All learning happens somewhere, from a quaint one-room wooden schoolhouse on the open prairie to a modern marvel of engineering and design. In the best circumstances, a student’s environment can do better than staying out of their way: It can set them at ease, make them excited to learn, and even open them up to new ideas and possibilities.
The struggle to make new learning spaces a reality
Designing the perfect space for learning and engagement is one thing, though: Seeing it to fruition through construction and furnishing is another matter entirely. The project leaves the hands of the design team and is passed around – sometimes several times – in a complex dance of execution where it often feels like anything could happen.
As schools seek to build new education spaces within tighter timelines and budgets, solutions like cooperative purchasing can empower them to make those better learning spaces a reality.
Design and construction are uniquely difficult in the education sector. Not only are available funds an ever-present consideration for schools, but the construction timeline itself has to compete with the school year schedule and limited summer vacation, where any delay can introduce cascading complications.
On top of these hurdles, schools must also meet strict procurement requirements when embarking on construction or renovation projects. This added step is critical to ensure taxpayer money is spent properly, but it also opens each project up to further uncertainty. Each step of a traditional procurement process, such as a Request for Proposal (RFP), adds potential for delay or disruption in its pursuit of compliance.
By comparison, a much more stable path to project completion might involve a contract that has fulfilled these requirements in advance.
Saving time and money with established solutions
Cooperative purchasing has doubled in use in the past decade…and for good reason. This type of procurement is conducted by, or on behalf of, one or more government units for use by others. Cooperative contracts satisfy the solicitation process and are available for other government agencies, including schools, to use for themselves, thereby streamlining the solicitation process.
This approach mitigates many of the hangups of traditional procurement while still meeting its same legal requirements. The established contract provides increased certainty and lowers the risk of a lowball bid that either doesn’t hold up in evaluation or, even worse, can’t deliver on its promises after selection.
Cooperative purchasing can also greatly improve the time efficiency of the process. A recent study by the National Cooperative Procurement Partners (NCPP) found that the average solicitation process took 87 personnel hours to complete. With a cooperative purchasing contract, much of that work has already been done: Architects, designers, and school administrators can spend less time on administrative process and focus their efforts on their areas of expertise instead, and they still benefit from a compliant, competitively sourced solution.
Both time efficiency and reduced risk can translate to cost savings on their own, but cooperative purchasing can directly reduce procurement costs as well. Public agencies benefit from the greater buying power of thousands of other participating agencies when buying through cooperative purchasing. A study by Arizona State University showed savings of up to 24% for previously procured construction contracts compared to traditional methods.
Getting started with cooperative purchasing
Cooperative purchasing can solve challenges for school districts looking to build or renovate their learning spaces. The best way to begin the process is for a school to reach out to a contact at each cooperative they are working with: These contacts can help share contract documentation, to allow the school to do its due diligence in meeting state and local requirements for procurement.
Sourcewell supports K-12 schools throughout North America through hundreds of these awarded contracts for construction, furniture, education technology, classroom supplies, and more. School leaders and those working with them can save time and money with a trusted procurement process, alongside a dedicated partner for student success.
As schools seek to build new education spaces within tighter timelines and budgets, solutions like cooperative purchasing can empower them to make those better learning spaces a reality.