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Federal Guidelines

Procurements shall not be divided so as to avoid competitive thresholds or bidding.  Thresholds include any applicable sales tax, freight, warranty, installation or any other costs applicable to the procurement.  Any quotation used to issue a District purchase order must be dated and signed by the appropriate federal program official, Lisa Spangler or Bryan Greeson.  The federal program official will provide the budget account to pay for the procurement.  The federal budget account must be provided to the Procurement official at the time of the procurement request.  The Procurement official does perform a budget check for all procurement requests.

Per the United States Department of Education and the South Carolina Department of Education, the below procurement guidelines apply to all federal funds.  The official memorandum for these specific procurement guidelines can be found by clicking this link, MEMORANDUM, or by visiting the Forms page.

All procurement transactions for the acquisition of goods, property, services or travel required under federal award or sub-award must be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition.  The use of federal funds for noncompetitive procurements must meet specific circumstances.  Any existing exemption list cannot be used as the determination for the approval of federal funds.  P-card transaction limit shall not be increased without prior consideration of the District Procurement official.  In the event the request to increase the P-card transaction limit is approved, the total purchase may not exceed $10,000 on the P-card with federal funds.

See below for a user-friendly set of procurement guidelines to follow.  Contact David Baker at 803-818-6062 with any questions.

Federal Requirements

  • Not exceeding $5,000 use of a District P-card
  • Purchase Order Thresholds:
    State and Cooperative Contracts can be used for any of the below Purchase Order Thresholds.  The need for multiple quotes or competitive sealed bidding only applies when a District P-card or a State and Cooperative Contract is not being utilized.  
    • $5,001 to $10,000 a single quotation from a qualified source
    • $10,001 to $25,000 a minimum of 3 quotations from qualified sources
    • $25,001 and above either competitive sealed bidding or the use of an established State or Cooperative contract
    • Click this link to view current state and cooperative contracts: State and Cooperative Contracts.

Noncompetitive procurements with federal funds must meet specific circumstances.  Noncompetitive procurements can only be awarded if one or more of the following apply.

  1. Total cost of the purchase does not exceed $10,000
  2. Emergency or a State of Emergency is declared
  3. Sole Source.  A sole source letter from the vendor is required.  Evidence of research to determine if other sources exist must be documented by the requestor.  A Request for Noncompetitive Procurement form submitted to the SC Department of Education for review and approval is required.  The local Federal Program official, local Business official and the local Procurement official must review and approve the form prior to submission to the SCDE.  Click this link to access the Noncompetitive Procurement form or visit the Forms page.