Project Information

Bid Title

RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

Issuing Agency

Minneapolis Public Schools

Location

Minnesota

Published Date

Feb 4, 2026

Closing Date

Mar 20, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Ref. #

RFP 26-11

Original Source

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Bid Inquiries

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

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MPS RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

Request for Proposal (RFP) for

Yellow Bus Student Transportation

RFP: 26-11

Minneapolis Public Schools - Special School District No. 1

1250 West Broadway Ave.

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411-2533

Issued: 02/04/2026

NOTICE: Pursuant to section 13.591 subdivision 3(b) of the Minnesota Statutes, after a

government entity has completed negotiating a contract with the selected vendor, all data in

RFP responses are public except for trade secret information as defined in section 13.37

subdivision 1(b). A statement that submitted data are copyrighted or otherwise protected does

not prevent public access to the data.

1

Minneapolis Public Schools

1250 W. Broadway Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55411

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us

MPS RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

Overview

A. Project Objective

B. Schedule of Proposal

C. Intention to Submit Proposals

D. Submission of Written Questions

E. Pre-Bid Conference

F. Changes to the RFP

G. Preparation of Proposal

H. Submission of Proposals

I. Withdrawal of Proposals

J. Finalist’s Presentations and Proof of Concept

K. Evaluation and Selection Process

L. Effective Period of Proposals

M. Bid Reservations

N. Notifications of Unsuccessful Vendors

O. Contract Negotiations

P. Award of Contract

Q. Contract Term

R. Disposition of and Public Access to Proposals

S. Cost Incurred in Responding

T. Assignment

U. Causes for Termination

II.

Scope of Services

A. Project Background

B. Yellow Bus Student Transportation Services Goals & Values

C. Transportation Services Organization

III.

General Business Information

A. General Business Requirements

B. Qualifications and Experience

C. Supplier and Employee Equity & Diversity, Sustainability and Community Engagement

D. Business Ethics

E. Service Level Expectations

F. Fees & Costs

G. Reporting

H. Billing and Payment

IV. Project Scope

A. Daily Operations

B. Drivers

C. Fleet

D. Safety

E. Technology

F. Fuel

V.

Appendix Requirements

VI. MPS Appendix Documents

2

Minneapolis Public Schools

1250 W. Broadway Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55411

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us

MPS RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

SECTION I: OVERVIEW

A. Project Objective

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is seeking proposals from organizations and individuals wishing to

provide yellow bus student transportation services.

Minneapolis Public Schools or Special School District Number 1 (SSD #1) is a school district that is

coterminous with the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota. With authority granted by the state legislature, the

school board makes policy, selects the superintendent, and oversees the district's budget, curriculum,

personnel, and facilities. Students speak ninety different languages at home and most school

communications are printed in English, Hmong, Spanish, and Somali. The District covers over 70 school

programs at 65 sites, with approximately 29,900 students and 3,285 teaching staff.

The District intends to select one or more vendors to provide the necessary yellow bus transportation

services for the district. To facilitate the submission and evaluation of proposals, this proposal provides

additional background information regarding MPS that will be relevant to the proposal of student

transportation services.

RFP Primary Objective 1: Gain a thorough understanding of a vendor's organization, ability and

experience in order to successfully provide yellow bus student transportation services that meets the

needs of the district for the next 5 years.

RFP Primary Objective 2: Gain a thorough understanding of a vendor’s total costs for providing yellow bus

student transportation services. Including but not limited to: general and special education runs,

afterschool program runs, intra school shuttles, and field and athletic trips.

RFP Primary Objective 3: To select a vendor with strong operational processes, robust and steady

organizational staffing and proven performance history to provide exceptional yellow bus transportation

service for students, families and the district.

B. Schedule of Proposal

1. Issue RFP:

2/04/26

2. Written Questions Due:

2/19/26

3. Intention to Submit:

2/19/26

4. Pre-Bid Conference:

3/02/26

5. Responses to Questions:

3/06/26

6. Proposals Due:

3/20/26 2pm

7. Finalists Selected & notified:

4/10/26

8. Finalist Presentations:

4/20/26 – 4/24/26

9. Board materials uploaded for approval: 5/04/26

10. District Approval

5/12/26

11. Award bid – Selection:

5/13/26

12. Contracts w/signature due:

5/19/26

13. Board materials for approval:

6/01/26

14. District Approval-Award FY27 Contracts: 6/09/26

15. Implementation:

7/01/26

C. Mandatory Intention to Submit Proposals

APPENDIX 1 (a) & Conflict of interest form APPENDIX 1 (b) are mandatory to submit. Failure to submit

both will result in automatic disqualification from the RFP Process.

In order for your organization to receive updates to this Request for Proposal, including responses to

submitted questions from all participating firms, please complete Appendix 1 (a) Intention to Submit a

3

Minneapolis Public Schools

1250 W. Broadway Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55411

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us

MPS RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

Proposal by 2/19/26 and Appendix 1 (b) Conflict of Interest. This document can be emailed to

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us or brought to the Pre-Bid Conference. This will allow the District to provide timely

information to interested parties. These document are mandatory documents, if these are not submitted

by email by 2/19/26; the organization will not be able to participate in RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student

Transportation Services.

D. Submission of Written Questions

All questions about the RFP shall be submitted by e-mail by 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on or before

2/19/26 to: RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us. The District will provide written responses to questions from

prospective Proposers no later than 3/6/26 EOD. There will be an opportunity at the Pre-Bid conference

to ask additional questions; however after this date no questions or inquiries will be allowed.

E. Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference

The District will hold a mandatory pre-bid conference on 3/2/26, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Central Standard

Time in the District’s administration offices at 1250 West Broadway Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Security staff or an MPS staff member will direct attendees to the meeting room. The District will answer

any additional follow-up questions at this time. No questions or inquiries will be allowed beyond the pre-

bid conference. Any unauthorized contact with any other district official or employee in connection with

this RFP is prohibited and shall be cause for disqualification of the proposer.

F. Changes to the RFP

Vendors who are registered with MPS for this RFP will be notified by email of any changes in the

specifications contained in this RFP. If any changes are issued to this RFP, a good faith attempt will be

made to deliver the additional information to those persons or firms who, according to the records of

MPS, have previously received a copy of and are registered (on the Intent to Submit form) with the

District for this RFP.

G. Preparation of Proposal

1. Careful attention must be paid to all requested items contained in this Request for Proposal. Please

read the entire package before bidding. Each proposal shall be prepared simply and economically

avoiding the use of elaborate promotional materials beyond what is sufficient to provide a complete,

accurate, and reliable presentation.

2. For ease of review, the proposals must follow the outline in Section III and IV of this request for

proposal. Each response should be clearly numbered and the full question listed.

3. Each page of the proposal must be sequentially numbered and include the proposing organization’s

name.

4. RFP must be double-spaced, with at least than one-inch margins. Font must be at least 12-point. Any

RFP submitted that is not double-spaced, uses margins less than 1-inch, and smaller than 12-point

font will not be reviewed. There will be no exceptions.

5. Each response to questions in Section III and IV of the RFP must be appropriately labeled (e.g.,

Section III: General Business Questions, A. General Business Requirements, Question #1; etc.).

6. The RFP narrative for Section III-IV may not exceed 100 pages total, not including appendices. RFPs

exceeding 100 pages in Section III-IV will not be reviewed. There will be no exceptions.

7. Some questions in this RFP will require organizations to submit documents as an Appendix.

Applicants may wish to submit additional supplemental materials to support responses to questions

in Section III and IV. If an applicant intends to include supplemental materials with responses to

questions in Sections III and IV of the RFP, separate appendices for each part must be developed.

Each appendix should be clearly labeled (e.g., Appendix A: References, etc.).

8. All appendix materials (e.g., sample letters, curricula, lesson plans, progress reports, academic

effectiveness data, etc.) must be labeled with the name of the organization and reference the

appropriate section and question (e.g., Section C: Description of Expected Services 1a). Although

there is no page limitation for the Appendix, the appendix should not be excessive in length.

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Minneapolis Public Schools

1250 W. Broadway Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55411

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us

MPS RFP 26-11 Yellow Bus Student Transportation

Applicants should also ensure the appendix items are appropriately described and referenced in

the narrative section of the RFP.

9. The RFP must be submitted in the appropriate order. Each part of the RFP should be separated with

a section divider page listing the title of the next part of the RFP that is enclosed. All RFPs should

follow the order below:

a. Organization Information Cover Page (Provided in attached Appendix 2)

b. Table of Contents

c. Section III- General Business Information

d. Section IV- Project Scope

e. Appendix Materials

10. Additional circumstances that may lead to RFP not being reviewed and/or selected:

a. RFP was received after the deadline, which includes not on the deadline date but also after

the deadline time.

b. Applicant does not intend to complete criminal history checks on employees.

c. Applicant’s previous clients have significant complaints regarding the quality of the Title

services, communication issues, or other problems.

d. Any section of the RFP is missing or incomplete.

e. The RFP does not meet length, font, or other formatting requirements.

H. Submission of Proposals

In order to be considered for selection, organizations must submit a signed electronic (.pdf) response to

this solicitation no later than 2:00 p.m. on 3/20/26. Late proposals shall not be accepted. Electronic

copies must be submitted to: RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us.

No other distribution of the proposal shall be made by the organization. It is the sole responsibility of the

organization to assure that the proposal is delivered to the designated district office in Item H, above,

prior to the deadline. No proposal received after the deadline will be considered. No unsolicited

corrected or resubmitted proposals will be accepted after the proposal submission deadline. CD-ROMs

and/or USB flash drives will not be returned.

I. Withdrawal of Proposals

A proposal may be withdrawn by the vendor prior to the date and time for submittal of proposals by

means of a written request signed by the vendor or its properly authorized representative. Such written

request must be delivered to RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us. This written request can be either electronic or a

hard copy format.

J. Finalist’s Presentation

The District’s RFP Evaluation Committee will invite finalists to meet with the evaluation team the week of

4/20/26 – 4/24/26. The District is requesting that all finalists provide a presentation of their ability to

meet the needs of this RFP. The Evaluation Committee will attend and score vendor demonstrations. This

is a mandatory presentation for the finalists selected.

K. Evaluation and Selection Process

1. The Yellow Bus Student Transportation Evaluation Committee members will include, but is not be

limited to a minimum of one member from at least two departments to be named by the

Transportation Department. Potential participating committee members from departments could

include, but not be limited to:

a. Transportation

b. Special Education

c. Finance

5

Minneapolis Public Schools

1250 W. Broadway Ave

Minneapolis, MN 55411

RFX@mpls.k12.mn.us

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 485410School and Employee Bus Transportation
• NAICS 485510Charter Bus Industry

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