Project News

Now is a great time for Michigan K-12 School Districts to consider joining the REMC Consortium School Agreement program.

1. Open Enrollment Period until August 24th – Districts must have their Participation Form and Purchase Order to Wanda Kitzmiller at Educational Resources by August 24th to take advantage of the REMC Consortium School Agreement pricing

2. School Agreement offers tremendous savings over Select and Open License pricing

3. REMC Reseller Contact, School Agreement Information, and Recorded Overview Webcasts below

The REMC Statewide $AVE Consortium School Agreement program is now offered through reseller Educational Resources.  Please contact Wanda Kitzmiller directly for pricing.

Wanda Kitzmiller,  Microsoft Account Manager
Educational Resources
FAX: 847.717.6233
TEL: 888.665.8305 x3382
E-MAIL:WKitzmiller@edresources.com

REMC Website for Microsoft Software:  http://www.remcbids.org/catalog/catalog.php?b=4&ic=408&isc=0&i=0&sf=itemNumber&sd=ASC

What is the Microsoft School Agreement Program? Microsoft School Agreement is a subscription licensing program specifically created to address the unique needs of primary and secondary schools and districts. With the simplicity of counting computers just once per year, School Agreement makes it easy for you to license all of your computers, whether in a single school or throughout the entire district.  http://www.microsoft.com/Education/SA3Overview.mspx

The Microsoft School Agreement program can:

School Agreement benefits:

School Agreement Desktop Packages
If you prefer to license your computers and users for a standard set of desktop products, Microsoft provides the following “Desktop” packages, which offer a discounted price over the cost of licensing the products individually.  School Agreements can also license Office Enterprise 2007 only.

The School Desktop package includes:

The School Desktop with Enterprise CAL includes:

Other helpful information and recorded webcasts on School Agreement: http://cid-2685cf3048dd5331.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/K12%20Education%20West%20Central%20Region%20-%20Dennis%20Simmons%20K12%20Account%20Manager/Microsoft%20School%20Agreement%20K12%20Program

FREE webcasts, podcasts, and additional resources check out:

Microsoft in Education

The new paper contract is in place September 1 through November 30, 2008 and features some new options for case and skid pricing.

Central Michigan Paper (CMP)and Xerox Corporation were both awarded. CMP has changed its brand of xerographic white from Domtar Husky to Boise X-9 with Xerox providing Xerox 4200 Business/Commercial brand both No. 1 listed. White paper increased about 5% over the last quarter which was expected due increased fuel and freight pricing and demand.

Central Michigan Paper: Awarded Laser Printer (case pricing), Assorted colors in multiple sizes and weights (case pricing), multi-purpose xerographic paper (case/skid pricing), and vellum bristol cover stock, 10% catalog discount. Note to Buyers: Inside delivery is charged up to $3.00 per case with no lift gate available to locations in Upper Peninsula. Truckload delivery requires districts to unload and depending on area may offer optional driver unloading, call for pricing.

Xerox Corporation: Award recommendation for Laser Printer paper (skid pricing), multi-purpose xerographic paper (skid/truckload pricing). Inside delivery is included with optional lift gate or no lift gate assistance. Truckload delivery is direct from the mill to the dock and requires districts to unload from the dock. Xerox offers additional truckload delivery options available to Upper and Lower Michigan locations: Lift gate service $110.00, Driver assisted delivery $275.00, Lift Gate + Driver assisted delivery $385.00+, multiple location delivery are quoted, please contact Cindy Fowler @ 248-827-3581.

Did you know? Paper on REMC is bid with specifications in accordance with Competitive Grade Finder: Paper Buyers’ Guide to North American Paper and Printing Industry. Paper is typically listed by grades in competitive classifications. All papers having similar brightness and opacity ratings are grouped into their proper categories, such as No. 1 Xerographic, No. 1 Offset, etc. In addition, other information is included, such as target brightness, whiteness, alkaline properties, target gloss, target roughness/smoothness, weight range, caliper range, opacity range, color, size, finish, recycled content, and certification.

Paper Brands are Mill Brands, Private Label Brands, and Business Equipment Brands. The “Mill Brands” are grades listed by the mill manufacturers. The “Private Label Brands” are grades listed merchants and converted under their own “private label” name (i.e., Boise, Office Depot, etc.). The “Business Equipment Brands” are grades listed by equipment manufacturers, such as HP and Xerox.

The higher the brightness the greater the paper reflects light and the more expensive it has been to manufacturer which results in a higher the grade of paper. Brightness can impact the scan capability of optical scanning equipment. No. 1 brightness rating is 91-93.9. with No. 4 Bond rating has the lowest brightness rating of 75-81.9. REMC bid specifications for white xerographic paper accepts 86 opacity with a 92 target brightness which is generally a No.1 grade of paper.

Important Ordering Information Quantities for Paper which can impact pricing:

1 Ream = 500 sheets/paper (wrapped)

1 Case = 10 reams/5000 sheets/paper (8.5”x11”)

= 5 reams/2500 sheets /paper (8.5”x14”)

= 5 reams/2500 sheets/paper (11”x17”)

1 Skid/Pallet = 40 cases of paper (8.5”x11”, 11”x17) or 30 cases (8.5”x14”)

1 Truckload = 21 skid/pallets or 840 cases of paper (8.5”x11”)

Stay Tuned? The REMC Statewide $AVE Bid Project Advisory Committee approved a recommendation to move the next paper bid to a 6-month bid with one opportunity to revise prices. Therefore, the next paper contract period will run from December 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009.

Educational Resources has informed us of the release of a new version 4.0 of Type to Learn. This is a very popular software product for schools.

Version 3.0 will continue to be available at the current REMC price through June 9.

Also available from now through August 31 is a promotion where schools can purchase a version 3.0 and 4.0 bundle, but the price will be higher than the current REMC price.

Beginning September 1, version 3.0 will no longer be available, and the price for version 4.0 will increase again.

We have posted a document on our Promotions page outlining these changes.

What does this mean for schools?

Schools who are considering purchasing Type to Learn and are not concerned about whether they buy version 3.0 or 4.0 should have their orders to Educational Resources by June 9 to take advantage of the current pricing.

Schools who are planning to buy version 4.0 should order it by August 31 to take advantage of the promotional pricing.

The current xerographic paper contract expires May 31. Some prices will change for the new contract that is expected to begin on June 1. Take a look at the cross-tabulation to see that products and pricing that were bid for the next contract. The cross-tabulation is posted on the REMC SAVE Bid web site on the Bid Documents and Forms page. To view it, click the check mark next to “Bid Documents – Cross-Tabulations,” then click on “Paper – Term 3 Cross-Tab.”

Please note that the next contract is not official until the Ingham ISD Board of Education approves the award, currently scheduled for their May 20 meeting. Also, the new pricing is not in effect until June 1.

To help with your end of the year ordering, the next paper contract will run from June 1 through August 31. This keeps the price of paper constant through the fiscal year change, elminating the need to know whether to order paper using this year’s or next year’s money.

Your local REMC is available to help if you have any questions!

Selection Tools have been redesigned into Buying Guides. The Buying Guide topics include: computer bundles, digital cameras, document cameras, interactive whiteboards, multimedia projectors, podcasting, and printers. We have copies of the buying guides available to REMC Centers for your distribution at meetings and inservices as well as online presented as a PDF document under the Selection Tools link from our Home Page. Let us know if your interested in seeing them on other product categories or groups.