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Monday, July 31, 2006
William F. Coleman III, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools, issued the following statement today regarding the District’s IT services contract:
“Compuware has announced that it will be protesting the District's
decision to award the contract for information technology services to other vendors. So for legal reasons, my comments will be measured and brief.
Our decision to go with new vendors was not done arbitrarily or capriciously. We rigorously followed our established procedures for issuing RFPs and awarding bids. We selected the vendors based on the best interests of the School District. Pricing was a primary consideration in our selection. As you know, the District continues to struggle with financial constraints while providing the best services for our students.
Compuware's initial proposals came in at more than $18 million a year, an
amount that was substantially higher than that of any of the other competingvendors and almost 50 percent higher than the amount of the current contract with the company. Even though we thought the proposal was too high we agreed to interview them as a courtesy and to allow them an opportunity to explain their pricing structure. If Compuware had not been an incumbent vendor, with their proposed pricing, we would not have even considered speaking with the company's representatives. But at the meeting, Compuware's representatives failed to justify the large increase they were proposing.
As a public agency, we have a fiduciary obligation to be fiscally responsible to our students and the Detroit taxpayers.
Compuware's current contract with the District is for $13.5 million a year.
The four vendors selected to provide the IT services will be paid a total of $11.6 million year. Clearly, it is fiscally responsible to save dollars wherever and whenever possible. In this case the opportunity to save over $6 Million annually in IT services is best for our students as those dollars may be used other services for the students.
In choosing the new IT vendors, the Detroit Public Schools made a fiscally
responsible decision.”
About the Detroit Public Schools
The Detroit Public Schools, founded in 1842, is one of the nation’s largest public school systems. Detroit Public Schools is a school district of choice and is open to children who live outside the city. The District offers numerous competitive academic and career technical programs.
Among these world-class programs are the Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural School, Michigan’s only public school of its kind; Davis Aerospace, one of few college prep high schools in the country where students can obtain a pilot’s license; the Detroit School of the Arts, a multiple award winning performing arts high school; and Crockett Technical High School, a digital technology high school.
For more information about the District, visit our website at www.detroitk12.org.
