Policy 3610: Purchasing Goods and Services (Rules)

In order to properly oversee the purchasing function and protect the resources of the District, the following administrative rules shall apply to policy 3610. These rules shall apply equally to all employees of the District regardless of assignment.

1. No employee has authority to sign any contract for the purchase of any goods or services, nor encumber the District with any debts or obligations beyond the amount of $1,000.00 per transaction or $5,000 annually without the specific permission of the Superintendent or Director of Purchasing.
2. Any expenditure for goods or services is authorized only if such expenditures are chargeable, specifically, to an appropriate budget line item in the budget adopted by the Board of Education. 
3. The Superintendent shall be empowered to sign all lease agreements on behalf of the District regardless of duration of the lease or the amount of the expenditure.
4. Any employee violating or attempting to circumvent these rules will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge. In addition, the Superintendent has authority to pursue any legal remedy necessary to seek restitution from the offending employee for any outstanding debts or obligations incurred by the District because of the employee’s violation of these rules, subject to applicable collective bargaining agreements and law.
5. The Board of Education need not approve payments in those instances where a rate is fixed by the Public Service Commission or a governing unit as is true in the case of utilities and property tax rebate. In addition, the Board of Education approval is not required for payments of bargained for employee benefits, such as health insurance premiums, and other employee related costs or charges such as FICA, retirement, payroll taxes, unemployment and Workman’s compensation. Approval of payments for textbooks, supplementary text materials, bond indebtedness, interest, leases, rentals, specified goods and services under grants, payments to employees, and to participating agencies under Consortium agreements is not required when prior approval of the contract or agreement has been given by the Board.
6. The Board of Education reserves the right to reject any and all bids, or to accept the lowest qualified bid.
7. Solicitation of bids for procurements related to grant awards received for the Workforce Investment Act for Youth program will include a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for goods or services to be procured. The description shall not contain features that restrict competition. Solicitations will include all the requirements the bidders must fulfill and all other factors to be used in evaluating bids or proposals. 
   Solicitations will include a description, whenever practicable, of technical requirements in terms of functions to be performed or performance required, including the range of acceptable or minimum acceptable standards. 
   Solicitations will include the specific features of “brand name or equal” descriptions that bidder is required to meet when such items are included in the solicitations. 
   Proposed procurements will be reviewed to avoid the purchase of unnecessary or duplicative items. Where appropriate, an analysis will be made of lease versus purchase alternatives, and other appropriate analysis to determine the most economical approach.