Horry County School District (HCSD) Learning Services intends to enter a contract as a sole source with The Hanover Research Council, LLC to provide a comprehensive, research‑based instructional audit to evaluate curriculum alignment and instructional practices across the district. The district needs an integrated service that combines rigorous quantitative analysis of student outcomes and subgroup disaggregation; qualitative classroom observations and stakeholder interviews; curriculum‑to‑standards crosswalks and classroom/practice alignment analysis; and ongoing access to comparative research, benchmarking tools, and implementation resources that directly inform and support post‑audit improvement work. The district additionally requires deliverables that include original, copyrighted reports, interactive benchmarking dashboards, and a secure online repository of prior commissioned studies to enable evidence‑based comparison with peer districts and rapid implementation of recommended practices. Because the district’s improvement strategy depends on a single, integrated platform that houses both the custom audit deliverables and a searchable archive of proprietary research and dashboards for ongoing use, the required subscription‑based, custom research service supported by exclusive, copyrighted data assets is available only through Hanover Research. Furthermore, no other vendor maintains or can license this archive, these dashboards, or Hanover’s proprietary datasets and methodologies, making Hanover the sole source able to fulfill the instructional audit requirements without alternation or substitution.
The anticipated value of this potential contract is approximately up to $120,000 annually with up to two (2) additional optional one (1) year renewals for a total of $360,000. The initial term is 1 year, with a maximum contract period not to exceed three (3) years
This notice is not a request for competitive proposals. Any responsible source who wishes to identify their capability to provide these products/services must notify the Buyer by email at the address and no later than the submittal due date specified in this ad. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Upon receipt of the interested parties’ notification, the district will determine whether to conduct competitive procurement or proceed with sole source negotiations.
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: Other
Contact Name: Robin Strickland, NIGP-CPP, CPPB
Contact Email Address: rstrickland@horrycountyschools.net
Contact Mailing Address: PO Box 260005, Conway, SC 29528
803-737-0600 • scbo@mmo.sc.gov • https://scbo.sc.gov • https://procurement.sc.gov
