6320A - PURCHASING

Delaware City School District

Administrative Guidelines

6320A - PURCHASING
Purchasing - General Provisions

	A.	All purchases shall be by purchase order processed through the Treasurer.
	B.	The Treasurer shall be the contracting agent for all financial obligations.
	C.	The Treasurer shall be responsible for encumbering the funds as soon as the purchase order has been issued.
	D.	A verbal financial commitment may be made only for emergencies or when it is impossible or impractical to precede the purchase with a purchase order. Before such a commitment is made, the Treasurer shall be contacted for prior approval and for a purchase order number. In all such cases, a purchase order shall be issued as soon as possible after the commitment is made.
	E.	Employees are forbidden to use the name of the District, any discounts provided the District, or any other means for associating a personal purchase with the District. They are to make clear to any District supplier from whom they are purchasing an item that it is a personal purchase by the employee and is not associated with the District. Failure to abide by this provision could lead to disciplinary action.
	F.	Confirming purchase orders will be honored only in cases cited in the above paragraph.
	G.	Ongoing commitments such as service contracts and leases should be renewed annually, in writing, at the renewal date.
	H.	Blanket purchase orders for goods or services are valid only for the time period and amount indicated on the purchase order. Extension of the commitment beyond that time and/or amount shall be confirmed by a new purchase order. Blanket purchase orders must be approved by the Treasurer before they are issued.
	I.	The Director of Human/Material Resources/or designee will determine the most appropriate method of obtaining prices for items or groups of items which are not subject to formal bidding procedures.
	J.	Annual purchase order cut-off dates shall be as follows:
		Purchase orders must be received in the Treasurer’s office on or before the forty-five (45) days prior to the close of the fiscal or project year, unless the services or supplies are essential to continue the daily operation of the department or building for the remainder of the current year, or unless an emergency exists.

Purchase Order Procedure

To maintain control of purchasing, expenditures may only be made after a requisition is authorized with purchase order number from the Treasurer. Only authorized personnel may prepare requisitions. This process is under the direct supervision of the Building Principal or unit supervisor. In no case may items be purchased for payment by the school district without a prior authorized requisition and subsequent purchases order. The following information must be stated on the requisition.

	A.	Complete name, address, and zip code of supplier.
	B.	Quantity of requested items.

(be careful when ordering units that contain multiple items per unit.)

	C.	Complete description including the stock number.
	D.	Unit and total cost. Total of all items should be calculated at the bottom of the page.
	E.	Account code number from your department or building budget.

To purchase material and/or services, submit a written requisition to your immediate supervisor. (Example: a teacher will submit a requisition to the Building Principal.) This written requisition must include a statement indicating the purpose or use of material or service desired, complete description of the item, the total price, cost of shipping/handling, and complete name and address of the vendor. In order to properly account for expenditures, it is necessary that the person making the request indicate the precise use of the service/material. Please indicate if service/materials is for regular instruction, special instruction such as DH or LD, vocational instruction, psychological services, transportation, training and development, etc. If a fee is charged to the student and the desired item is for resale, the funds should come from a different account which should be noted on the requisition.

Requisitions are to be prepared in triplicate, using the fiscal data processing system in your school/unit. All requisitions must be approved/signed by your Principal/Supervisor. Keep a copy in your building office and send two (2) copies to the Treasurer. The original and a copy should be submitted two (2) weeks prior of the date the requested materials are to be ordered, and three (3) weeks in advance if a check is to be issued.

When requisitions have been approved by the Treasurer and the Director of Human/Financial/Material Resources, purchase orders will be prepared by the Treasurer’s office and a disposition copy of the order will be furnished to the building making the request.

Emergency purchases, purchases which cannot follow the above procedures, must be approved by the Treasurer. Once approval is received by the Treasurer, a confirming requisition and purchase order needs to be completed.

Until a purchase order number is assigned to a requisition by the Treasurer, it is not an authorized purchase order. Placing orders by telephone is not permitted unless previously authorized with a purchase order. According to State Auditor’s guidelines which are used by all account examiners, all unauthorized purchases are to be paid by the person placing the unauthorized order. Don’t make any unauthorized purchases.

Procedures for materials ordered on approval:

	A.	Prepare a requisition as outlined above and mark it "upon approval."
	B.	Do not order any materials until the authorized purchase order is received from the Treasurer.
	C.	Review the materials as soon as possible upon receipt.
	D.	Within the time allotted, the person who placed the order must either CANCEL or APPROVE the purchase order for payment through the Treasurer’s Office.

To summarize Purchase Orders:

	A.	Prepare requisition at least two (2) weeks in advance, three (3) weeks if a check is to be issued for payment.
	B.	Enter the requisition into the electronic data processing system at the building level.

		1.	Keep a copy of the purchase order for the building/unit.
		2.	Send the original and one (1) copy of all pages to the Treasurer’s office.
		3.	When the purchase order is processed, a disposition copy of the purchase order and one (1) copy of the requisition will be returned to the building/unit.
		4.	Purchase orders must be dated before the invoice date.
		5.	When the order is received, sign the disposition copy and return it to the Treasurer’s office immediately for payment.
		6.	Purchase Orders are estimates. Orders that need payment for an estimated number of supplies can still be processed for the estimate. When the actual number is determined, payment can be made for the correct amount.
		7.	Order cannot be placed by telephone, unless you have a copy of an authorized purchase order (not requisition) in hand and marked "confirming order" on copy.
		8.	Items on approval:

*	Prepare the requisition as usual marking it "Upon Approval."

*	If the order needs to be returned, please notify the Treasurer’s Office to cancel the Purchase Order.

*	When the order is received, attach the copy of the purchase order to the invoice and send it to the Treasurer’s office for payment.

Invoices should be signed by staff members only. Students are not permitted to sign invoices.

Payment of Claims Procedure

	A.	When delivery is made, the principal/supervisor checks the pink copy of the requisition-purchase order to ensure the order has been received correctly and in proper condition.
	B.	If so, the packing or delivery slip is initialed, attached to the pink copy of the requisition-purchase order, and both the pink and blue copies are sent, within five (5) working days, to the Accounts Payable Clerk for payment.
	C.	The Accounts Payable Clerk checks the pink copy against the invoice, and if everything is in order, a warrant is drawn.
	D.	If the Accounts Payable Clerk finds discrepancies or has questions, s/he shall contact the principal/supervisor.
	E.	The vendor's invoice is filed with the pink copy of the requisition-purchase order and a copy of the warrant.
	F.	Upon payment, the blue copy of the requisition-purchase order is returned to the principal/supervisor indicating the amount and date paid.

Reverse Auction Procedures

In addition to the current purchase procedures, whenever the Board determines that it is advantageous to use the reverse auction process to purchase services and/or supplies, the purchase shall be processed through the Director of Materials and Human Resources or designee, in the following manner:

	A.	The proposals shall be solicited through a request for proposals, which shall state the relative importance of price and other evaluation factors. In addition, the request for proposals shall be specific and clearly describe the goods and services sought through the reverse auction process. The request for proposals shall also state that the Board reserves the right to reject any and all offers.
	B.	Notice of the request for proposals shall be given in the same form and manner as other purchases, and may also be posted on the District’s website.
	C.	In order to verify a full understanding and responsiveness to solicitation requirements, the District may conduct discussions with responsible offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for award. All offerors will be accorded fair and equal treatment when discussing any clarification, correction or revision of their proposals.
	D.	Contracts may be awarded to the offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the District, taking into account factors such as price, and any other evaluation criteria set forth in the request for proposals.
	E.	The basis upon which an award is made will be maintained in the contract file.
	F.	The Board may require the provision of a performance bond, or any other similar form of financial security, in the amount and form set forth in the request for proposals.

Revised 6/05