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802 DISPOSITION OF OBSOLETE EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL

Revised: June 8, 2011

A. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for the superintendent to assist in timely disposition of obsolete equipment and material.

B. General Statement of Policy

Effective use of school building space and consideration for safety of personnel, will at times require disposal of obsolete equipment and material.

C. Definitions

1. Contract: An agreement entered into by the school district for the sale of supplies, materials or equipment.

2. Official Newspaper: Is a regular issue of a qualified legal newspaper.

D. Manner of Disposition

1. Authorization: The superintendent shall be authorized to dispose of obsolete equipment and materials by selling it at a fair price consistent with the procedures outlined in this policy. Any sale exceeding the minimum amount for which bids are required must first be specifically authorized by the school board. The superintendent shall be authorized to properly dispose of used books, materials, and equipment deemed to have little or no value.

2. Contracts Over $100,000:

a. If the value of the equipment or materials is estimated to exceed 100,000, sealed bids shall be solicited by two weeks published notice in the official newspaper. This notice shall state the time and place of receiving bids and contain a brief description of the subject matter. Additional publication in the official newspaper or elsewhere may be made as the school board shall deem necessary.

b. The sale shall be awarded to the highest responsible bidder, be duly executed in writing and be otherwise conditioned as required by law.

c. A record shall be kept of all bids, with names of bidders and amounts of bids, and an indication of the successful bid. A bid containing an alteration or erasure of any price contained in the bid which is used in determining the highest responsible bid shall be rejected unless the alteration or erasure is corrected by being crossed out and the correction printed in ink or typewritten adjacent thereto and initialed in ink by the person signing the bid.

d. In the case of identical high bids from two or more bidders, the school board may, at its discretion, utilize negotiated procurement methods with the tied high bidders so long as the price paid does not go below the high tied bid price. In the case where only a single bid is received, the school board may, at its discretion, negotiate a mutually agreeable contract with the bidder so long as the price paid does not fall below the original bid. If no satisfactory bid is received, the board may re-advertise.

e. All bids obtained shall be kept on file for a period of at least one year after their receipt. Every contract made without compliance with the foregoing provisions shall be void.

f. Data submitted by a business to a school in response to a request for bids is private until opened. Once opened, the name of the bidder and the dollar amount specified become public. All other data is private until completion of the selection process, meaning the school has completed its evaluation and ranked the responses. After completion of the selection process, all data submitted by all bidders is public except trade secret data. If all responses are rejected prior to completion of the selection process, all data remains private, except the name of the bidder and the dollar amount specified which were made public at the bid opening.

3. Contracts from $25,000 to $100,000:

If the amount of the sale is estimated to exceed $25,000 but not to exceed $100,000, the contract may be made either upon sealed bids in the manner directed above or by direct negotiation, by obtaining two or more quotations for the purchase or sale when possible, and without advertising for bids or otherwise complying with the requirements of competitive bidding notice. All quotations obtained shall be kept on file for a period of at least one year after receipt.

4. Contracts $25,000 or Less:

If the amount of the sale is estimated to be $25,000 or less, the contract may be made either upon quotation or in the open market, at the discretion of the school board. The sale in the open market may be by auction. If the contract is made on quotation, it shall be based, so far as practicable, on at least two quotations which shall be kept on file for a period of at least one year after receipt.

5. Notice of Quotation:

Notice of procedures to receive quotations shall be given by publication or other means as appropriate to provide reasonable notice to the public.

6. Sales to Employees.

No officer or employee of the school district shall sell or procure for sale or possess or control for sale to any other officer or employee of the school district any property or materials owned by the school district unless sold to a school district employee after reasonable public notice, at public auction or by sealed response, where the employee is the highest bidder and is not directly involved in the auction or sale process. Reasonable notice shall include at least one weeks published or posted notice. A school district employee may purchase no more than one motor vehicle from the school district in any twelve month period. This section shall not apply to the sale of property or materials acquired or produced by the school district for sale to the general public in the ordinary course of business. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employee of the school district from selling or possessing for sale public property if the sale or possession for sale is in the normal course of the employees duties.

7. Exceptions for Surplus School Computers:

A school district may bypass the requirements for competitive bidding and is not subject to any other laws relating to school district contracts if it is disposing of surplus school computer(s) and related equipment by conveying the property and title to:

a. Another school district.

b. The State Department of Corrections.

c. The board of trustees of Minnesota state colleges and universities.

d. The family of a student residing in the distinct whose total family income meets the federal definition of poverty.


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