REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
LEGAL SERVICES
CLARENDON COUNTY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
125 N BOUNDARY STREET
MANNING, SC 29102
(803)435-4435
DESCRIPTION
Clarendon County School District, hereafter referred to as “District”, is soliciting
proposals from experienced attorneys and law firms licensed to practice in the State of
South Carolina to provide various legal services in accordance with all the requirements
set forth herein.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Instructions to Offeror:
1. One original and ten (10) copies of the response must be mailed or hand delivered to
the following address:
Clarendon County School District
Attn: Amanda Ridgeway, Director of Finance
125 N Boundary Street
Manning, SC 29102
Outside envelopes MUST be marked clearly and visibly with “Solicitation for Legal
Services”. District does not take responsibility for unmarked envelopes. The original
proposal shall be marked as “Original” for clarification.
2. Faxed or emailed responses WILL NOT be accepted.
3. Proposals must be received no later than 2:00 PM, January 21, 2026.
All questions must be received via email to amanda.ridgeway@clarendoncsd.org
no later than 5:00pm on January 13, 2026 and will be answered in the form of an
addendum and posted to the District’s website by end of business on January 16,
2026.
4. All fees and notations should be printed in ink or typewritten. Errors should be
crossed out, corrections entered and initialed by the person signing the bid.
5. Offerors are to include all requested information and are encouraged to include any
additional information they wish to convey to the District.
6. Mark each part of your bid which you consider proprietary as “CONFIDENTIAL”.
Bids marked in their entirety as “CONFIDENTIAL” will be rejected. See
“Proprietary/Confidential Information”.
7. Ownership of all data, material and documentation originated and prepared pursuant
to this proposal shall belong exclusively to the District. The original offer submitted
shall be retained for the official file. All other copies of the offer submitted shall be
destroyed after an agreement has been reached.
8. The District shall have the right to request corrections to an offer or request
supplementary or explanatory information. The failure by the Offeror to correct any
deficiency or provide any supplementary or explanatory information when requested
or by the date and time specified in the request may result in the offer being
considered non-responsive and, therefore, not considered.
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Advertising: Offeror agrees not to refer to award of a contract in commercial advertising
in such a manner as to state or imply that the products or services provided are endorsed
or preferred by the District. Offeror agrees not to use the District’s name, insignia, logos,
copyrighted material or any reference to the District in any advertising or promotional
materials without the written permission of the District.
S.C. Law Clause: Upon award of a contract under this bid, the person, partnership,
association, or corporation to whom the award is made must comply with the laws of
South Carolina which require such person or entity to be authorized and/or licensed to do
business in this State. By submission of this signed bid, the Offerer agrees to subject
himself to the jurisdiction and process of the courts of the State of South Carolina as to
all matters and disputes arising or to arise under the contract and the performance thereof,
including any questions as to the liability for taxes, licenses, or fees levied by the State.
Right of Non/Commitment or Rejection: This solicitation does not commit the District
to award a contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal, or to
procure or contract for the articles of goods or services. The District reserves the right to
accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this request, or to cancel in
part or in its entirety this proposal if it is in the best interest of the District to do so.
Discussion with Responsive Offerors: Discussions may be conducted with responsive
Offerors who submit proposals for the purpose of clarification to assure full
understanding of the requirements of the Request for Proposal. All Offerors, whose
proposals, in the District’s sole judgment, needing clarification shall be afforded such an
opportunity.
Conflict of Interest: Offeror will warrant that there is no conflict of interest with its
other contracts or any other employment and work to be performed under the contract.
Offeror must agree to advise the District if such conflict of interest arises during the term
of the contract. Offeror will avoid all circumstances and actions, which would
reasonably place Offeror in a position of divided loyalty with respect to its obligations
under the contract.
Force Majeure: The Offeror shall not be liable for any excess costs if the failure to
perform the contract arises out of causes beyond the control and without the fault or
negligence of the Offeror. Such causes may include, but are not restricted to, acts of God
or of the public enemy, acts of Government in either its sovereign or contractual capacity,
fires, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, strikes, freight embargoes, and unusually
severe weather; but in every case, the failure to perform must be beyond the control and
without the fault or negligence of the Offeror.
Competitive Procurement: It is the intent and purpose of the District that this Request
for Proposal permits competition. It shall be each Offeror's responsibility to advise the
District if any language, provision, or other requirement, or any combination thereof,
inadvertently restricts or limits the satisfaction of the specifications stated in this Request
for Proposal to a single source. Such notification must be submitted in writing to the
Procurement Officer.
SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Unauthorized Commitments: The Offeror shall have no right or authority at any time
to make any contract or binding promise of any nature on behalf of the District, whether
oral or written, without the consent of the District.
Affirmative Action: The Offeror will take affirmative action in complying with all
Federal and State requirements concerning fair employment and employment of the
handicapped, and concerning the treatment of all employees, without regard or
discrimination by reason of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or physical
handicap.
Legal Liability: The Offeror shall protect and indemnify the District and its
representatives against any claim or liability arising from or based on the violation of any
such laws, by-laws, ordinances, regulations, orders or decrees, by the firm, or its
employees or representatives.
Termination: The Board of Trustees shall have the right to terminate the client-attorney
relationship with or without cause. In the event of a termination, the Offeror will receive
a written 30 day advance notice.
Drug-Free Workplace: By submission of a signed proposal, you, as the Offeror, are
certifying that you will comply with the Drug-Free Workplace Act. (See Act No.593, 1990
Acts and Joint Resolutions)
Proprietary/Confidential Information: Any portion of your, the offeror’s, submitted
bid, which should be considered confidential, must be visibly marked as such. Offerors
must clearly mark as “Confidential” each part of their response which they consider to be
proprietary information that could be exempt from disclosure under Section 30-4-40,
Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 (1986 Cumm. Supp.) (Freedom of Information
Act). If any part is designated as “Confidential”, there must be, attached to that section,
an explanation of how this information fits within one or more categories listed in Section
30-4-40. The District reserves the right to determine disclosure and no legal action may
be brought against the District or its agents for its determination in this regard.
Assignment: No contract or its provisions may be assigned, sublet or transferred without
the written consent of the District.
Illegal Immigration Act: By signing your offer, you certify that you will comply with
the applicable requirements of Title 8, Chapter 14 of the South Carolina Code of Laws.
SCOPE OF WORK
The intent of these specifications is to set forth and convey to prospective Offerors the
general type, character and quality of the services as desired by Clarendon County
School District.
From time to time, the Board of Trustees and Administration of Clarendon County
School District may require legal advice, assistance and representation in a number of
areas, on a non- exclusive and as-needed basis. The attorney or law firm shall have a
minimum of five (5) years of providing acceptable legal experience with similar clients
and be in good standing with the South Carolina Bar Association. The firm(s) shall be
of sufficient size to handle widely varied anticipated legal matters involving a public
school district.
Preference will be given to firms that can demonstrate experience with school law and
related areas. The firms selected shall have demonstrable qualifications to handle legal
work in public school law which includes but is not limited to the following areas (it is
emphasized that the successful firms can but do not necessarily need to be qualified to
handle all of these areas; Offerors are encouraged to respond to subsets of these areas):
Discrimination Construction Special Education Governance
Employment Finance Student Rights Student Safety
Facilities Athletics NCLB Curriculum
DISTRICT PROFILE
Nine (9) Board of Education members, representing single member districts, govern the
District. There are approximately 4,000+ students enrolled in grades k-12. The District
operates 4 elementary schools, 1 middle schools, 2 middle/high schools, 1 high school,
and 1 vocational school. The District also serves preschool and an adult education
program. Employed are approximately 600 certified and non-certified employees.
SPECIFIC TASKS
The services to be provided to the District may include but not limited to the following:
1. Attends and provides legal advice at all meetings of the School Board and
such other meetings as the Board or the superintendent may request.
2. Advises the Board on all matters of a legal or technical nature relating to the
interpretation of statues, charters, ordinances, contracts, policies, rules, and
regulations.
3. Prepares and renders legal opinions upon request to the Board (or any
member thereof), the superintendent and the staff.
4. Prepares and conducts litigation and administrative hearings as authorized by
the Board.
5. Prepares all documents incident to the noticing, calling, and conducting of
school referendum elections.
6. Provides legal assistance in the drafting of legal documents, rules and
regulations, resolutions, applications, and all other legal or quasi-legal papers
upon request.
7. Provides legal assistance in the drafting of state legislation proposed by the
School District for presentation to the State Legislature.
8. Maintains access to all legislation introduced in the State Legislature and
interprets the impact of such legislation on the interest of the School District.
9. Participates in professional growth activities to maintain a current level of
knowledge pertaining to school law issues.
10. Performs such other duties consistent with his professional competence as the
Board may from time to time assign.
11. Duly licensed by the State of South Carolina to practice law.
12. Specialized training and/or experience in school-law issues preferred.
13. Established practice with progressively more responsible cases.
14. Such alternatives to the above qualifications as the Board may find
appropriate and acceptable.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Offerors must meet the following minimum requirements:
1. Member in good standing of the Bar Association of the State of South Carolina.
2. Member in good standing of the Bar of the United States District Court of South
Carolina.
3. Must have experience with Federal and State Education laws and have a
minimum of five (5) years working with or for a public school district in all areas
of practice that Offeror wishes to be considered. South Carolina public school
experience preferred.
4. Ability to provide same day response by telephone, email or individual
conference.
5. Assignment of a lead attorney with appropriate experience.
PROPOSAL RESPONSE
Offeror shall submit a proposal that provides a summary of the following:
• Professional qualifications including key staff. Include an organizational chart
that shows the functional lines of communication, authority and assigned
responsibilities.
• Areas of practice in which the Offeror would like to be considered.
• Experience within the past five (5) years in public school education law.
• Three (3) references to include the Client’s name, point of contact and title,
address, telephone number and e-mail address. South Carolina public school
district references preferred.
• A detailed, itemized fee schedule and expected schedule of payment to perform
all services offered.
• Describe any potential conflicts of interest.
INTERVIEW/PRESENTATION
After evaluation of the proposal responses, the Board of Trustees reserves the right to
request an interview or presentation from any or all Offerors. The purpose of the
interview will be to give the Board the opportunity to ask questions and receive
clarification on the proposals. Request for interviews will be made to those firms chosen
no later than January 30, 2026 and interviews will be presented at the next Board
Meeting during executive session on February 2, 2026. Times for presentations will be
determined at the time of the interview request.
FORM OF CONTRACT
This solicitation is exempt from the District’s Procurement Code. Submissions are
requested solely to assist the Board of Trustees in determining the desirability of forming
an attorney-client relationship with the Offeror, in the Board of Trustee’s sole
discretion. The Board may retain more than one firm for multiple areas of public school
law depending on the qualifications and suitably of the Board’s needs. Terms of
engagement and compensation will be directly negotiated by the Board of Trustees with
the firm(s) determined most qualified to provide needed services.
Printable version found HERE.