a. “Board of education” means and includes the board of education of any local school district, consolidated school district, regional school district, county vocational school and any other board of education or other similar body other than the State Board of Education, the Commission on Higher Education or the Presidents’ Council, established and operating under the provisions of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and having authority to make purchases and to enter into contracts for the provision or performance of goods or services. The term “board of education” also shall include the board of trustees of a charter school established under P.L.1995, c.426 (C. 18A:36A-1 et seq.).

b. “Purchasing agent” means the secretary, business administrator or the business manager of the board of education duly assigned the authority, responsibility and accountability for the purchasing activity of the board of education and having the power to prepare advertisements, to advertise for and receive bids and to award contracts as permitted by this chapter, but if there be no secretary, business administrator or business manager, such officer, committees or employees to whom such power has been delegated by the board of education.

c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.440.)

d. “District” means and includes any local school district, consolidated school district, regional school district, county vocational school and any other board of education or other similar body other than the State board, established under the provisions of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.440.)

f. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.440.)

g. “Extraordinary unspecifiable services” means services which are specialized and qualitative in nature requiring expertise, extensive training and proven reputation in the field of endeavor.

h. “Professional services” means services rendered or performed by a person authorized by law to practice a recognized profession and whose practice is regulated by law and the performance of which services requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of learning acquired by a prolonged formal course of specialized instruction and study as distinguished from general academic instruction or apprenticeship and training. Professional services may also mean services rendered in the provision or performance of goods or services that are original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor.

i. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.440.)

j. “Purchases” means transactions, for a valuable consideration, creating or acquiring an interest in goods, services and property, except real property or any interest therein.

k. “Work” means any task, program, undertaking, or activity, related to any development, redevelopment, construction or reconstruction performed or provided pursuant to a contract with a board of education.

l. “Aggregate” means the sums expended or to be expended for the provision or performance of any goods or services in connection with the same immediate purpose or task, or the furnishing of similar goods or services, during the same contract year through a contract awarded by a purchasing agent.

m. “Bid threshold” means the dollar amount set in N.J.S.18A:18A-3, above which a board of education shall advertise for and receive sealed bids in accordance with procedures set forth in N.J.S. 18A:18A-1 et seq.

n. “Contract” means any agreement, including but not limited to a purchase order or a formal agreement, which is a legally binding relationship enforceable by law, between a vendor who agrees to provide or perform goods or services and a board of education which agrees to compensate a vendor, as defined by and subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement. A contract also may include an arrangement whereby a vendor compensates a board of education for the vendor’s right to perform a service, such as, but not limited to, operating a concession.

o. “Contract year” means the period of 12 consecutive months following the award of a contract.

p. “Competitive contracting” means the method described in sections 45 through 49 of P.L.1999, c.440 (C. 18A:18A-4.1 through C. 18A:18A-4.5) of contracting for specialized goods and services in which formal proposals are solicited from vendors; formal proposals are evaluated by the purchasing agent or counsel or school business administrator; and the board of education awards a contract to a vendor or vendors from among the formal proposals received.

q. “Goods and services” or “goods or services” means any work, labor, commodities, equipment, materials, or supplies of any tangible or intangible nature, except real property or any interest therein, provided or performed through a contract awarded by a purchasing agent, including goods and property subject to N.J.S. 12A:2-101 et seq.

r. “Library and educational goods and services” means textbooks, copyrighted materials, student produced publications and services incidental thereto, including but not limited to books, periodicals, newspapers, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, microfilms, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, slides, films, filmstrips, video and magnetic tapes, other printed or published matter and audiovisual and other materials of a similar nature, necessary binding or rebinding of library materials, and specialized computer software used as a supplement or in lieu of textbooks or reference material.

s. “Lowest price” means the least possible amount that meets all requirements of the request of a purchasing agent.

t. “Lowest responsible bidder or vendor” means the bidder or vendor: (1) whose response to a request for bids offers the lowest price and is responsive; and (2) who is responsible.

u. “Official newspaper” means any newspaper designated by the board of education pursuant to R.S.35:1-1 et seq.

v. “Purchase order” means a document issued by the purchasing agent authorizing a purchase transaction with a vendor to provide or perform goods or services to the board of education, which, when fulfilled in accordance with the terms and conditions of a request of a purchasing agent and other provisions and procedures that may be established by the board of education, will result in payment by the board of education.

w. “Quotation” means the response to a formal or informal request made by a purchasing agent to a vendor for provision or performance of goods or services, when the aggregate cost is less than the bid threshold. Quotations may be in writing, or taken verbally if a record is kept by the purchasing agent.

x. “Responsible” means able to complete the contract in accordance with its requirements, including but not limited to requirements pertaining to experience, moral integrity, operating capacity, financial capacity, credit, and workforce, equipment, and facilities availability.

y. “Responsive” means conforming in all material respects to the terms and conditions, specifications, legal requirements, and other provisions of the request.

z. “Public works” means building, altering, repairing, improving or demolishing any public structure or facility constructed or acquired by a board of education to house school district functions or provide water, waste disposal, power, transportation and other public infrastructures.

aa. “Concession” means the granting of a license or right to act for or on behalf of the board of education, or to provide a service requiring the approval or endorsement of the board of education, and which may or may not involve a payment or exchange, or provision of services by or to the board of education, provided that the term concession shall not include vending machines.

bb. “Index rate” means the rate of annual percentage increase, rounded to the nearest half-percent, in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services, computed and published quarterly by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

cc. “Proprietary” means goods or services of a specialized nature, that may be made or marketed by a person or persons having the exclusive right to make or sell them, when the need for such goods or services has been certified in writing by the board of education to be necessary for the conduct of its affairs.

dd. “Service or services” means the performance of work, or the furnishing of labor, time, or effort, or any combination thereof, not involving or connected to the delivery or ownership of a specified end product or goods or a manufacturing process. Service or services may also include an arrangement in which a vendor compensates the board of education for the vendor’s right to operate a concession.

L.1977, c.114; amended 1994, c.48, s.59; 1999, c.440, s.50.