Overview
Miaplaza seeks proposals to support a fully virtual Ohio public school, MiaPrep Online Academy of Ohio (MOAO), in the provision of special education and related services.
Vendors may respond to either or both of the following parts:
Part A – Special Education Support and Related Services
Provision of special education support and related services, including evaluation support, related service delivery, documentation, scheduling, case support where applicable, and Medicaid-related administrative support.
Part B – Contract Employees
Provision of contract employees who meet Ohio licensure and credentialing requirements for special education instructional and program operation needs.
Vendors responding to this RFP must clearly identify whether they are proposing for Part A, Part B, or both. Vendors proposing for both parts may submit one integrated proposal, but pricing and responses must be clearly separated by part.
Background
Miaplaza is running a fully virtual Ohio school (MOAO) serving grades 7–11 in year one, expanding to 6–12. Miaplaza expects the school to serve 250 students in year one and grow to 1300 by year five, though enrollment could scale more quickly. MOAO expects to have a typical Ohio student population, with about 20% of students on IEPs and/or 504s. The school will need third-party provision of related services (speech therapy, OT, etc.), and may need state-licensed contractors to serve in instructional and operational roles. The vendor must demonstrate a scalable program that can grow without major process changes. Vendors can provide joint responses and/or include other vendors' separate pricing as part of their response. More information about MOAO can be found here: miapreponlineacademy.com/ohio.
RFP Contact
For the purposes of the procurement, the “RFP Contact” will be: Peter Robertson (probertson@mia.school)
Bidders and their representatives are not permitted to contact any employees and or officers of Miaplaza or MOAO, other than the RFP Contact, concerning RFP prior to submission of responses. Failure to adhere to this rule may result in the disqualification of the bidder and the rejection of the bidder’s proposal.
Bidders and their representatives may ask questions and seek clarifications. All questions, clarifications, and responses will be shared with all bidders.
Contract Term
The intent of this process is to conclude a Firm Fixed Price contract with a one (1) year initial term with the option to renew for 2 additional one-year periods, at the same terms and conditions of the initial contract period. Miaplaza reserves the right to negotiate different terms, and the contract may be amended in writing by mutual consent of the parties. Note that Miaplaza may attach the entire RFP and incorporate it by reference in any contract.
Schedule of Events
- 3/26 RFP released to bidders
- 4/15 Deadline for questions and clarifications
- 4/20 RFP due via email to probertson@mia.school (by midnight Eastern)
- May contract awarded
Proposal Format Requirements
Each proposal must, up front, identify whether the vendor is responding to Part A only, Part B only, or both. There should also be a high level summary. In addition, there should be responses to all applicable scope, service level, pricing, qualifications, implementation, and compliance requirements with attachments be included as applicable. Finally, please provide at least two relevant references for virtual, hybrid, or multi-district K–12 special education work.
Scope of Services Part A
Vendors responding to Part A must describe their ability to provide some or all of the following services. Vendors should clearly indicate which services they can provide directly, which through subcontractors or partners, and which are not offered.
Core service categories
- Evaluation support, including initial evaluations and reevaluations
- Bilingual evaluations and reevaluations, as needed
- Report writing and evaluation team documentation
- Participation in evaluation, eligibility, IEP, manifestation, and other required meetings
- Therapy planning and IEP-related preparation
- Related services delivery
- IEP consultation services
- Documentation and IEP goal progress monitoring
- Scheduling and service coordination
- State-required file maintenance and audit support
- Case management support, where applicable
- Medicaid eligibility verification, billing support, documentation review, and claim administration
- FERPA-compliant and HIPAA-appropriate electronic record/documentation systems, where applicable
Service provider categories
Vendor should indicate capacity, licensure, and staffing model for the following:
- School Psychologist
- Speech-Language Pathologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
- Mental health / counseling therapist, where permitted and appropriately credentialed
- Functional Behavior Assessment / Behavior Intervention Plan support
- Vision, hearing, gifted, transition, or other specialized services as needed
- Assistive technology consultation and support
- ESY-related service capacity, if offered
Service delivery expectations
Vendor must describe how services will be delivered in a fully virtual environment, including:
- telepractice / virtual delivery model;
- criteria and process for recommending in-person or hybrid exceptions when needed;
- parent communication and participation processes;
- scheduling model for students across multiple grades and locations;
- collaboration with general education teachers and school staff;
- progress monitoring cadence and reporting;
- procedures to support LRE, access to general education, supplementary aids and services, assistive technology, and ESY determinations. MOAO’s service model contemplates virtual delivery with individualized accommodations, access to assistive technologies, and IEP-team decision-making about where and how services are delivered.
Documentation, workflow efficiency, and automation
Because MOAO is especially interested in reducing administrative burden and maximizing service time, vendors must provide a description of:
- documentation workflows from service delivery to final record retention;
- methods used to reduce duplicative data entry and manual paperwork;
- automation used for IEP drafting support, scheduling, reminders, progress-note generation, service logs, records transfer, audit readiness, and compliance monitoring;
- AI-assisted tools, if any, and how human review, accuracy, privacy, and legal compliance are maintained;
- integration or export capabilities with school systems and dashboards;
- time-to-document expectations for providers;
- provider-facing and administrator-facing workflow design intended to maximize direct service time.
Medicaid recovery and billing optimization
Vendors must describe their approach to supporting school-based Medicaid recovery, including:
- Medicaid eligibility verification;
- parent consent and required documentation workflows;
- documentation standards for billable services;
- claim submission and reconciliation process;
- denial management;
- audit support;
- reporting of billed, paid, denied, and recovered amounts;
- expected school responsibilities versus vendor responsibilities; and
- how workflow design and automation improve recovery rates while preserving compliance.
Compliance requirements
Vendor must demonstrate capacity to operate in accordance with applicable federal and Ohio requirements, including:
- IDEA
- Section 504
- FERPA and confidentiality safeguards
- Ohio special education operating standards and required forms
- Procedural safeguards and parent participation requirements
- Evaluation timelines, eligibility processes, IEP meeting participation, and documentation obligations
- Records access, retention, transfer, and destruction requirements as applicable
Ohio’s model policies emphasize that the educational agency remains responsible for ensuring FAPE, Child Find, confidentiality, required forms, parental rights, evaluation processes, and compliant contracts or written agreements with outside entities. They also note that the state may require documentation that special education and related services provided through agencies are compliant.
Scope of Services Part B
Vendors responding to Part B must describe their ability to recruit, screen, credential, place, supervise as applicable, and support Ohio-licensed contract employees for special education instructional and operational roles.
Potential roles
- Intervention Specialists / Special Education Teachers
- Special Education Coordinators
- Compliance and records support staff
- Medicaid documentation / billing support personnel
Staffing requirements
Vendor must describe:
- Ohio licensure verification processes;
- background checks and onboarding;
- substitute/backup coverage;
- vacancy-fill timelines;
- supervision and performance management model;
- training in virtual practice, compliance, and MOAO systems;
Operational expectations
Vendor must describe how contract employees will support:
- direct student services;
- IEP implementation;
- evaluation and meeting participation;
- documentation and progress monitoring;
- collaboration with general education staff;
- parent communication;
- scheduling and caseload management;
- records and audit readiness;
- use of school systems and workflow tools.
Service Levels (SLAs)
Vendors must complete an SLA table for each part to which they respond and include remedies or credits where applicable. NOTE: If the vendor has other SLAs to recommend, please provide.
Part A Intake / Referral / Evaluation
- Time from referral receipt to vendor review
- Time to schedule evaluation activities after consent
- Evaluation report completion turnaround
- Attendance at required meetings
Part A Related Services
- Time from assignment to first parent/student outreach
- Time from service session to completed documentation
- Progress reporting timeliness
- Coverage rate for scheduled sessions
- Missed-session make-up process
Part A Documentation / Compliance
- IEP goal progress note completion timeliness
- File review correction turnaround
- Monthly compliance reporting delivery
- Records transfer / access response time
Part A Medicaid Billing
- Service log readiness for billing
- Monthly billing file submission timeline
- Denial follow-up turnaround
- Monthly recovery reporting delivery date
Part B Staffing
- Time to present qualified candidates
- Time to fill approved openings
- Backup coverage for vacancies/leave
- Licensure verification turnaround
Part B Performance / Operations
- Onboarding completion timeline
- Documentation timeliness for contract staff
- Supervisor response time to school concerns
- Staff replacement timeline when performance issues arise
Pricing
Provide pricing guaranteed for July 1 through June 30 in an attached spreadsheet. Vendors responding to both parts must separate pricing by part, but not necessarily bullet by bullet: What follows is suggestive and the vendor should provide pricing as they prefer, responsive to these categories. Vendors must clearly identify all assumptions, minimum billable units, pass-through costs, software costs, and optional services. Please provide information about assumptions that will allow conversion of pricing to comparable hourly rates. Also indicate in a narrative information to assess how pricing for future contract renewals can be guaranteed or will be determined. For example, how long the pricing will be effective beyond the first year of the contract and/or what mechanisms will be used to ensure price parity with like-for-like models in case of contract renewal going forward.
Part A – pricing
- Evaluations and assessment services: Initial and reevaluation pricing by type, bilingual evaluation pricing, report writing / meeting participation pricing if separate, travel or in-person exception pricing, if applicable.
- Services: Hourly or per-session rate by provider type, minimums and case consultation rates, if any, ESY pricing, if separate
- Administrative / compliance / documentation supports as applicable: Scheduling and coordination fees, file maintenance / audit support fees, case management support fees, documentation platform or workflow tool fees
- Medicaid billing administration: Implementation fee, if any; per-student, per-service, percentage-of-recovery, or other pricing model; eligibility verification fee, if any; claim administration / denial management pricing; audit support pricing; any software or platform fees
Part B – pricing
- Contract employees: Rate by role, rate basis (hourly / daily / annualized / other), volume tiers, if applicable, overtime or additional-duty pricing, if applicable
- Onboarding, supervision: Placement fee, if any, background check / onboarding fees, if any, licensure verification or credentialing fees, if any, supervision fee, replacement guarantee terms, training / PD fees, if any
Contract Renewal Terms
Provide information to assess how pricing for future contract renewals can be guaranteed or will be determined. For example, how long the pricing will be effective beyond the first year of the contract and/or what mechanisms will be used to ensure price parity with like-for-like models in case of contract renewal going forward.
Vendor Qualifications
- At least two relevant K–12 references, preferably virtual, statewide, multi-district, or charter/public school references
- (Preferred) Experience serving Ohio schools or operating under Ohio licensure and compliance requirements
- Experience with virtual related services delivery and documentation
- Experience with evaluation support, IEP processes, and family-facing meeting participation
- Experience supporting Child Find, progress monitoring, and records compliance
- (Preferred) Experience with school-based Medicaid billing administration and recovery
- Description of security, confidentiality, and data governance controls
- Description of any AI-enabled or automation-enabled workflow tools and evidence of effectiveness
- Sample monthly reporting package, redacted
- Scalability plan from startup levels to 1,000+ students and a larger special education population
Implementation Plan
- Timeline from award to operational readiness
- Discovery and onboarding process
- Staffing and recruitment plan, if applicable
- Evaluation/referral intake workflow
- Service scheduling and caseload launch plan
- Documentation system setup and user training
- Data-sharing, confidentiality, and records-transfer workflow
- Parent communication templates and launch materials
- Medicaid workflow implementation plan
- Pilot or phased rollout recommendation
- Ongoing governance and review cadence with MOAO
Likely Evaluation Criteria
- Ability to meet Part A, Part B, or both as proposed
- Fit for a fully virtual Ohio public school model
- Quality and scalability of service delivery / staffing model
- Strength of documentation, workflow efficiency, and automation approach
- Medicaid billing and recovery capability
- Compliance strength, including confidentiality and records practices
- Staffing quality, licensure, and recruitment capacity
- Reporting, audit readiness, and data transparency
- Total cost of ownership / total cost of services
- References and prior performance