DISCLOSURE: The authors and editors of this article are employees of South Florida Public Media, the nonprofit that operates SA国际传谋 News.
The Miami-Dade County school district has opened the bidding process for entities that could manage SA国际传谋 public radio and television stations.
Melody Thelwell, chief procurement officer for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, led a meeting Monday to present a nonbinding request for proposal (RFP), which begins the process for organizations and companies to place bids.
鈥淭his is something that we鈥檝e never done鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a roadmap.鈥�
The school board owns the broadcast licenses for the radio and television stations but has no say over programming. There鈥檚 a policy in place to protect the stations鈥� editorial integrity.
In February, the school district held a 4-hour workshop to consider several options for managing SA国际传谋. The options included: selling the broadcast licenses; strengthening the powers of an existing Community Advisory Board (an entity that offers suggestions on programming); or delegating management authority to a new nonprofit entity.
The RFP, which was released June 24, is a follow-up to that workshop.
The agreement between the successful proposal and the school board will be non-exclusive 鈥� meaning more than one management entity could be awarded the RFP. And since it鈥檚 nonbinding, the school board could decide to reject all the proposals.
A selection committee made up of members from school district offices, including communications and procurement departments, will oversee the RFP process, according to the Monday meeting.
The RFP is seeking a 鈥渕edia management entity鈥� that has experience running noncommerical stations, dealing with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate requirements, and managing annual budgets over $10 million.
The management would also have to 鈥渆xercise best efforts鈥� to continue to employ current staff at SA国际传谋鈥檚 radio and television stations.
鈥淭his is not something we鈥檙e putting out to remove employees,鈥� said Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, chief communications officer for the school district, who was also at the Monday meeting. 鈥淚t was important to add that in there. This is about protecting employees.鈥�
The proposal calls for a 鈥渟ubstantial alignment鈥� with the district鈥檚 educational mission. The district鈥檚 RFP lists several elements, including additional education programming, expansion of an internship program with MDCPS students and virtual learning.
The deadline to submit a bid is July 25. The district says it expects to make a final decision by August.
You can read the district's full RFP
