Competitive Exemption Form - Software licensing and Curriculum from Pearson

Seattle Public Schools is pursuing a sole-source procurement for software licensing and curriculum from Pearson under solicitation number 6395. The contract, valued at 186,902.46 dollars, provides essential Career and Technical Education resources including Brain Buffet, Certiport Testing, gMetrix, and eDynamic Learning. These tools support instructional delivery and student certification in Health and Medical Sciences, Business and Marketing, and Media Arts. The procurement is conducted as a competitive exemption under RCW 39.04.280 because the required resources are proprietary and exclusively available from Pearson. The agreement is designed for continuous performance until course catalogs or offerings change, with the place of performance located in Washington. As a competitive exemption, the request is posted on the BidLocker portal for seven business days to satisfy public notice requirements. The procurement process involves a mandatory approval chain including the Curriculum Specialist, Department Manager, and the Assistant Superintendent of Finance. The software is required to be compatible with existing CTE curriculum pathways and is tied to a grant or sponsored project.