NEW Equity in Public Purchasing and Contracting Update for FY 19-20

The Fiscal Year 19-20 Equity in Public Purchasing and Contracting update to the Board is available here:  https://www.pps.net/Page/1582

NEW Mandatory Contracting Course

All principals, department directors, senior directors, confidential executive assistants, principals’ secretaries, school bookkeepers, business managers, and other District personnel who manage or work with contracts must take the Contracting at PPS: Requirements and Best Practices 2020-21 (PCP1010) course in Pepper PD. The course allows you to read and respond to quiz questions at your own pace; we anticipate that it may take 45 minutes. 

In response to recent audit recommendations, we are changing the course deadline procedure this year.  Effective July 1, 2020, the 2020-21 course must be completed before you submit a contract for the 2020-21 school year.  

Beginning July 1, Purchasing & Contracting will not process any contract unless the PPS contract manager, school/department contact person, and budget holder have taken and passed the 2020-21 course.  If you submit a contract, but have not taken the training, you will receive an email reminder to do so.  The contract will be returned unprocessed if the training has not been completed within one week of submission.

To access the course:

1. Log in to Pepper PD (pepper.pps.net)
2. Contracting at PPS: Requirements and Best Practices 2020-21 (PCP1010) is listed under “Available Courses” in the lower right section of the home page. More PPS courses are available by clicking “View All.”  (Once you start the course, it will be listed under “My Current Course” section.)
3. As you complete your training course, you can see your progress and completion certificate under “My Progress” and can click the Certificate icon to view your certificate.

New Public Contracting Rules

The Board approved revised PPS Public Contracting Rules on May 14, 2019.  The new rules are effective immediately.  This memo outlines key changes to the 2016 Public Contracting Rules.

New PCard Manual, Infraction Table, and Spending Guidelines

April 4, 2019:  In order to comply with the Secretary of State Audit Recommendations, we are instituting a number of changes to the PCard program, effective immediately.  An updated PCard Manual contains a new infraction table (Appendix D), new spending guidelines (Appendix C), and new guidance on permitted and prohibited use of the PCard.  In addition, all budget holders must now approve in Bank of America Works all PCard transactions using their budget.  Please review the PCard Approval Guide for step-by-step instructions.

The PCard program changes are summarized in the following documents:  Summary of PCard Program Changes and Budget Holder Approval Memo

Federal Procurement Guidelines

Beginning July 1, 2018, the District must comply with new federal grant procurement guidelines for all purchases of goods or services using federal funds. These federal guidelines will significantly impact purchasing and contracting activities District-wide. The attached memo provides details on the new federal mandates and competition thresholds. It should be read and kept as a reference by all District employees who may make purchases or initiate contracts using federal funds.