proposal is submitted competitively and without

collusion.

Failure to execute/sign this page prior to submittal may render bid invalid. Late proposals are not acceptable.

VENDOR:

FEDERAL ID OR SOCIAL SECURITY NO.

STREET ADDRESS:

P.O. BOX:

ZIP:

CITY & STATE & ZIP:

PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS ADDRESS IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE

TELEPHONE NUMBER:

TOLL FREE TEL. NO

(800)

TYPE OR PRINT NAME & TITLE OF PERSON SIGNING:

FAX NUMBER:

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE:

DATE:

E-MAIL:

Offer valid for 60 days from date of proposal opening unless otherwise stated here: ____ days Prompt Payment

Discount: _______ % __________________ days.

Submit one (1) signed, original executed proposal response, and one (1) electronic copy on a flash drive (emails will not

be accepted) of your proposal simultaneously to the address identified below.

Clearly mark each package with: (1) Vendor name; (2) the RFP number; and (3) the due date. Address the

package(s) for delivery as shown in the table above. If Vendor is submitting more than one (1) proposal, each

proposal shall be submitted in separate envelopes and marked accordingly. For delivery purposes, separate

envelopes from a single Vendor may be included in the same outer package. Proposals are subject to rejection

unless submitted with the information above included on the outside of the proposal package.

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MAILING INSTRUCTIONS: Mail only one fully executed proposal with copies, unless otherwise

instructed, per envelope. Address envelope and include proposal number as shown below. It is the

responsibility of the Vendor to have the proposal in this office by the specified time and date of opening.

Bidders or their authorized representatives are expected to fully inform themselves as to the terms, conditions,

requirements, and specifications of this RFP before submitting bids. Failure to do so will be at the bidder’s own risk.

The law makes no allowance for errors or omission or commission on the part of the bidders; furthermore, the

bidder cannot secure relief on the plea of error or ignorance concerning any requirement included in the IFB.

Bidder presence is not required at the bid opening, and no weight or other consideration toward any award decision

will be given to any bidder’s attendance or absence at the bid opening. Recaps of the details of the bids received

will be available to any interested party upon WRITTEN request. The form and content of the bid recaps will be at

the sole discretion of WCPSS. They may be in electronic form.

DELIVER TO:

PROPOSAL NO. RFP 251-27-94

Wake County Public School System

Purchasing Department, Building F

1551 Rock Quarry Road

Raleigh NC 27610-4145

RFP SCHEDULE

The table below shows the intended schedule for this RFP. WCPSS will make every effort to adhere to this schedule.

Event

Issue RFP

Submit written questions to:

bids-pgooding@wcpss.net

(Reference RFP # in the subject line)

Provide Responses to Questions

Submit Proposals

Responsibility

WCPSS

Vendor

WCPSS

Vendor

Date and Time

3-25-26

3-30-26 by 2:00 pm ET

4-1-26 by end-of-business

4-8-26 @ 2:00 PM ET

PROPOSAL QUESTIONS

Upon review of the RFP documents, Vendors may have questions to clarify or interpret the RFP in order to

submit the best proposal possible. To accommodate the Proposal Questions process, Vendors shall submit any

such questions, in written form by the above due date. WCPSS will not respond to questions via telephone or

telephone message(s). Written questions must be emailed to bids-pgooding@wcpss.net by the date and time

specified above. Vendors should enter “RFP #251-27-94 Questions” as the subject for the email. Questions

submittals should include a reference to the applicable RFP section and be submitted in a format shown below:

Reference

Vendor Question

RFP Section, Page Number

Vendor question …?

Questions received prior to the submission deadline date, WCPSS’ response, and any additional terms deemed

necessary by WCPSS will be posted in the form of an addendum to the North Carolina Electronic Vendor Portal

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(eVP): https://evp.nc.gov/solicitations/ and WCPSS Purchasing website: http://www.wcpss.net/domain/101,

and shall become an Addendum to this RFP. No information, instruction or advice provided orally or informally

by any WCPSS personnel, whether made in response to a question or otherwise in connection with this RFP,

shall be considered authoritative or binding. Vendors shall rely only on written material contained in an

Addendum to this RFP.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION

All proposals will be evaluated by representatives of WCPSS. WCPSS may, at its sole discretion, ask for

additional information and/or elect to conduct interviews with finalists to clarify information provided in the

proposals.

The services that are the subject of this RFQ/P are not required to be bid under North Carolina law, and none

of the statutory requirements regarding public bidding apply to this RFQ/P. This document, and not those

statutes, will govern the selection process.

WCPSS shall not be required to award the contract to the lowest proposed compensation; nor shall WCPSS

have any obligation to explain its decision to recommend or not to recommend any particular vendor or to

invite or exclude any particular vendor from consideration at any stage of the process. Instead of

recommending that contracts be awarded to one or more vendors who presented proposals, WCPSS may, at

its sole discretion, reject the proposals and repeat the process, enter into direct contract negotiations with one

or more vendors (possibly including vendors who have not previously submitted proposals) or take any other

action WCPSS deems advisable under all the circumstances.

WCPSS is expected to make any final selection(s) based upon any factors or considerations WCPSS deems

relevant. Factors often considered include qualifications, relevant experience, fee, and ability to perform work

in a timely manner. WCPSS retains sole discretion to award the contract to the vendor(s) it believes will best

serve the interests of WCPSS and may consider any factors, documents, or information it deems relevant in

making that determination. WCPSS shall not have any obligation to explain its decision to select or not select

any individual vendors or to invite or exclude any individual vendors from consideration at any stage of the

process. The decision of WCPSS to accept or reject any proposals and to award contract(s) to any one or more

vendor(s) shall be final and not subject to further review.

Vendors are subject to immediate disqualification at any stage of the selection process for the following:

• The submission of false or misleading information in the vendor’s proposal.

• Any efforts to dissuade or discourage other vendors from submitting proposals.

• Any efforts to influence, dictate, or change the terms of another vendor’s proposal.

• Any form of bid collusion or bid rigging.

METHOD OF AWARD

All qualified proposals will be evaluated, and awards will be made to the Vendor(s) meeting the RFP

requirements and achieving the highest and best final evaluation which is best for WCPSS. Vendors SHALL

not be considered who are not approved or authorized by The State of North Carolina to do business with

The State of North Carolina. WCPSS reserves the right to waive any minor informality or technicality in

proposals received.

IMPORTANT: CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITED COMMUNICATIONS DURING EVALUATION

During the evaluation period—from the date proposals are opened through the date the contract is awarded—

each Vendor submitting a proposal (including its representatives, sub-contractors and/or suppliers) is prohibited

from having any communications with any person inside or outside of WCPSS regarding this solicitation. All

communication should be directed in written form to the WCPSS contact indicated on pages 1, 2, and 3.

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PURPOSE

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) IS soliciting proposals to provide a district-wide communication

software solution that will connect school leaders, teachers, and families through one central platform in over 100

languages.

BACKGROUND

For background purposes, The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is currently the largest school district

in North Carolina and the 15th largest in the United States. There are currently 200+ schools and programs serving

a student population of approximately 161,000, with approximately 20,000 staff. Wake County covers 854

square miles. Additional information about the school system can be accessed via the internet site

(www.wcpss.net).

SCOPE OF WORK

The minimum qualifications for the software solution are as follows:

● The software should allow schools and the district to connect school leaders, teachers, and families

through one central platform

● Two-way multilingual platform that allows teachers and parents to communicate in over 100 different

languages

● The software should allow users to:

○ Send SMS messages to all families with one click

○ Provide emergency notifications

○ Provide privacy and security

○ Allow for Student Information System (SIS) integration

○ Provide centralized analytics

○ Provide onboarding support and professional development

○ Provide an analytics dashboard and downloadable reports, showing usage from parents and staff

● The platform will need to accommodate a minimum of 160,000 students, and an unlimited number of

administrators/teachers at more than 200 different school sites.

● The service must include an unlimited number of teacher and administrator accounts

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

All vendors must complete the WCPSS Technical Questionnaire and sign the WCPSS Data Confidentiality Security

agreement as presented, without any alterations, redlines, or modifications before being considered.

Please indicate how your proposal will address the following specifications in each area. In terms of rostering and

user authentication, our acceptable methods are listed below. Bids must identify which methods are available.

User Account Provisioning

The system must allow for the use of the state’s unique student ID number to identify students as a master key

with their email address being the login ID.

Users must have individual and unique login credentials.

Accepted

SCIM 2.0

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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Solicitation Number:	251-27-94
Project Title:	COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE SOLUTION
Description:	DISTRICT-WIDE COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR CONNECTING ALL STAKEHOLDERS THROUGH A SINGLE PLATFORM
Opening Date:	4/8/2026 2:00 PM
Posted Date:	3/25/2026
Status:	Open
Department:	WAKE COUNTY BD OF EDUCATION


Solicitation Number * 251-27-94	Department WAKE COUNTY BD OF EDUCATION	Status Reason Open
Opening Date 2026-04-08T14:00:00.0000000	Posted Date * 2026-03-25T13:54:52.0000000Z	Primary Commodity Code Networking software
Mandatory Conference/Site Visit — —	Special Instructions —	Solicitation Type * Select RFP IFB RFI
Owner Petra Gooding
Description DISTRICT-WIDE COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE SOLUTION FOR CONNECTING ALL STAKEHOLDERS THROUGH A SINGLE PLATFORM

COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE SOLUTION

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See also