The Purchasing Department is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during normal attendance days, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. during the summer schedule.

To provide quality service through effective communication and a cooperative working relationship with all departments and vendors, in order to fulfill the needs of Hickman Mills C-1 School District for goods and services in a professional, responsive, timely and cost effective manner, and in accordance with all legal requirements, ethical standards and Board of Education Policies.

The Purchasing Department seeks to secure equipment, materials and services for District departments in an efficient, professional and timely manner, at the lowest cost and best value for our District.

The first step in selling supplies and/or services to Hickman Mills C-1 School District is to register on-line with the Purchasing Department by completing a Vendor Information Form. To access the form, you will need a vendor number and password. Contact us at 816-316-7000 requesting this information. Once you have a vendor number and password, click Become a Vendor. The Purchasing Department will use this information to maintain a database of qualified vendors and to evaluate bidder capability. All registered vendors will be notified of any changes to our bidding methodology. (Approval as a qualified vendor requires submission, via U. S. mail, of a W-9 Form, which can also be downloaded from this web site.)

While registering as a vendor places that vendor in the District's database of possible vendors and allows purchases to be made from them, it does not provide notification of bid opportunities. The District has contracted with DemandStar by Onvia for the maintenance of an automated bid notification system, categorized by specific commodities and services. Vendors who have subscribed to the service are notified by fax or e-mail whenever an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or Request for Proposal (RFP) has been offered for the commodity and/or service supplied by the vendor.

Vendors are not required to subscribe to DemandStar by Onvia to obtain bid documents or to do business with Hickman Mills C-1 School District. Vendors choosing not to subscribe can view bid documents on Demand Star. The bid documents can then be downloaded for a fee, or vendors can receive them free, via e-mail or fax, by contacting the purchasing official identified in the bid details. All formal bids will be posted on the DemandStar web site (linked from our web site) and advertised in the Daily Record. For additional information or to subscribe to DemandStar, click here or call (800) 711-1712.

Whenever an entity of the District requests services, equipment and/or materials in excess of $2,500.00, vendors who have subscribed with the District’s third-party provider will be notified. Any item exceeding $2,500.00 must be competitively bid per BOE policy# 1075. Upon receiving an Invitation to Bid, the vendor should carefully read the entire document. It is the vendor's responsibility to obtain all bonds, insurance, and any other requested documents, as outlined in the Invitation to Bid.
Pre-bid conferences may be held for formal, sealed bids to provide vendors with the opportunity to ask questions regarding the bid. In these cases, the bid solicitation will outline the time and place of the pre-bid conference and indicate if attendance is mandatory in order to participate in the bidding process.

A public bid opening is required for formal, sealed bids. Public bid openings are on the date and time specified in the solicitation in the Purchasing Department located 9000 Old Santa Fe Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64138-3998. Bids must be stamped "received" in the Purchasing Division prior to the stated deadline in order to be accepted.

Any and all procurement of goods and/or services by Hickman Mills C-1 School District must be predicated by the issuance of a purchase order as stipulated in section 3.5.1.A of Hickman Mills Board of Education Policy:

"Purchasing of supplies and materials is made on the basis of a purchase order signed by the purchasing agent working under the supervision of the budget director. All purchases should be initiated by a purchase order signed by an administrator or a director in charge of a department, and signed by the purchasing agent or associate superintendent. The district shall not be liable for purchase made in any other manner."

A purchase order is the district's instrument for payment. Without a purchase order being issued, funds will have not been properly encumbered which in turn would render the district unable to process any claim for payment that does not refer directly to an issued purchase order.

Annual Contracts are used to purchase certain goods and services the District buys repetitively over the course of a year. These contracts are bid for commodities, equipment or services for a specified period of time, usually one-three years with possible 1-year renewals. Awards may be made to qualified, single or multiple vendors who meet specifications and conditions

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is used in lieu of an Invitation to Bid when sealed bidding is either not practicable or not advantageous to the District. When the District issues an RFP, it will contain a scope of work to be addressed by the proposal. Only the names of the responders will be identified at the opening of the RFP.

Using the process of Request for Proposal must promote overall economy for the purpose intended and encourage maximum practicable competition that satisfies the needs of the District. An award may be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the District.

Purchases between $101.00 and $2,500.00 can be processed by a Request for Quotation via telephone, fax or electronic media. Vendors should supply catalogs or other literature regarding their products to the Purchasing staff for review.

Per BOE policy# 2040; “All construction, remodeling, or renovation of any district facility or site shall conform to federal, state and local building codes, statutes and regulations and shall be let by competitive bids”.