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What should a school district procurement officer ask when he or she sits down with a sales representative from a vendor of digital education products? Who else should be at the table? How do districts and providers become partners in instruction, rather than adversaries in negotiation? These are increasingly critical questions as public school districts in the U.S. are under more pressure than ever to buy digital services and products. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the vendor transitioning process in schools districts which work with supply and service vendors. Topics discussed include vender review for consideration of changing vendors to improve quality of service, bid process which is required for specific contracts within a school district, and maintenance of interpersonal relations with district staff members and vendor management.

The article discusses learning management systems (LMSs) in grade schools, noting competition among vendors of LMSs. Topics include advances in educational technologies, data sharing efforts, integration of various software applications, and the marketing of LMSs. LMS firms noted include Blackboard Inc., D2L (previously Desire2Learn), and Instructure Inc.

Offers ideas on selecting vendors to provide education-related products and services. Sources of information about a vendor; Factors that need to be considered in selecting vendors; Preparation and evaluation of product bids; Techniques in negotiating products and services.

The article reports on efforts by U.S. school districts to promote interoperability standards between digital education tools and resources. Accounts are given describing moves by several counties to refuse business with vendors without such features to better unify and streamline educational technology use. Additional topics addressed include the extent to which publishers and vendors are working to meet this demand and the features of several prototype software platforms.

The article evaluates how school officials can ensure a successful security assessment by following a holistic approach to security assessment, due diligence in selection of vendors, and special considerations for written reports. School officials must rectify written reports before a report is finalized. It discusses that retaining unqualified experts or firms to conduct analysis not only fails to abate exposure to civil liability, however can ameliorate exposure to several risks.

Talks about balancing nutrition and revenue in school vending contracts. Effect of the debate over soft drink vending in school on school districts and vendors; Information on Rule of 51; Variables that should be considered in bidding for a vending contract; Common errors in negotiating. INSET: FIVE NEGOTIATING MISTAKES.

The article reports on the efforts to improve interoperability in educational technology in the Highline School District in Washington. It presents the comments of chief technology officer Mark Finstrom on the work the district has done to manage its data, the challenges when dealing with vendors, and the standardization of data collection.

The article offers suggestions on development of procurement expertise in school districts for better technical solutions and price negotiations. Topics include the views of Jeff Mao, senior director for nonprofit Common Sense Education's Learning Solutions Program, on procurement expertise's benefits, role of procurement expertise in getting technological advantages from the vendor, and steps for developing procurement expertise such as evaluating a district's need.

An excerpt from the article "Change Doesn't Need to be Disruptive" by Robyn Stirmell in the March 2017 issue of "School Business Affairs" is presented which focuses on changing vendors within a school district.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which discusses several reports published within issue on topics including ways to transform school districts which involves innovations; changes in school vendors; and school business official.

The article discusses the sharing of school data between learning management systems (LMSs), gradebooks, and other school software platforms. Topics include interoperability with regard to information on student assessment, conflicts between educational software vendors, and the use of LMSs to organize student data. INSET: HOW SOFTWARE SYSTEMS TALK TO EACH OTHER.

The article discusses the contracts school districts arrange with various vendors, such as food vendors or special education vendors, focusing on the need to review labor contracts in order to regulate school district finance. Topics include teacher union contract negotiations and their impact on school budgets, vendor fees that should be included in the contracts, as well as the importance of including a clause that allows districts to audit vendor expenses associated with the contract.

The article examines the risk that fraudulent shell companies pose to U.S. school districts. It notes that such shell companies do not engage in legitimate business practices, have little or no assets, and are typically used to hide bribery payments, launder money, and conceal corporate income. Information is provided on scams used against school districts in locations including New York City, the Toms River Regional School District in New Jersey, and the Cuyahoga Heights School District in Ohio. Suggestions on preventing fraud from shell companies are included, such as evaluating administrators' vendor approval guidelines, inquiring with district attorneys, and requiring full disclosure of previous business dealings.

The article focuses on the issue of vendor fraud. It notes that most vendors are reliable and honest but others are likely to take advantage of the lax controls over new spending. It mentions that pressure, opportunity, and rationalization are ever present when fraud happens. It adds that more than 400 fraud investigations are involved in corporations and governments with school districts comprising of 26% of the fraud cases in 2008. It suggests that school boards need to take leadership role via compelling administrators to establish strong internal controls, check company ownership records, and the use of vendor approval process can limit chances for fraud.

The article discusses the factors that schools should take into consideration when considering which safety notification system to purchase. Kenneth Trump of National School Safety and Security Services says that such school should be careful when choosing a vendor for such services since an increase in school shootings in the U.S. has expanded the need. Chuck Hibbert of Hibbert Safe School Consulting provides suggestions for choosing a vendor.

The article presents some suggestions for chief information officers of schools on how to make successful service-level agreements (SLAs) with vendors. It is opined that one should make sure that management-level end-users are there during SLA development. According to the author, one should clearly understand what service level to expect and then cost and practicality issues should be analyzed. It is opined that it is critical to know vendor's average tech-service response time. It is recommended that while making a deal with any vendor, a district should have key people that the vendor contact routinely.

While society worries about hackers stealing financial data, third-party vendors to the education establishment are amassing a myriad of personal data about teachers, students, and their families. The author says it is imperative that this data be handled with sufficient safeguards from those who would exploit the information for business or political gains. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on how vendors can create a long-term relationship with school business officials. It states that vendors must be competitive and are willing to take full responsibility for their products. It mentions that a vendor should have a knowledgeable sales team who know the product and the client and can help school officials see how the product can benefit the school district.

The article offers guide for student activity advisers on who to select business partners and vendors that will provide good service at a fair cost. It suggests that advisers must establish a selection committee and choose a chairperson and members who have an interest in the selection. It notes that they should make a list of requirements such as type of goods or services they are searching for and other optional items.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the changing role of information technology (IT) on campus and the relationship between vendors and campus IT.

The article discusses the Back-to-School/Back-to-Business Community Expo program at the Osceola School District in Kissimmee, Florida which brought together vendors who provided services such as backpack giveaways, physicals, and reduced-price meal applications. According to the article, the program was created to help parents with questions about the school district and to locate necessary resources at the start of the school year.

The article covers the search by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) for vendors to write questions for the Common Core assessments. According to the article, PARCC will award a contract in April 2012 with the hope of implementing the test by 2014-2015. SBAC estimated that its contract would run until November 2013. U.S. states will then be given the choice of either the PARCC or SBAC assessments.

The author discusses the green programs of schools with reference to budget and staff reductions along with suggestions to keep moving a program forward. He suggests to ask current vendors for new innovations. Evaluation of other vendors should also be done. Staff and student engagement in green cleaning programs is essential. Focus should be made on supply chain reporting like the amount of energy, water, waste and transportation used.

The article reports that the City Council of Iowa City approves the zoning changes and property acquisitions on vendor rules among Melrose Avenue on the University of Iowa football games event. Iowa City's director of housing and inspection services Doug Boothroy, outlines the agreed-up-on changes to the ordinance such as requiring a 75 dollars fee for temporary use permits. Also, the ordinance requires vendors to have health permits, more trash receptacles, and are not allowed to sell alcohol.

The article explores the efforts of information services director Ed Zaiontz of the Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) in Texas to standardize the district's educational and computer technology. It presents comments from Zaiontz regarding the benefits of limiting the school vendor purchasing options to only Dell personal computers which includes more efficient technical support, money savings, and employee collaboration.

In this article the author presents his views on the issues related to information technology (IT) decisions taken by educational institutions. According to him staff members, superintendents and technology directors should evaluate the role of IT departments in purchasing choices regarding education technology. They should contact multiple vendors before buying a product. The teachers should also be included in decision making.

The article presents a case study on business ethics and several examples of teaching executives on how they deal with vendors after becoming its representative. It informs that representatives get number of thankyou gifts from vendors. College executives including Mary Lally will accept vendor's thank you gift, however, registrars Steve Hamrick and Keith Werosh tell that they will distribute their thank you gifts (candies) to their students.

In this article the author focuses on the difference between an independent technology consultant and a vendor/consulting firm and discusses the need of selecting right technology consultant . He says that consultants sell time, act as part of management to educational institution whereas vendors sell hardware, software, and installation services. He opines that vendors can serve as education client as consultants as they both recommend and sell technology needed by an educational institutions.

The article focuses on important considerations which must be included in the vendor contract to act as school official in an annual notification of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The information which needs to be provided in the contract includes both directory and non-directory information. One should not be concerned about the student's right of nondisclosure in this case because the information is being provided to another school official. There should be an understanding that the agent is a school official who is well aware of FERPA implications.

The article discusses the evolution of a vend program. In 1998, the Denver Public Schools (DPS) first sought to strengthen all vending under the foodservice department, until every principal bears his or her own arrangement with the vendors, with one contact for soft drinks and another one for snacks. DPS executive director Leo Lesh said that the big change appeared when they decided that they should have to sell healthier and more nutritious foods on the vending program.

The article discusses the National Automatic Merchandising Association's Balanced for Life national health and wellness initiative. Started in 2005, the campaign has significantly changed the way people view the industry according to the author. For 2007, the program will focus on the "better for you" vending program, as well as offer new tools for operators with school accounts and business and industry accounts.