Project Information

Bid Title

RFP FOR ACCESS POINT AND NETWORK SWITCH REPLACEMENT

Issuing Agency

Jackson County School System

Location

Georgia

Published Date

Oct 28, 2025

Closing Date

Dec 2, 2025

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

RFP FOR ACCESS POINT AND NETWORK SWITCH REPLACEMENTÂ

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E-RATE Funding Year 2026

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

RFP #2026C2

470 # 260004052

Jackson County School System

1660 Winder Hwy

Jefferson, GA 30549

Access Point and Network Switch Replacement

PROCUREMENT TIMELINE

RFP ISSUED:

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION DEADLINE

PROPOSALS DEADLINE:

PROJECT START DATE:

PROJECT END DATE:

10/28/2025

11/11/2025

12/2/2025

PENDING FUNDING APPROVAL

9-30-27 +USAC APPROVED EXTENSIONS

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Trade Names and Alternatives –

For convenience in designation on the plans or in the specifications, certain articles or materials to be

incorporated in the work may be designated under a trade name or in the name of a manufacturer.

Whenever in specifications any materials, process, or article is indicated or specified by grade, patent,

or proprietary name or by name of manufacturer, such specification shall be deemed to be used for

the purpose of facilitating description of material, process or article desired and shall be deemed to

be followed by the words "or equal," and service provider may, unless otherwise stated, offer any

material, process or article which shall be substantially equal or better in every respect to that so

indicated or specified. Burden of proof as to equality of any material, process or article shall rest with

service provider. Service Provider shall submit request together with substantiating data for

substitution of any "or equal" item within the response by the closing of bids. Provision authorizing

submission of "or equal" justification data shall not in any way authorize an extension of time of bid

response.

Please note: All “or equal” components must not void and must be supported by

corresponding manufacturer warranty.

The District retains the right to be sole judge as to whether equivalency has been proven and

whether alternatives will be accepted.

Award of Contract

The District does not guarantee an award of a contract(s) and it reserves the right to select the

firm(s) that it considers to be in the best interest of the District. Award of contract may be

contingent upon the approval of funding from the Schools and Libraries Universal Service

Administrative Company (“USAC”).

The District reserves the right to award none, some, or all of the proposal. For instance, if a

response exceeds the E-rate funding limits set by USAC, the district may choose to only award

up to the E-rate funding limit, less or more.

The District reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, to negotiate with any or

all responsible submitters, and to waive any informality in the Proposal. Firms submitting

proposals shall be responsible for any and all expenses that they may incur in preparing

proposals.

Request for Proposal Preparation Cost

Costs for preparing responses and any other related material is the responsibility of the

VENDOR, and shall not be chargeable in any manner to the DISTRICT. The DISTRICT will not be

held liable for any cost incurred by VENDORS in responding to the RFP.

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Order Term

The district reserves the right to order quantities in any size lot or lots of quantities. Pricing

must remain firm for the period of April 1, 2026 thru September 30, 2027. The District reserves

the right to extend the intent to purchase for an additional annual term through September 30,

2028.

Right to Reject Any and All Quotes

The District reserves the right to reject any or all quotation submittals and to waive any

informalities or regularities. The Service Provider’s quotation submission is recognition of this

right.

In addition, the District reserves the right to fund, (proceed with project or purchase) or not to

fund, regardless of E-Rate approval.

The District reserves the right to award for some, all, or none of the products and services

sought herein.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA

The District, in compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules, will award to

the vendor(s) providing the most cost-effective service offering. Per the Sixth Report and Order,

FCC 10-175, FCC rules dictate the following:

§ 54.503 (c)(2)(vii) All bids submitted for eligible products and services will be carefully

considered, with price being the primary factor, and the bid selected will be for the most cost-

effective service offering consistent with § 54.511.

§ 54.511 Ordering Services (a) Selecting a provider of eligible services. In selecting a provider of

eligible services, schools, libraries, library consortia, and consortia including any of those entities

shall carefully consider all bids submitted and must select the most cost-effective service

offering. In determining which service offering is the most cost-effective, entities may consider

relevant factors other than the pre-discount prices submitted by providers, but price should be

the primary factor considered.

Therefore, the District may consider factors other than price alone in the consideration of bids;

price for E-rate eligible goods and services will be the primary factor considered.

SELECTION CRITERIA:

No.

Factor

Total Points

Available

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1

Cost of eligible goods and services

20

2

Cost of ineligible goods and services

15

3

Vendor quote meets or exceeds district's minimum specifications

15

4

Experience with district

15

5

Interoperability with existing network infrastructure

15

6

Local presence

10

7

Financial stability

10

Total Points

100

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

From the time of receipt of this RFP until the awarding of the contracts, bidders are hereby

cautioned to limit any communications with the District. All questions regarding this RFP must

be submitted via e-mail to Brett Irvin at dirvin@jcss.us (cc Audra Thayer at

athayer@csmcentral.com) by the deadline on Page 1. Please reference 470# 260004052 in the

subject line.

All addendum(s), questions and answers will be posted to the district’s website at

www.jacksonschoolsga.org in addition to the E-rate EPC website at

https://portal.usac.org/suite/

Please “Follow” the Form 470 to receive all EPC updates pertaining to the Form 470.

Any attempt to circumvent the RFP process by contacting personnel at this institution by other

means could result in the disqualification of the bidder.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

All offers may be submitted to the contact information below by the deadline indicated on Page

1. Please submit all proposals via email to:

Contact Information:

Brett Irvin

Director of Technology

dirvin@jcss.us

cc Audra Thayer at athayer@csmcentral.com

Offers must be received no later than the deadline noted above and clearly labeled in the

subject line “Access Point and Network Switch Replacement RFP.”

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It is the sole responsibility of each respondent to ensure all submittals and attachments are

received by the District before the deadline. The District assumes no responsibility for

transmission failures. Incomplete or partial proposals will not be considered or scored.

SCOPE OF WORK

Jackson County Schools is seeking to replace an existing installation of Meraki wireless access

points and network switches at Empower College & Career Center, Maysville Elementary, West

Jackson Middle School, East Jackson Middle School, and East Jackson High School. The current

environment consists of Meraki MR46 and MR86 access points, along with Meraki MS120,

MS130, MS250, and MS355 network switches.

The District is also seeking to replace a Cisco 9407R core switch at Jackson County High.

For the wireless access points only, the District is requesting installation and removal services.

For removal, vendors are requested to:

1. Remove existing access points and associated mounting hardware

2. Store removed equipment in the nearest data closet unless another location is specified

For installation of the Access Points, the District requests that vendors:

1. Physically label the new access points. Labels should contain the unit’s MAC address as

well as “Property of Jackson County School System.” The MAC address should be

printed in a font large enough to be seen from the ground level without needing to use

a ladder.

2. Install new mounting hardware, mount the access point, and plug in existing cabling (no

new cabling is requested or required).

3. For outdoor access points, vendors are requested to remove the existing access point

and mount and replace it with new equipment.

4. Enroll the access points in the cloud managed system.

5. Label the access points according to their location and room number within the cloud

management system.

The District also requests that providers include all related components required for fully

functional access points. If any other licensing is required for a fully functional product, the

District requests that these costs be quoted. If quoted separately, equipment warranties

should be quoted for a term of five years. No refurbished or grey market equipment is

acceptable.

If proposing an equivalent product, please submit data verifying equivalency with proposal. If

proposing a Meraki product, service providers should quote a 5-year Meraki subscription

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 238210Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors
• NAICS 541512Computer Systems Design Services
• NAICS 541519Other Computer Related Services

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