Chairman Linda W.
Cropp, at the Request of the Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the
need to exempt from the requirements set forth in D.C. Code §§1-1183.3(c) and
1-1183.3(c-1) the contract with 4GL Software Solutions, Inc. for the implementation of a
Special Education Management Information System.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That
this resolution may be cited as the "Contract No. DCPS-C-991-43-7373-AS (Special
Education Management Information System) Advertising Exemption Emergency Declaration
Resolution of 2000".
Sec. 2 (a) The District must immediately establish a contract
for the services of a system integrator to assist the Special Education Division of the
District of Columbia Public Schools in the design, development and implementation of a
Special Education Management Information System, which will perform case tracking, and
data reporting and provide a system for easy reporting of data to the executive
information system.
(b) The settlement agreement dated June 24, 1999, filed in
Blackman v. District of Columbia, Civil Action Nos. 97-1629 and 97-2402 (D.D.C.) required
that the District have a computerized tracking system for special education students
completely operational by January 1, 2000 and provide the Court with the implementation
plan by June 15, 1999.
(c) The District issued to three potential bidders an
Invitation for Bids and received bids from two of the potential bidders. The District
evaluated the bids and determined that 4GL Software Solutions, Inc. was the lowest
responsive, responsible bidder.
(d) The District entered into a letter contract with 4GL
Software Solutions, Inc., to provide immediate services. The letter contract must be
definitized now in order to provide for continuing services to comply with the settlement
agreement.
(e) The letter contract cannot presently be definitized
because the Office of Corporation Counsel has determined that the procurement was invalid.
The District, in initially soliciting competition, failed to advertise the Invitation for
Bids for thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation, as required by §§ 303 (c)
and (c-1) of the Procurement Practices Act of 1985, effective February 21, 1986 (D.C. Law
685; D.C. Code §§1-1183.3(c) and (c-1)).
(f) The Office of Corporation Counsel advised that the
District has two options: (1) Cancel the procurement and reprocure, which would require
that the solicitation be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation; or (2) Request
that the Council of the District of Columbia exempt Contract No. DCPS-C-99143-7373-AS from
the formal advertising requirements of the Procurement Practices Act.
(g) Immediate award of the contract will enable the District
to comply with the settlement agreement and avoid a further delay in development and
implementation of the Student Special Education Management Information System.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines
that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making
it necessary that the Contract No. DCPS-C-99143-7373-AS (Special Education Management
Information System) Advertising Exemption Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2000 be
adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.