Posted on September 3, 2012 at 8:30 PM

Girard at Large challenges issuance of Request for Proposal (RFP) to obtain consulting services intended to investigate the ongoing upset and upheaval at Mountain View Middle School.  The RFP can be found here.

We will continue to bring you the answers to these controversies.  Below, please find our initial Right to Know request, Superintendent Stacy Buckley’s response, and our reply in the order they were exchanged.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: MVMS Consulting RFP
From:
Date: Sat, August 25, 2012 8:09 pm
To: “Stacy Buckley”

 

Stacy,

I’m glad to see that you’ve issued a formal RFP for MVMS consulting services.  Now that this has been done, please respond to the following questions.

1)  What will be done with the proposals submitted prior to the issuance of the RFP?

2)  Were any bidders not solicited by you prior to the issuance of this RFP ever interviewed?  If so, when?  If not, why not?  Given that you publicly stated you would interview ALL who submitted bids, I believe it is important this question be answered to better enlighten the public on the process you’ve followed in this matter.

3)  I can’t seem to find the school board vote authorizing you to issue the RFP.  If there was on, kindly provide the record of the vote.  If there is not one, please provide whatever state law or other governing document, policy or practice that enables you to issue an RFP without the approval of the governing authority.

Thank you,

RH Girard

 

 

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: MVMS Consulting RFP
From: “Stacy Buckley”
Date: Thu, August 30, 2012 8:11 am
To:

 

Responses are below.

Stacy

From: rich@girardatlarge.com [mailto:rich@girardatlarge.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2012 8:09 PM
To: Stacy Buckley
Subject: MVMS Consulting RFP

Stacy,

I’m glad to see that you’ve issued a formal RFP for MVMS consulting services.  Now that this has been done, please respond to the following questions.

1)  What will be done with the proposals submitted prior to the issuance of the RFP? They will be kept in our records.

 

2)  Were any bidders not solicited by you prior to the issuance of this RFP ever interviewed?  If so, when?  If not, why not?  Given that you publicly stated you would interview ALL who submitted bids, I believe it is important this question be answered to better enlighten the public on the process you’ve followed in this matter. Please note RFP – second to last paragraph on page 6.

 

3)  I can’t seem to find the school board vote authorizing you to issue the RFP.  If there was on, kindly provide the record of the vote.  If there is not one, please provide whatever state law or other governing document, policy or practice that enables you to issue an RFP without the approval of the governing authority.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

 

http://goffstown.k12.nh.us/SB/attachments/014_Approved%2006-04-12%20GSB%20Minutes.pdf

 

Thank you,

RH Girard

 

 

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: MVMS Consulting RFP
From:
Date: Mon, September 03, 2012 12:41 pm
To: “Stacy Buckley”

Additional questions below, Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 in red:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: MVMS Consulting RFP
From: “Stacy Buckley” <sbuckley@goffstown.k12.nh.us>
Date: Thu, August 30, 2012 8:11 am
To: <rich@girardatlarge.com>

Responses are below.

Stacy

From: rich@girardatlarge.com [mailto:rich@girardatlarge.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2012 8:09 PM
To: Stacy Buckley
Subject: MVMS Consulting RFP

Stacy,

I’m glad to see that you’ve issued a formal RFP for MVMS consulting services.  Now that this has been done, please respond to the following questions.

1)  What will be done with the proposals submitted prior to the issuance of the RFP? They will be kept in our records.


Given that the were not solicited via a public process, why will they not be discarded to ensure that all bidders solicited via this RFP are, in fact, on equal footing?

2)  Were any bidders not solicited by you prior to the issuance of this RFP ever interviewed?  If so, when?  If not, why not?  Given that you publicly stated you would interview ALL who submitted bids, I believe it is important this question be answered to better enlighten the public on the process you’ve followed in this matter. Please note RFP – second to last paragraph on page 6.


If this is the paragraph you referred to, please explain how it addresses the public statements you made advising that you would interview the three unsolicited bidders who came forward after news coverage of your activites.  At issue here is what you said you would do versus what you did.  Here’s the paragraph I pulled:
The district reserves the right, where it may serve its best interest, to request additional information or clarifications from firms, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions.  At the discretion of the district, firms submitting proposals may be requested to make presentations as part of the evaluation process.

 

3)  I can’t seem to find the school board vote authorizing you to issue the RFP.  If there was on, kindly provide the record of the vote.  If there is not one, please provide whatever state law or other governing document, policy or practice that enables you to issue an RFP without the approval of the governing authority.

http://goffstown.k12.nh.us/SB/attachments/014_Approved%2006-04-12%20GSB%20Minutes.pdf

I have read these minutes and can find no presentation of an RFP to the School Board for its consideration, nor can I find a motion authorizing you to either develop one for their review or issue one to the public.  Absent this routine activity to issue an RFP, I’m obligated to ask just how what you provided meets either the procedures of the school board or the laws governing this process. 

Thank you,

RH Girard

 

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: MVMS Consulting RFP
From: “Stacy Buckley” <sbuckley@goffstown.k12.nh.us>
Date: Thu, September 06, 2012 4:01 pm
To: <rich@girardatlarge.com>

Rich,
There is no law or regulation requiring a motion by a school board to create or develop an RFP.
Your other questions do not appear to comply with any 91-A:4 request.   If you are requesting a specific document of the public body, please let me know what you would like.
Stacy
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: MVMS Consulting RFP
From:
Date: Sat, September 15, 2012 11:21 am
To: “Stacy Buckley”

If this is true, Stacy, how come you told me the training services provided by SERESC, the ones you later said were paid for by a grant obtained by the Hampton school district, “didn’t meet the the threshold” necessary to issue an RFP?

Please advise.

Rich