Montgomery County Publich Schools RFP – Athletic Marketing and Media Program

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Athletic Marketing and Media Program

RFP issued: December 2, 2024 

Questions Due: December 10, 2024 

Proposals Due: January 3, 2025 

Contact

Stephanie Dorah, Buyer II,

MCPS Division of Procurement

45 W. Gude Drive

Suite 3100

Rockville, MD 20850

Email: Stephanie_J_Dorah@mcpsmd.org and Procurement@mcpsmd.org

No faxes or electronic submission of proposals will be accepted. Proposals are to be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on January 3, 2025. Submit responses of the entire RFP proposal to: 

Montgomery County Public Schools 

Division of Procurement 

45 West Gude Drive, Suite 3100 

Rockville, MD 20850

1. INTENT 

The purpose of this Request For Proposal (RFP) is to secure a firm to manage the marketing and media for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS or The District) interscholastic athletics program, as outlined in the Scope of Services (3.0). The firm will work directly with the central Department of Athletics to manage all aspects of the implementation of this program. The overarching goals of this program are to: 

• Leverage and organize marketing opportunities to create and provide additional opportunities and programming for student-athletes, coaches, and the interscholastic athletics program
• Streamline and utilize media platforms to promote the brand of MCPS Athletics 
• Fundraise and increase revenue to MCPS Athletics, which will directly serve student-athletes and the program 
• Provide a comprehensive and transparent marketing and media platform that will enhance the resources available to MCPS Athletics 

2. INTRODUCTION 

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is the 15th largest school system in the United States, and the largest in the state of Maryland. During the 2023-2024 school year, MCPS served more than 160,000 students from 157 countries speaking 167 languages. With a Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Operating Budget of approximately $3.32 billion, MCPS employs more than 24,500 employees. Among the 211 schools that MCPS operates, 45 are National Blue-Ribbon schools. Three Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) have been recognized as the top schools in Maryland as ranked by Niche, a national school and college search platform. In the latest rankings, an additional 18 MCPS schools—across elementary, middle, and high school levels—also placed in the top 10 for the 2025 Best Public Schools in Maryland. Overall, MCPS was recognized as the second Best School District in Maryland and the second Best School District for Athletes in Maryland. In 2010, MCPS was the recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest presidential honor given to American organizations for performance excellence. The student demographics of MCPS in 2023-2024 were as follows: 

Hispanic/Latino: 35.3% 

White: 23.9% 

Black or African American: 21.6% 

Asian: 13.7% 

Two or more races: 5.3% 

American Indian or Alaskan Native: ≤ 5.0% 

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: ≤ 5.0% 

Students receiving free & reduced-price meals (FARMS): 40.7% 

Emergent Multilingual Learners (EMLs) 19.8% 

Students receiving special education services: 13.8%

In alignment with our strategic priorities, MCPS believes that each and every student matters; outcomes should not be predictable by race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status; equity demands the elimination of all gaps; and creating and maximizing future opportunities for students and staff is necessary. Therefore, MCPS holds high expectations for all students and staff; distributes resources as necessary to provide extra supports and interventions so all students can achieve; identifies and eliminates any institutional barriers to students’ success; and ensures that equitable practices are used in all classrooms and workplace. 

MCPS also believes that we must engage every student, every day; learning is achieved by cultivating curiosity and encouraging determination, focus, and hard work; and adult learning and engagement are key to student learning. Therefore, MCPS encourages and support critical thinking, problem solving, active questioning, and risk taking to continuously improve; stimulate discovery by engaging students in relevant and rigorous academic, social, and emotional learning experiences; and challenge ourselves to analyze and reflect upon evidence to improve our practices. 

MCPS is focused on ensuring that all students receive the same level of opportunities to learn. With the advent of more rigorous standards for college and career readiness in recent years, the rollout of the Next Generation Science Standards, and new assessments aligned to these standards, there is great potential to focus teaching and learning on what all students need to know and be able to do to thrive in college, careers, and life in a global society. Whereas these standards and curricula serve as an important force in getting all students—not just some—to the highest levels of attainment, access to hands-on, outside of the classroom experiences must be expanded to serve under represented populations. 

The MCPS Athletics program services approximately 28,000 students per school year at the high school and middle school levels. The program includes teams at 25 high schools and 40 middle schools.

3. SCOPE OF SERVICES 

3. Proposals should address the entire scope of services. Requirements include: 

The District is to be provided how the responsive firm will engage local, regional, and national businesses in securing sponsorship/advertising funding for its programs, including the following:

• A financial accounting of all revenue, expenditures, and proceeds to the District must be reported to the District quarterly. 
• The reporting, which must reflect all revenue, expenditures and proceeds to the District, for the most recent reporting period, must be provided to the District within thirty (30) days of the of the previous quarter. 
• An annual financial accounting of all revenue, expenditures and proceeds to the District must be reported to the District no later than each August 15th. The District’s fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. 
• The District is to be provided its revenue generated through this program on a quarterly basis, within thirty (30) days of the end of the previous quarter and must reflect the financial activity of the program for the most recent quarter. 
• The District shall have the right to remove sponsorships and advertising it deems in conflict with its stated policies. 
• The marketing and media program – with all amenities included – is to be executed at no cost to the District or its schools. 

Additionally, each interested firm may offer other services that facilitate and complement the above services to include, but are not limited to:

• An externally hosted digital platform, including a mobile app. The technology may provide a suite of athletic, content and sponsorship marketing and management tools. 
• Initial and ongoing training and customer service to provide for effective and efficient communication and marketing of the school athletic programs. 
• Hardware that would allow schools to access above software and web-based provided programs. 
• Digital signage at appropriate athletic venues for athletic/school communication and promotion of the marketing program. 
• Automated live streaming and game production solutions 
• Game and event ticketing solutions 
• E-Fundraising solutions 
• Evaluating and advising on athletic department business to business opportunities (e.g. apparel, beverage, field/facility related) 
• Evaluating e-commerce relationships for sponsorship opportunities and cost efficiencies. 

NOTE: Taking exceptions to the solicitation or changing the terms and/or conditions of the solicitation may cause the proposal to be determined “non-responsive” and therefore, not eligible for an award.

3. Technical Requirements and Vendor Experience 

The vendor shall have proven experience working with elementary, middle, and high school students and families in STEM-based programming. In addition, the vendor’s proposal shall provide examples of similarly completed projects, or projects in progress, that demonstrate the responding firm’s expertise and capabilities in each of the above-listed areas. Examples might include, for example, detailed descriptions supported by printed screen shots, references to websites or apps that MCPS will be able to review online, etc. 

3. Timeline for Implementation and Key Staff 

The vendor’s proposal shall propose a plan and schedule for implementation. The proposal shall provide a general timeline and sequence of experiences that will be available for participating students. 

In addition, the proposal shall identify key staff members on the project team, describe each team member’s relevant experience and describe the role he or she would play in the project. Such key staff shall not be substituted with other personnel or reassigned to another project without MCPS’ prior approval.

3. Data Privacy and Security 

As specified in more detail in the MCPS General Contract Articles and elsewhere in this RFP, the vendor will comply with all federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances applicable to this project, including but not limited to the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, and its implementing regulations (34 C.F.R. part 99), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), 15 U.S.C. § 6501-6505, and its implementing regulations (16 C.F.R. § 312, et seq.), the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, (“PPRA”) 20 U.S.C, § 1232(h) and its implementing regulations (34 C.F.R. § 98.1 et seq.), the Maryland Student Privacy Act of 2015, Md. Ed. Code Ann., §4-131, Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 13A.08, as well as applicable Board of Education policies and MCPS regulations, including but not limited to MCPS Regulation AFA-RA, Research and Other Data Collection Activities in Montgomery County Public Schools, MCPS Regulation JOA-RA, Student Records, and MCPS Regulation JFF-RA, Federal Requirements for Use of Protected Student Information.

3.5. Training (OR Performance) 

The vendor will provide on-site and/or interactive web-based training to school district personnel as needed. Initial training for the first year will be provided to participating teachers, staff, or volunteers at no additional charge. Fee structures for more comprehensive professional development can be provided as part of the response to this RFP. 

MCPS reserves the right to add or delete Contractors throughout the contract term should MCPS determine, in its sole discretion, that there be a need for additional services not available from the awarded Contractors.