Notice End Date: June 26, 2023

Vendor Name: Level Data

Contract Amount: 1,334,000.00

Agency Procurement Manager: Elsie Montgomery

Agency Procurement Manager Email: emontgomery@ed.sc.gov

Agency Procurement Manager Telephone#: (803) 734-8428

The Agency hereby provides notice that it intends to enter into a sole source contract per S.C. Code Ann. §11-35-1560 with Vendor for the following supplies, services, information technology, or construction:

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) intends to secure a contract with Level Data, to provide data validation, workflow, and integration services for FY24.

The SCDE receives data elements from each South Carolina School District through a statewide Student Information System (SIS). To improve the overall quality of that data, SCDE must validate it. Level Data implements data validation and processing rules that ensure that important and required data are entered correctly at the school district level through the SIS. Level Data accomplishes this through their Data Correction and Validation screening capabilities. Level Data is the only company that is able to provide this type of data integration service in a manner which will not violate existing support agreements with the current statewide SIS provider, PowerSchool. Data is validated in many applications separate from the SIS including, but not limited to Transportation, Assessment, Special Education, Textbook and Food/Nutrition Management. Without a data integration service these data must be typed into both the application system and the PowerSchool system by district personnel. This duplicate entry process is time consuming and prone to data entry errors.

Level Data allows data to be easily collected and processed for quality and accuracy for State and Federal reporting purposes. Integration and storage of data is unique to Level Data for SCDE, which must comply with the SCDE Security and Data Storage policies related to the storage and use of personally identifiable information (PII), protection on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Integrating these systems through one validation process decreases the volume of erroneous data that SCDE receives, decreases the data reporting response time for school level performance reports, and saves our school districts resources, including time and money.

Agency's justification for a sole source procurement may be viewed or immediately obtained at: Agency Procurement Manager (Listed Above)

PROTESTS:
Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract, shall notify the appropriate chief Procurement officer in writing of its intent to protest within five (5) business days of the date this notice is posted. Any actual or prospective bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor who is aggrieved in connection with the intended award or award of this sole source contract and has timely notified the appropriate chief procurement officer of its intent to protest, may protest to the appropriate chief procurement officer in the manner set forth below within fifteen days of the date this notice is posted; except that a matter that could have been raised as a protest of the solicitation may not be raised as a protest of the award or intended award of a contract.
A protest must be in writing, filed with the appropriate chief procurement officer, and set forth the grounds of the protest and the relief requested with enough particularity to give notice of the issues to be decided. The protest must be received by the appropriate chief procurement officer within the time provided above. Days are calculated as provided in S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-310(13).

Any Notice Of Intent To Protest And Protest Must Be Addressed To: Information Technology Management Officer