Creating an RFP for a School Communication Solution

In This Guide

  1. Introduction
  2. Program Scope of Services and Requirements

Introduction

When considering implementing any communications or school website initiative, it is important to consider the overall objectives you wish to achieve as well as what is needed now and what might be needed over the long term. With a simple, unified, and fully integrated solution that includes training and support, district and school leaders can be sure they effectively and equitably engage parents, guardians, and other stakeholders. This resource provides information that decision-makers can use to prepare a thoughtful, comprehensive RFP.

Minimal Qualifications

  • Over 15 years of experience providing these services to school districts.
  • Support 190+ languages.
  • Utilized/deployed in all 50 states.
  • Have a customer renewal rate of over 97%.
  • Provides Two-way SMS Messaging.

Program Scope of Services and Requirements

1.0 Unified Communications

  • 1.1 The solution must provide an engagement branding platform that unifies school-to-home messaging (such as voice, text, app, email, website, and social media), reducing the number of communication solutions the district has to manage and support.
  • 1.2 The platform must involve all stakeholder groups from parents to building leaders/teachers, students, district administrators, coaches, etc.

2.0 Core Family Engagement Elements

The platform must:

  • 2.1 Allow two-way communication between a parent/guardian and school/district staff.
  • 2.2 Support multi-language two-way communication.
  • 2.3 Allow users to opt-out of messaging, with the exception of emergency messages/notices.
  • 2.4 Allow guardians to be automatically linked to their child’s classroom/group.
  • 2.5 Support the ability to publish information to any group, either from the SIS or manually created, including district-level.
  • 2.6 Support attendance letters and notifications.

3.0 School Services (additional family convenience and engagement features)

The platform can:

  • 3.1 Have the ability to send online PDFs of report cards, progress reports and other documents securely (two-factor authentication).
  • 3.2 Have the ability to create, fill, and electronically sign online forms and permission slips.
  • 3.3 Include a parent/teacher conference scheduler.
  • 3.4 Include the ability for volunteer signups.
  • 3.5 Have the ability to import external calendars. Must support sync with device calendar.
  • 3.6 Include an event RSVP feature.
  • 3.7 Include the ability for users to make monetary donations.
  • 3.8 Include the ability for users to sign up for items to bring to events (e.g., classroom supplies).
  • 3.9 Include polling options (surveys, quizzes, etc.).

4.0 Mass Alerts and Notifications

The platform must:

  • 4.1 Include a modern mass notification system proven to support the needs of top-25 largest U.S. School Districts.
  • 4.2 Have the ability to share logistics and routine notices with parents, staff and custom groups.
  • 4.3 Allow the sender to send messages via multiple modes simultaneously. This may include one message being sent through multiple modes.
  • 4.4 Send messages that can be received by multiple devices on multiple platforms.
  • 4.5 Allow the ability to create, publish, edit, and schedule urgent/mass alerts and notifications in multiple modalities: phone, email, text, app, social media, push notifications, and website integration.
  • 4.6 Be able to send emergency alerts to all contacts simultaneously.
  • 4.7 Enable district/building leaders to manage sending/receiving messages from a computer and/or mobile device.
  • 4.8 Offer the ability to deliver audio messages in the user’s own voice (pre-recorded), or text-to-speech. Messages sent via text-to-speech must be deliverable in multiple languages.
  • 4.9 Allow text messages to contain more than 150 characters.
  • 4.10 Allow attachments to be included in an email or text message, including documents and wav files.
  • 4.11 Include automated message capabilities to inform parents about attendance, lunch balances, bus routes, etc.
  • 4.12 Allow guardians to electronically create an excuse note for absences/tardies.
  • 4.13 Allow two-way messaging without an app (no download or app installation required).

5.0 Targeted Messaging

The platform can:

  • 5.1 Have the ability for targeted messaging, including filtering contacts by various identifiers (e.g. school, office, class, grade, ESOL, graduate, team, etc.).
  • 5.2 Be able to customize automated attendance calls from once a day to multiple times a day based on a school’s class schedule, including period by period attendance.
  • 5.3 Include templates for newsletters or branded communications from the district and/or buildings.
  • 5.4 Allow the district to communicate with non-district contacts (not found in the SIS system).
  • 5.5 Allow users to create and save multiple groups of contacts for later use.
  • 5.6 Support the manual maintenance of imported contact groups as well as the automated, scheduled maintenance of contact groups.
  • 5.7 Provides 2-way SMS messaging.

6.0 Translations

The platform must:

  • 6.1 Easily auto-translate (one-way) alerts/notifications in users’ preferred languages for email, text-to-speech, and SMS messages.
  • 6.2 Allow instant translation of direct (two-way) messages.
  • 6.3 Offer text-to-speech as part of translation services.
  • 6.4 Offer manual/editable translation capabilities.
  • 6.5 Offer options for translation on the provided school website or similar.

7.0 Website Hosting and CMS

The platform must:

  • 7.1 Support drag-and-drop page layout and WYSIWYG editing with the full complement of formatting tools such as font, font size, font color, background color, line height (spacing), alignment, bulleted and numbered lists, superscript, subscript, and special characters.
  • 7.2 WYSIWYG editor must also integrate with Google Drive and OneDrive to allow linking to files stored in those cloud services.
  • 7.3 Offer a fully responsive browsing experience to ensure content displays properly on devices of all sizes (desktop, tablet, and mobile).
  • 7.4 Allow editors with proper permissions to update any page’s layout and design (including the homepage) without needing to open a support request or pay additional fees.
  • 7.5 Support unique subdomains for each subsite.
  • 7.6 Contain a built-in search tool that offers advanced search options including the ability to search the entire district or just a single school site.
  • 7.7 Support pop-up alerts for urgent notifications that can be generated directly from the website or via the integrated communication solution.
  • 7.8 Offer consistent navigation between desktop and mobile, including the ability to drill down up to four levels into the site structure.
  • 7.9 Offer accessibility guardrails to ensure editors remain compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, level AA.
  • 7.10 Support a content moderation workflow whereby an editor with limited rights must have their work approved by another editor who is designated as the approver before it is published.
  • 7.11 Support an unlimited number of calendars for both the district and individual schools.
  • 7.12 Include the ability to sync the staff directory with a data source such as an SIS for hands-free updating.
  • 7.13 Offer intranet capabilities such that certain pages or sections can be locked down so only certain staff members can view them.
  • 7.14 Offer unlimited storage for documents, images, and audio/video.
  • 7.15 Allow for creation of unlimited pages and sections.
  • 7.16 Include unlimited user accounts with customizable permissions to indicate which pages, document/image folders, and calendars a user has access to edit.
  • 7.17 Support the ability to add custom HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
  • 7.18 Include exportable native analytics that track page traffic, as well as be compatible with Google Analytics.
  • 7.19 Support a single news feed that can incorporate items from both the district and the school, with the ability to switch between a variety of display styles and control how many items show in the feed.
  • 7.20 Provide pre-configured website templates.
  • 7.21 Can post content, i.e., news or announcements from the integrated communication solution. Also, must have the ability to include images.

8.0 Reporting

The platform can:

  • 8.1 Provide complete administrative oversight, security, and reporting.
  • 8.2 Provide insight into how individual schools are communicating to stakeholders.
  • 8.3 Report metrics on parent response and engagement.
  • 8.4 Provide information on who is not receiving messages so that contact information errors can be corrected.
  • 8.5 Collect data on undelivered and blocked messages to be included in reports.

9.0 Integrations

The platform must:

  • 9.1 Easily connect to district SIS (e.g., PowerSchool) and sync (at minimum) on a nightly schedule.
  • 9.2 Be able to upload additional contacts not in the SIS.
  • 9.3 Offer Single Sign On Google Workspace, Microsoft Azure, and/or ADFS-Based SSO (SAML) Enterprise Integration capabilities.
  • 9.4 Provide seamless integration with the district student information system (SIS) with a documented methodology. Partnership with the SIS preferred (i.e. Aequitas, Aeries, Aspen, Central Access, Mindex, Skyward, PowerSchool).

10.0 Support and Training

  • 10.1 Provide a timeline for training and onboarding.
  • 10.2 The vendor must provide or facilitate training to district staff at all levels (teachers, staff, administrators, and/or families).

11.0 For Data Privacy and Security

  • 11.1 The vendor must have an iKeepSafe Privacy COPPA Safe Harbor Seal.
  • 11.2 The vendor must have an iKeepSafe Privacy FERPA Badge.
  • 11.3 The solution must adhere to student privacy principles and be willing to sign student data privacy agreements.

12.0 Customer Support

  • 12.1 The vendor must offer customer support that can help answer questions or be available for urgent issues, etc.

13.0 Optional Services

  • 13.1 Provide a virtual phone feature that assigns unique numbers to staff, enabling calls without revealing personal numbers, with call tracking and Office Hours.
  • 13.2 Provide a payment feature that enables simple, secure K-12 payments, consolidating requests, reminders, and reporting in one unified platform.
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