V26270410RFP-ArchitectServicesRFP.pdf

Location:	California
Posted:	Aug 18, 2026
Due:	Sep 14, 2026
Agency:	Vista Unified School District
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	89 - Subsistence (Food)
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS/PROPOSALS

for

ARCHITECT SERVICES

RFQ/P# V26270410RFP

PROPOSAL DEADLINE DATE:

SEPTEMBER 14, 2026 2:00pm

SUBMIT TO:

VISTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

ATTN: MR. KEVIN LESKO,

DIRECTOR OF PURCHASING

1234 ARCADIA AVE

VISTA, CA 92084

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

The VISTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT (“District”) is requesting Statements of

Qualifications/Proposal for architect services.

A. Each firm shall submit one original unbound Statement of Qualifications/Proposal

and one (1) electronic version on a thumb drive in Adobe Portable Document

Format (PDF) format prominently marked with “Request for Qualifications/Proposal,

Architect services – V26270410RFP” and the name of the company submitting the

SoQ/P.

B. SoQ/P shall be submitted to the District, as follows:

1. Deadline for Submittal of Responses:

i. No later than 2:00 p.m. on September 14, 2026

ii. Late Responses will be returned unopened.

2. Method of delivery:

i. Hand delivery, FedEx, UPS or other mail/shipping service.

ii. Responses sent by Facsimile (FAX) or email will not be accepted.

iii. It is the responsibility of the Proposer to ensure that their proposal is

received in proper time.

iv. The Vista Unified School District is not responsible for any costs associated

with preparing the proposal or negotiating final agreement. Additionally,

this RFQ does not commit the Vista Unified School District to award a contract.

3. Delivery Address:

Mr. Kevin Lesko

Director - Purchasing Dept.

Vista Unified School District

1234 Arcadia Avenue

Vista, CA 92084

C. Proposers are required to disclose any relationships with the District and execute the non-

collusion affidavit included with this RFQ/P.

D. The original SoQ/P shall be submitted and signed by an authorized individual or officer of

the firm submitting the proposal.

E. Firms interested in submitting proposals will not contact District Governing Board

members, the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents or any other officials or staff of

the District. The District may reject proposals if a firm or its representatives make direct

contact with the District. Firms should only contact:

Mr. Kevin Lesko - kevinlesko@vistausd.org

Director - Purchasing Dept.

Vista Unified School District

1234 Arcadia Avenue

Vista, CA 92084

F. All written questions received will be answered in writing and published on the District’s

Purchasing Website:

https://www.vistausd.org/departments/businessservices/fiscal-services/purchasing.

Oral statements regarding this RFQ/P by any person(s) should be considered unverified

information unless confirmed in writing. To ensure a response, questions must be received

in writing via email to kevinlesko@vistausd.org before 2:00 pm August 28, 2026.

RFQ/P-Architect Services

Vista Unified School District

G. The Board of Education of the District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all SoQ/P

submittals and to negotiate with any or all responsible submitters. Submitters shall be

responsible for all expenses that they may incur in preparing proposals.

H. The District reserves the right to revise the RFQ/P up to and including September 4, 2026, for

issuance of clarifications and revisions to this RFQ/P. Revisions to the RFQ/P shall be

published on the District’s Purchasing Website:

https://www.vistausd.org/departments/businessservices/fiscal-services/purchasing

The District expressly reserves the right to extend the deadline by which proposals are due.

2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES REQUIRED

A. Introduction

The Vista Unified School District (“District”) is seeking Statements of Qualifications and

Proposals (RFQ/P) from licensed, highly qualified architectural firms to establish a pre-

qualified pool.

B. Background on the Project

The District is a large TK-12 unified school District in San Diego County, California. The

District serves approximately 17,500 students in the Communities of Vista, Oceanside, San

Marcos and unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

The District has 14 elementary sites, 4 middle school sites, 3 comprehensive high school

facilities, 2 alternative high schools, 1 early childhood special education center, 1 blended

learning/independent study middle/high school, 1 adult school, and 1 adult transition center

for a total of 27 school sites.

The District has four primary central office centers known as the Administrative Service

Center (Board, Superintendent, Human Resources, Fiscal Services, Business Services, and

Instructional Services), the Operational Service Center (Transportation, and Maintenance

and Operations), the Vista Innovation Center (Career Technical Education, Extended

Learning Services, Preschool, and Professional Development Center), and North Avenue

(IT and Child Nutrition Services). The District also has two school sites that are not in use

known as the Beaumont and Olive Street locations.

The District desires to have modernization, new construction, and renovation work planned,

designed, and constructed as outlined in the Long Range Facilities Master Plan, Revised

2026. The District is in the process of establishing a qualified pool of Architectural firms

which will allow the District to assign design services for future projects as needed. This

may also include projects as identified in the Long Range Facilities Master Plan. The exact

scope of design services will be determined at a time in the future and will be set forth in

an agreement between the District and the selected Architect(s).

All work is to be done by securing approvals from all relevant jurisdictional authorities,

most notably the Division of the State Architect (DSA) including DSA closeout and

certification, the California Department of Education (CDE), local fire authorities, and

health departments. All work will be coordinated with the District’s Facility Team which

may also include a third-party Construction Management Firm, a third-party Bond Support

Firm, Purchasing Team Members, and other District Employees.

RFQ/P-Architect Services

Vista Unified School District

All services must be performed in strict compliance with the California Education Code,

California Building Standards Code (Title 24), and California Public Contract Code.

Because projects may be funded through local general obligation bonds (e.g., Measure LL),

state matching funds, or developer fees, the selected firms must demonstrate a strong

working knowledge of Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and State

Allocation Board (SAB) requirements to ensure maximum funding eligibility.

The District may also contemplate potential selected replacement and/or maintenance

projects that may be performed prior to or in conjunction with modernization project work,

and for which the Architect may be asked to provide services to assure that such work can

be incorporated with modernization project work to assure code compliance.

The District will utilize responses to this request to create a pool of architects for these

modernization projects and/or future projects and/or to select one or more architects for

other capital and/or maintenance program projects that may include: modernization,

expansion, new construction, reconstruction, alteration, rehabilitation, repair, relocation,

reconfiguration, upgrades, closeouts, and other projects as may be identified, planned,

modified, or prioritized/reprioritized. Projects are to be assigned, and/or determined

through an informal competitive process within the awarded pool. The District may also

issue future solicitations that may augment or supersede this solicitation.

Being selected to this pool is not a guarantee of any work.

The District’s Long Range Facilities Master Plan can be viewed here for reference:

https://sites.google.com/view/vusdfmp/home

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3. ITEMS FOR INCLUSION IN PROPOSAL

All SoQ/P submittals shall address the following items in the order listed below and shall be

identified in the submitted SoQ/P to match the following list:

A. Description of Firm – This section should provide information regarding the size, location,

nature of work performed, years in business, and approach that will be used in meeting the

needs of the District.

B. Description of Projects – This section shall identify similar projects that the firm has

completed. Use this section of the Proposal to indicate the areas of expertise you have

previously provided and how the firm's expertise will enable the District to benefit from

that expertise. The District is requiring the firm (s) to have relevant experience in facility

master planning, school design for modernization, new construction, modular buildings,

relocatables, and school safety for K-12 schools in California, over the past five years.

Referenced projects should be projects managed by the firm responding to the RFQ/P. The

proposal shall include the following format:

RFQ/P-Architect Services

Vista Unified School District

PROJECT

NAME AND

LOCATION

DISTRICT’S NAME,

ADDRESS, CONTACT

PERSON, EMAIL. AND

TELEPHONE

COMPLETION

DATE

PROJECT COST

(above or below

the project

estimate)

COMMENTS

C. Background of Assigned Personnel – Identify all personnel and provide a brief resume

including pertinent experience of personnel who will be participating in this project.

Provide total number of professional staff employed by the firm. Identify persons that will

be principally responsible for working with the District. Indicate the role and responsibility

of each individual.

D. District Values Alignment

1. Equity & Inclusion: Vista Unified School District is dedicated to equity and inclusion.

Upon review of VUSD Board Policy 415 on Equity, provide examples of your

company's policy on equity and inclusion and provide examples of how it has guided

your recent work on at least two public school projects (grades T/K-14).

2. Sustainability: Vista Unified School District is dedicated to sustainability and

advancing work towards a carbon neutral economy including a Board Policy 3510 on

Green Schools and 3511 Energy and Water Management. Please provide examples

on your company's sustainability policies and adherence to sustainable building

practices and provide examples in your recent work on at least two public school

projects (grades T/K-14).

3. Local & Small Business: Utilization of Local Workforce, VUSD Alumni, Minority

/ Women Owned / Small Business: Our work seeks to support the improvement of

neighborhood schools. In support of equity and inclusion, please describe your

company's efforts to support the development of local workforces, alumni, women

owned, and small businesses in communities where you have built projects. Provide

examples in your recent work on at least two public school projects (grades T/K-14).

E. Means and Methods Experience

1. Project Labor Agreements - If a project were to have a PLA requirement, please

illustrate your company’s strategy to ensure proper bid coverage. Provide examples

of recent PLA public school projects (grades T/K-14) of similar size and value,

challenges associated with them (such as any additional project cost percent

increase and rebidding), and strategies that you used to address those challenges.

2. Contracting Methodology - A project may have one or more types of contracting

associated. For example, Lease Leaseback, CM Multi-Prime, or Design/Design

Build. Provide examples of your recent experience in each project contracting type.

Include a simple summary in Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats

(SWOT) format for each construction methodology that you are addressing.

3. Project Sizes - As projects may range in complexity and investment from small to

large, please indicate your firm's interests (not scored) in small, medium, and large

projects. Use the following as a general guideline: Small = 3-10 million dollars,

Medium 11-60 million dollars, large >60 million dollars

4. Project types - As projects are grouped into categories, indicate your firm's interest

(not scored) in specific project categories. For this section use the following project

categories as examples to address: (A) Major Modernization, (B) Fire, Life, Safety;

and/or (C) Innovative Facilities

F. Fees – Describe the method proposed for charging fees.

RFQ/P-Architect Services

Vista Unified School District

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

V26270410RFP-ArchitectServicesRFP.pdf

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