The RISTE Board of Directors recognizes the value of consortium bidding as a way to lower costs for all of our member schools and districts.  

RISTE is uniquely suited to perform this service because our membership consists of IT Directors employed by most of the public school districts. They understand the technological needs of their respective districts in a school environment and are in a position to guide the technical requirements of an aggregate bid tailored to those needs. There is no other organization with a statewide reach with access to an equivalent level of expertise and public school districts that could serve this purpose.

Rhode Island public schools must comply with the bidding requirements included in

RI Statutes CHAPTER 45-55 Award of Municipal Contracts

The RISTE board wanted to ensure that any RISTE consortium bidding or purchasing agreements followed those same requirements.

Representative Cale Keable and Senator Lou DiPalma supported our efforts to reduce technology costs for our schools and sponsored legislation House Bill H7367 and Senate Bill S2009 at the start of the 2018 Legislative Session.

The purpose of the proposed statute was to allow public school districts to aggregate their bids for technology and related items. 

The companion bills would allow school committees and the Rhode Island Society of Technology Educators ("RISTE") to enter into joint purchase agreements for the purchase of technology and IT infrastructure.

The bills were passed by the House and the Senate and signed by the Governor as

16-2-9.6. Joint purchasing agreements for technology and IT infrastructure 

Documents

H7367.pdf

S2009A.pdf

H7367 SUB A - Bill History Report.pdf

S2009 SUB A - Bill History Report.pdf