NEW PHILADELPHIA CITY SCHOOLS
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
ARCHITECTURAL PRE-BOND ISSUE ASSISTANCE SERVICES
New Philadelphia City Schools (Tuscarawas County) is seeking Request for Qualifications for
Architectural Pre-Bond Issue Assistance Services. This RFQ is being initiated to secure the
services of a qualified firm to provide technical assistance as they prepare for a possible bond
issue in the Fall of 2024.
The Request for Qualifications is to be submitted to and received by the New Philadelphia City
School office, 248 Front Ave. SW, New Philadelphia, OH, 44663. The proposal shall be marked
“Architectural Pre-Bond Issue Assistance Services for New Philadelphia City Schools.” Proposals
received after the deadline of April 20, 2023, will not be accepted. It is the proposer’s
responsibility to ensure that the proposal is received prior to the deadline as no exception to
this policy will be made.
BACKGROUND
The New Philadelphia School district (the “School District”) operates under a locally-elected
Board form of government and provides educational services as authorized by state statute
and/or federal guidelines. The School District was established in 1808, the first in the State of
Ohio, and is organized under Article VI, Sections 2 and 3 of the Constitution of the State of Ohio.
Under such laws there is no authority for a School District to have a charter or adopt local laws.
The legislative power of the School District is vested in the Board of Education, consisting of five
members elected at-large for staggered four-year terms.
The School District serves an area of approximately 72 square miles. It is located in Tuscarawas
County and includes all of the City of New Philadelphia, the Village of Stone Creek and portions
of nine townships. The school District currently operates eight instructional buildings (one
preschool, five elementary buildings, one middle school, and one high school), an
administration building, and a maintenance/bus garage building. Additionally, the School
District utilizes property owned by the City of New Philadelphia for interscholastic sports’ fields.
The School District is staffed by 399 certified and classified employees and serves 2992
students in preschool through twelfth grade.
The district has joined the OFCC ELP Program to investigate options for new and/or renovated
facilities. An OFCC facility assessment was completed in 2017 and an OFCC ten-year enrollment
projection was completed in 2019.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
Generally assist the District (and cooperate with OFFC) with technical expertise for preparing to
potentially attempt a bond issue to build new and/or renovate facilities. The district is currently
working with OFFC under the ELP Program to complete an updated Master Plan and is in the
early planning stages.
1. Assist the district with a study of various options. The district is considering consolidating but
needs to further study all reasonable options.
2. Validate the OFCC Facilities Assessment.
3. Assist the district in determining need/desire of any LFIs including estimates of cost. This may
include POR exercises and/or conceptual plan studies. It should consider such things as
potential off site work scope.
4. Provide feasibility studies of potential sites for new buildings.
5. Provide necessary graphics to serve as informational/promotional tools for the potential
bond issue.
6. Attend Community Meetings to present information and provide technical assistance.
7. Other scope that would assist the district in being prepared for a ballot attempt.
This scope would be limited to Pre-Design and does not imply continuance into full design
service for the project should the project become funded. A separate selection process for A/E
services would occur only after the District has obtained their funding.
SELECTION PROCESS
A Selection Committee will evaluate the RFQs and rank them based on most qualified. The
Selection Committee will forward their recommendation to the New Philadelphia City School
Board for final action.
New Philadelphia City School reserves the right to prepare a short list of firms from the
submitted proposals and conduct interviews or select the most qualified and begin negotiations
for a contract. This decision will be based on the number and quality of proposals received. If
interviews are scheduled, they would be held within thirty (30) days of the RFQ deadline.