SLED Opportunity · ARIZONA · TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
AI Summary
Tucson Unified School District seeks a content filtering provider to enhance network security and ensure CIPA compliance for 6,500 staff and 40,000 students.
Tucson Unified School District is seeking to enhance the security of its network and network traffic through the implementation of a new content filtering provider. TUSD serves approximately 6,500 staff members and 40,000 students who rely on district networks daily. Given this volume of users and traffic, it is essential that the District maintain full CIPA compliance while ensuring reliable, effective content filtering and access controls to protect students, staff, and district resources.
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Public Bid Opening | 2026-03-31T20:30:00.000Z | https://tusd1.zoom.us/launch/edl?muid=546658c0-57a3-43bf-bd5e-9b0745857b8c&from=plugin Meeting ID: 833 1693 7231 Passcode: 587417 |
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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.
Method of approach and/or implementation of services. Breadth and depth of services and perceived compliance with the scope of work.
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
ATTENTION: Architects, Engineers, Consultants, Contractors, Sub- contractors, Craftsmen and Vendors. The following information is extremely important and must be adhered to without exception:
Asbestos Contained Building Materials (ACBM) will not be used on any project within the Tucson Unified School District. ACBM is defined as any building material having an asbestos content of 1% or more. Typical examples of materials that may contain asbestos and therefore would be considered ACBM are: vinyl asbestos tile, certain forms of adhesive used to hold vinyl tile, certain forms of adhesive used to hold cove base molding, some thermal insulation, and transite paneling. The above list is not complete but merely represents some of the material more commonly found on job sites that are ACBM. As per EPA guidelines, some roofing material used on the exterior of the buildings may be considered ACBM. Address any questions concerning asbestos to Jacqueline Posey at (520) 225-6080.
Solder and paint with any amount of lead is no longer authorized, and will not be used in any District projects.
HOLD HARMLESS: Interface of work under this contract with work containing asbestos shall be executed by the contractor at risk and discretion with full knowledge of the currently accepted standards, hazards, risks and liabilities associated with asbestos work and asbestos containing products. By execution of this contract, the contractor acknowledges the above and agrees to hold harmless the owner, employees and agents and assigns for all asbestos liability which may be associated with respect to the above-mentioned standards, hazards, risks and liabilities.
I have read the above information and will comply.
Confirm that you will comply with the ASBESTOS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIAL STATEMENT
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 (1. Existing Content Filtering Platform): What is your current content filtering platform (current vendor & model)?
A: TUSD is currently using Cisco Umbrella.
Q (Cisco Umbrella use case): Thank you for that information. What services does the district currently utilize from Cisco Umbrella? (DNS, Secure Web gateway, Secure internet access, secure private access)
A: We are looking to expand the current capabilities of the content filter type in use, while avoiding additional hardware costs if possible.
Q (Complimentary Services): Would the district consider and potentially award services beyond those specifically listed, provided they fall within the same category as the K-12 Content Filtering and Digital Safety Services outlined in this RFP?
A: Yes
Q (Other Digital Safety Service Providers): Does the district currently utilize other digital safety providers, such as solutions that monitor student email or cloud storage accounts?
A: Yes
Q (Certificate of Insurance): We will be providing a copy of our COI for this initial submission, but need to determine the requirement for endorsement of the district prior to receiving an awarded contract. Can you please confirm if these steps outlined below related to endorsement of the district are necessary during this initial round, or can endorsement be added if a contract is awarded or going to be awarded? "The policy shall be endorsed to include the following specific language: "Tucson Unified School District is named as additional insured with respect to liability arising out of the activities performed by, or on behalf of Contractor." "The policy shall be endorsed to include the following language: "Tucson Unified School District is named as an additional insured with respect to liability arising out of the activities performed by, or on behalf of Contractor, including automobiles owned, leased, hired or borrowed by Contractor."
A: This can be completed and provided if awarded the contract.
Q (Cost Proposal): Is there a standard format for the Cost Proposal that is required, or, is it up to the vendor to submit in their own format?
A: Up to the vendor to submit their own cost.
Q (Further Clarification): Is the purpose of this RFP endpoint security? Is the purpose of this RFP firewall protection? Is on prem hardware required or preferred? Will this RFP replace cloud-based filtering and classroom management? Is this solely for DNS filtering?
A: The Purpose of this RFP is to replace/renew the current District content filter. This RFP is focused on endpoint protection. Additionally, with the quick advancement of AI we are looking for advanced tools which utilize this expanding technology we can use to monitor and protect the classroom. On prem hardware is not required or preferred.
Q (Student Safety Monitoring): What vendor does the district currently use to monitor student email and/or cloud storage accounts?
A: Microsoft
Q (AI Technology): Thanks for sharing your intentions to leverage AI technology to protect the district. How important is it for the district to have transparency into student generative AI usage, including visibility into prompts, the ability to block AI topics, and alerts when AI interactions indicate potential safety concerns?
A: Transparency is essential for ensuring student safety and academic integrity and identifying safety risks within student AI interactions.
Q (No subject): In evaluating advanced AI monitoring capabilities, is the District interested in solutions that integrate AI oversight across multiple classroom and student safety tools (e.g., filtering, classroom management, and student safety monitoring) to provide a unified view of AI activity across the district?
A: We are interested in a unified solution that integrates AI monitoring with our existing safety and management tools to simplify oversight.
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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