Back to Board Policies

Competitive bids or quotations shall be solicited in connection with purchases pursuant to law. The General Municipal Law requires that purchase contracts for materials, equipment, and supplies involving an estimated annual expenditure exceeding $20,000 and public work contracts involving an expenditure of more than $35,000 will be awarded only after responsible bids have been received in response to a public advertisement soliciting formal bids. Whenever reasonably possible, similar procurements to be made in a fiscal year will be grouped together for the purpose of determining whether a particular item must be bid.

Purchase contracts and public works contracts subject to competitive bidding will be awarded to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder; however, the Board authorizes that purchase contracts may be awarded on the basis of best value. “Best value” means optimizing quality, cost and efficiency. The basis for best value shall reflect, whenever possible, objective and quantifiable analysis and may also take into consideration small businesses or certified minority-owned or women-owned businesses.

Where permitted by law, purchases may be made through available cooperative BOCES bids, or by “piggybacking” onto contracts of the United States or agencies thereof or the federal General Services Administration (GSA), the New York State Office of General Services (OGS), departments or agencies of New York State, any New York State county, or any state or any county or political subdivision or district therein, whenever such purchases are in the best interests of the District or will result in cost savings to the District. In addition, the District will make purchases from correctional institutions and severely disabled persons through charitable or non-profit-making agencies, as provided by law.

It is the District’s responsibility to review each “piggybacking” contract corresponding to a proposed purchase, upon the advice of counsel as necessary, to determine whether the original contract does not conflict with state law or regulation, and meets the following requirements:

1. The contract must have been let by the United States, or any agency thereof, any state, or any other political subdivision or district therein;

2. The contract must have been made available for use by other governmental entities; including New York State local governments;

3. The contract must have been let to the lowest responsible bidder or on the basis of best value, in a manner consistent with General Municipal Law §103. Those main elements are: (a) public solicitation of bids or offers; (b) secure or confidential bids or offers; (c) use of a common standard for bidders or offers to compete fairly; and (d) awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, or responsible offeror of best value, which optimizes quality, cost, and efficiency.

Competitive Bidding

Purchase contracts and public works contracts subject to competitive bidding will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder; however, the Board  authorizes that purchase contracts may be awarded on the basis of best value, as defined in State Finance Law §163. Other exceptions to competitive bidding are outlined below.

In addition, the Board authorizes the receipt of sealed bids for purchase contracts in electronic format, pursuant to the provisions of General Municipal Law §103(1) which addresses proper documentation, authentication, security, and confidentiality of electronic bids.

The District shall comply with the requirements of General Municipal Law §103-g, which prohibits, with few exceptions, competitive bidding contracts with entities that invest significantly in the Iranian energy sector, as outlined in the accompanying regulation.

Purchase of Instructional Materials – Alternative Formats

In accordance with law, the District shall give a preference in the purchase of instructional materials to vendors who agree to provide materials in alternative formats. The term “alternative format” shall mean any medium or format for the presentation of instructional materials, other than a traditional print textbook, that is needed as an accommodation for a disabled student enrolled in the District (or program of a BOCES), including but not limited to Braille, large print, open and closed captioned, audio, or an electronic file in a format compatible with alternative format conversion software that is appropriate to meet the needs of the individual student.

Purchase of Cleaning and Maintenance Products

In accordance with law, regulation and guidelines set forth by the Office of General Services (OGS), the District will purchase and utilize environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products in its facilities whenever feasible. Cleansers purchased must, first and foremost, be effective so that the District may continue to purchase non-green products as necessary. Environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products will be procured in accordance with standard purchasing procedures as outlined in this policy and regulation.

Federal Programs

In order to ensure that the District avails itself of advantageous purchasing opportunities, the Board authorizes the Superintendent or designee  to represent the District in applying for federal programs designed to discount prices for goods and services. Specifically, the Purchasing Agent will abide by the rules and regulations associated with applying for telecommunications service discounts through the Universal Service Fund (E-Rate), in addition to complying with the local purchasing policies set forth by the Board. As with all purchasing activity, appropriate documentation of the application and purchase through any federal program will be maintained by the business office.

Federal Grants

In accordance with federal law, when procuring property and services under a federal grant, the District will take all necessary affirmative steps to assure that minority businesses, women’s business enterprises, (MWBEs) and labor surplus area firms, and products made in the United States of America, are used when possible 

Exceptions to Competitive Bidding

Goods and services which are not required by law to be procured by the District through competitive bidding will be procured in a manner so as to ensure the prudent and economical use of public monies, in the best interests of the taxpayers, to facilitate the acquisition of goods and services of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost under the circumstances, and to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, fraud, and corruption.

Alternative proposals or quotations will be secured by requests for proposals, written or verbal quotations or any other appropriate method of procurement, except for procurements:

1. under a county contract;

2. under a state contract;

3. under a federal contract;

4. under a contract of another political subdivision;

5. of articles manufactured in state correctional institutions; or

6. from agencies for the blind and severely disabled.

Goals of Purchasing Program

The District 's purchasing program will strive to meet the following objectives:

1. to effectively supply all administrative units in the school system with needed materials, supplies, and contracted services in a timely manner. In furtherance of that goal, at the Superintendent’s discretion and with prior Board approval, the purchasing agent may create a purchase order for cooperative purchases, but may not issue the purchase order until after budget approval during the current fiscal year and encumber the funds for the subsequent fiscal year; 

2. to obtain materials, supplies and contracted services at the lowest prices possible consistent with the quality and standards needed as determined by the Purchasing Agent in conformance with state law and regulation and in cooperation with the requisitioning authority. The educational and physical welfare of the students is the foremost consideration in making any purchase;

3. to ensure that all purchases fall within the framework of budgetary limitations and that they are consistent with the educational goals and programs of the District;

4. to maintain an appropriate and comprehensive accounting and reporting system to record and document all purchasing transactions; and 

5. to ensure, through the use of proper internal controls, that loss and/or diversion of District property is prevented.

Opportunities shall be provided to responsible suppliers to do business with the District. Suppliers whose place of business is situated within the District may be given preferential consideration only when bids or quotations on an item or service are identical as to price, quality, and other factors.  

The District will provide justification and documentation of any contract awarded to an offeror other than the lowest responsible dollar offeror, setting forth the reasons why such award is in the best interests of the District and otherwise furthers the purposes of section 104-b of the General Municipal Law.

The Purchasing Agent will not be required to competitively bid or secure alternative proposals or quotations for:

1. emergencies where time is a crucial factor;

2. procurements for which there is no possibility of competition (sole source items); 

3. professional services that require special skill or training;

4. purchases such as surplus or second-hand items from governmental entities, certain food and milk items, or goods and services from municipal hospitals;

5. very small procurements when solicitations of competition would not be cost-effective; or

6. where the District is purchasing through the contract of another governmental entity (“piggybacking”).

General Provisions

The Superintendent or designee, with the assistance of the Purchasing Agent, shall be responsible for the establishment and implementation of the procedures and standard forms for use in all purchasing and related activities in the District. Such procedures shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the state and the Commissioner of Education.

No Board member, officer, or employee of the District shall have an interest in any contract entered into by the Board or the District, as provided in Article 18 of the General Municipal Law.

 The unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions of section 104-b of the General Municipal Law or the District’s policies regarding procurement will not be grounds to void action taken or give rise to a cause of action against the District or any officer or employee of the District.

All District policies regarding the procurement processes will be reviewed by the Board at least annually.

Cross-ref: 6710, Purchasing Authority

6741, Contracting for Professional Services

Ref: Education Law §§305(14); 409-i; 1604(29-a); 1709(4-a)(9)(14)(22); 2503(7-a); 2554(7-a)

General Municipal Law §§102; 103; 104-b; 109-a; 800 et seq.

    State Finance Law 163-b

Adoption date: December 1, 1995

Amended date: February 26, 2008

Amended date: February 22, 2010

Amended date: November 21, 2016 

Amended date: December 18, 2017

Amended date: October 1, 2018

Amended date: September 9, 2019

Amended date: January 13, 2020

Reviewed date: December 9, 2020

Reviewed date: September 13, 2022

Amended date: March 6, 2023

Reviewed No Changes: August 28, 2023