SLED Opportunity · ARIZONA · TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
AI Summary
Tucson Unified School District seeks a qualified provider for comprehensive athletic training services for high school sports, including staffing, scheduling, event coverage, and medical oversight. The RFP emphasizes flexible support, quality assurance, and campus culture integration, with a proposal due by April 23, 2026.
The purpose of this RFP is to secure a qualified third-party provider to supply comprehensive athletic training services, including staffing, scheduling, event coverage, medical oversight, and athletic program management. Athletic Trainer (AT) services are focused on high school sports (grades 9 through 12) and may eventually include middle school (grades 7 and 8) as the program expands.
Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) is comprised of 88 school sites and is the largest and oldest school district in Tucson, Arizona, serving approximately 40,000 students. Services would be expected for sporting events at the high school level and should focus on standardized approaches to support athletes in the district. TUSD is seeking a flexible, all-inclusive approach to athletic training support services that promotes the autonomy of scheduling and staffing in the role of the vendor selected. TUSD will expect the vendor to participate in a quarterly quality assurance model, collect data on services, and provide oversight of their own staff (recruitment, evalulation, retainment, and termination). The vendor will ensure coverage for events should the regularly-assigned AT is absent. TUSD is very campus-culture focused, so the focus of the vendor should be to retain the AT at the same site as long as possible, require them to become part of the school site's culture, and support a high-quality customer support model. TUSD also believes that we are all community; if services are required for visiting teams without an AT, TUSD expects the vendor to provide "courtesy" support to the visiting team at the time of injury.
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Public Bid Opening | 2026-04-23T21:00:00.000Z | Join Zoom Meeting https://tusd1.zoom.us/j/87692500491?pwd=xFl1makgyk0cm3OC7PQ5447XT8Iwel.1 View meeting insights with Zoom AI Companion https://tusd1.zoom.us/launch/edl?muid=f20e687e-afc0-4049-a7ad-cc515d5cce90&from=plugin Meeting ID: 876 9250 0491 Passcode: 895619 |
The price or cost of the Proposal. Price or cost is a significant factor but not the most important factor.
The Offeror’s ability and readiness to fully perform according to the scope of work and other requirements of the Solicitation, taking into consideration any additional services, specialized services or expertise offered that would meet or exceed the requirements of the Solicitation.
The responsiveness of the Proposal to the requirements of the RFP, including an understanding of the scope of work and how it can be achieved most efficiently and effectively.
The Offeror’s experience in performing comparable projects with appropriate staffing and timely completion of goals.
Method of approach and/or implementation of services. Breadth and depth of services and perceived compliance with the scope of work. Includes references and past performance.
While cost is a significant factor in considering the placement of the awards, it is not the only factor. The award will not be based on price alone, nor will it be based solely upon the lowest fees submitted.
Consideration of qualifications will include additional best value services, ability to address environmental needs or expertise offered that exceed the requirements, or the Offeror’s inability to meet some of the requirements of the specifications/scope of work. Provide documentation of professional memberships, certifications, and licenses.
Explanatory Note: The purpose of this question is to confirm the Bidder’s or Offeror’s acknowledgement and acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Solicitation, subject to any exceptions or modifications to terms or conditions that are expressly requested in the form or that have been requested and approved prior to submission of the Offer. All exceptions or modifications to the Solicitation, regardless of whether the District approved such items prior to submission of the Offer, must be clearly set forth in this form.
The Offeror, by the undersigned representative, acknowledges and accepts all terms and conditions of the Solicitation, except as expressly noted below or in the additional pages attached hereto. As used in this form, “terms and conditions of Solicitation” means all terms, conditions, specifications, certifications and warranties set forth in the documents that comprise the Solicitation, including the Uniform Instructions for Offers, Special Rules for Offers (if any), General Terms and Conditions of Contract, Special Requirements of Solicitation (if any), Specifications/Scope of Work, and Solicitation Addendums (if any).
If you requested a deviation/exception under the Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of the Solicitation, please clearly explain the requested exception/deviation. Reference the specific language that you are taking exceptions/deviations to. Unacceptable deviations/exceptions shall remove your proposal from consideration for award. Tucson Unified School District shall be the sole judge on the acceptance of exceptions/deviations and their decision shall be final.
Enter N/A if this does not apply.
Explanatory Note: The purpose of this form is to request that the District treat as confidential specific information in the Offer that the Offeror or Bidder believes is a trade secret or other proprietary information. All information that is the subject of the request for confidentiality must be designated on the page or pages of the Offer in which it appears. An explanatory statement for the request must be clearly set forth in this form. Additional pages may be attached to the form. The District Representative shall review the statement and provide the determination in writing whether the information shall be protected. If the District Representative determines that the information shall be protected from disclosure, the District Representative shall inform the Bidder or Offeror in writing of such determination. Requests to protect pricing information or the entire Offer from disclosure will be denied.
The Offeror, by the undersigned representative, requests that the specific information, described below and identified on the page or pages of the Offer in which it appears, be treated as confidential information and protected from disclosure to the public.
1. Description of specific information that is the subject of the request.
2. The reason or reasons why the information should be treated as confidential.
Enter N/A if this does not apply
The Contractor must list below the Trade, Company name, license and classification numbers of all qualified subcontractors and/or suppliers they will employ for the various portions of the work indicated. Failure on the part of the Contractor to complete this list properly may constitute sufficient grounds to reject the bid. If no subcontractors will be listed please indicate with a N/A
Example: Trade, Company Name, ROC License #, ROC License Classification
The Contractor must list below the Trade, Company name, license and classification numbers of all qualified subcontractors and/or suppliers they will employ for the various portions of the work indicated. Failure on the part of the Contractor to complete this list properly may constitute sufficient grounds to reject the bid. If no subcontractors will be listed please indicate with a N/A
Example: Trade, Company Name, ROC License #, ROC License Classification
You the Vendor do confirm that your persons, corporation, or company who makes the accompanying Proposal, having first been duly sworn, deposes and says:
That such Proposal is genuine and not sham or collusive, nor made in the interest of, or behalf of, any persons not herein named, and that the Offeror has not directly or indirectly induced or solicited any other Offeror to put in a sham proposal, or any other person, firm or corporation to refrain from offering, and that the Offeror has not in any manner sought by collusion to secure for itself an advantage over any other Offeror.
The Offer and Acceptance form within the Solicitation shall be submitted with the Offer and shall include a signature by a person authorized to sign the Offer. The signature shall signify the Offeror’s intent to be bound by the Offer and the terms of the Solicitation and, further, that the information provided is true, accurate, and complete. Failure to submit verifiable evidence of intent to be bound, such as a signature, may result in rejection of the Offer.
Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.
Please complete the following downloadable forms and upload them in their respective questions.
Please upload your complete W-9 here
Please upload your complete COI here
Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.
The form of contract for any award made as a result of this proposal will be a district purchase order, referencing this bid, which shall be considered a part of the contract. The amount will be based upon the fees shown in the bid, and will take into consideration previous and anticipated expenses for the forthcoming year. If your firm will require the District to sign an additional or separate contract, a copy of the proposal contract must be included with the proposal.
Please Upload your RFP Response HERE. Do NOT including pricing in this area. There will be another place to upload your Cost Proposal.
Please upload your complete COST PROPOSAL here. Please make sure that this information is NOT included in the RFP Response Area.
These questions will be utilized to confirm information you provide
Please enter your company's Legal Name and/or dba Name:
Please enter your company's Legal Name and/or dba Name:
Please check all you will require in Special Terms and Conditions
If you click yes, additional verbiage will be added to special requirements tab
Please choose which insurance requirements you will need for this project
Yes = Acceptable
No = Unacceptable
This sealed solicitation may be awarded to one vendor or to multiple vendors depending upon the goods/services required. Please indicate your intent.
Q (Bid Format): Is there a specific format that you want?
A: Please follow the instructions in responding within OpenGov, we will not accept any other form of response.
Q (Number of schools): How many schools are we talking about for next school year?
A: Please read the scope of work section as all this information is in there.
Q (Number of Athletic Trainers): Are you looking for a specific number of athletic trainers (ATs)? How many Head Athletic Trainers? How many assistant athletic trainers (Like THMS) ? Do you want float ATs for covering PTO days, special events and tournaments?
A: Please read the scope of work section as all this information is in there.
Q (Term): Do you want a specific term (1 year, 3years?)?
A: Please read the RFP terms and conditions as this information is in there.
Q (Existing FTE's): The RFP mentioned possible retention of existing TUSD Athletic Trainers. How many current FTEs are anticipated to still be employed by TUSD at the start of this contract; and are when do you expect those contracts to end? Is the intention of TUSD for those ATs to become employees of the vendor?
A: There are 3 internal ATs that are expected to resolve through attrition in the next five years (only by projection). TUSD internal ATs will remain employed with TUSD and outsourced based on attrition. It would be ideal for the internal AT to remain TUSD employed but oversight by practice through the external vendor (including training, monitoring of credentials, etc.).
Q (Staffing Levels): If the current expectation for 10 FTE positions to provide the appropriate coverage? Is the district open to expanding that number as vendor's recommendation? How many part-time employees or contractors does TUSD currently engage with to deliver care?
A: 10 FTE positions are the expected base coverage. Scalability based on vendor recommendations are encouraged as they would be considered the content expert with medical oversight to provide the recommendations. At this time all ATs are full-time from one external vendor in combination with internal ATs to be replaced with outsourced services with attrition.
Q (High School Athletic Numbers ): The RFP identified 88 sites and over 40,000 students. How many TUSD high schools sponsor athletics and how are they currently staffed for the delivery of athletic training services? Please name each high school and specify the approximately number of unique student-athletes participating annually at each school (don't count dual or tri-sprot athletes more than once).
A: The district supports approximately 7000 student athletes district-wide, high school level. The goal is to expand to middle schools over time, so there needs to be scalibility opportunities in the future. The schools that are covered at this time are Tucson High School, Cholla High School, Catalina High School, Santa Rita High School, Sabino High School, Pueblo High School, Rincon/UHS High School, Sahuaro High School, and Palo Verde High School.
Q (Physician Oversight): Who is currently providing physician supervision of TUSD athletic trainers? Is there an opportunity to continue to work with that "team doctor"?
A: TUSD currently has multiple medical directors oversighting different programs. The goal is to consolidate under one model. That would have to be negotiated with the current provider.
Q (Current Staffing Model): Are current TUSD athletic trainers directly employed by the district or through an outside vendor?
A: Currently, TUSD ATs mixed between internal and external providers. The goal is to completely outsource the ATs to an external vendor through attrition up to 10 FTE.
Q (Medical Record Documentation System): The RFP seems ambiguous on this. Please clarify is this RFP asking for the vendor to include an electronic medical record system solution in the bid? What system is currently in place for athletic trainer medical documentation, and are you happy with it?
A: The current system is ATS and they do not want to change systems. ATS would remain.
Q (Clarification on Insurance Requirements): We noted that the insurance requirements outlined in Section 4.8 (page 21) differ from those listed in Section 5.12 (pages 30–31), including liability limits and professional liability requirements. Could you please clarify which set of insurance requirements will govern for this contract, and whether one section should be considered authoritative for proposal compliance?
A: As noted on page 21, since there is insurance limits listed in the special specifications section, you follow those.
Q (Scope & Expansion): The RFP notes potential future inclusion of middle schools. Should proposers include middle school coverage in their pricing, or will that be addressed separately if expanded?
A: That would be an additional consideration. At this time, we are only looking for high school coverage as a minimum expectation.
Q (Medical Oversight): Is the selected vendor expected to provide and manage a supervising/medical director physician, or will the District supply this role?
A: The vendor will provide, manage, and supervise a physician for medical direction as part of their proposal. TUSD will not be providing this role.
Q (Equipment / Facilities): What athletic training equipment, supplies, and facilities are currently available at each high school, and what is the vendor expected to provide?
A: At this time, there are dedicated trainer treatment locations at each high school and some external sites (i.e., Cherry Field). TUSD will provide the consumables within a designated budget. Capital equipment would also be a responsibility of TUSD as funding sources allow.
Q (Contract Structure Clarification): Section 3.7 indicates the District may award multiple contracts, while Section 5.3 states the intent to award to a single vendor. Can the District confirm whether this solicitation will result in a single award or if multiple awards remain a possibility?
A: The intent is to award to a single vendor, however the district reserves the right to award to multiple vendors if deemed advantageous.
Q (Concussion Management Software): Does TUSD currently utilize a concussion management software for baseline and post-injury assessment (examples: ImPact or SWAY)? Is it the expectation of TUSD that the selected vendor will provide those services and include the cost of that software?
A: TUSD uses SWAY and IMPACT for concussion management, but it was covered through a grant which has expired this year. TUSD is assessing funding opportunities for this support but has not reached decision. TUSD would welcome this coverage as part of the proposal.
Q (Vendor Staff Approval Requirements): What are TUSD's requirements for the vendor's staff prior to approval to work with students? Are there any mandatory district trainings for vendor's staff? Does TUSD require vendor's staff to undergo additional clearance by TUSD such as background check, drug testing, finger printing or other screenings before working with students? If so, who is responsible for these costs?
A: TUSD requires proof of immunity to MMR and a Department of Public Safety IVP Level 1 background card. As the vendor would be the employer of record for non-TUSD ATs, that would be the only requirement anticipated. The cost is the responsibility of the employee.
Q (Middle School Nunbers): This is not a duplicate. Prior question asked for high school numbers.... The RFP identified 88 sites and over 40,000 students. How many TUSD middle schools sponsor athletics and how are they currently staffed for the delivery of athletic training services? Please name each middle school and specify the approximately number of unique student-athletes participating annually at each middle school (don't count dual or tri-sprot athletes more than once).
A: At this time, ATs do not cover middle schools; they are only assigned to high schools.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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