How to Write a Strong RFP for After-School Enrichment — and What to Watch for When Vendors Respond
Every spring, principals across California sit down to write an RFP for their after-school enrichment program and make the same mistake: they write it too vague. They get back proposals that all look roughly the same, pick the one with the nicest deck, and spend the following school year managing a vendor relationship that was never set up to succeed.
I have worked with more than 500 schools on after-school programming. The quality of a vendor relationship is almost always determined before a contract is signed. A well-written after school program RFP forces vendors to show you exactly who they are. A weak one lets them hide it.
Here is how to write one that works.
What to Include in Your RFP
1. School Context
Give vendors a real picture of your site. Include total enrollment, grade levels served, how many students will be in the after-school program, and what staff you have available to support it. Describe your facilities specifically: Do you have a kitchen? A computer lab? Outdoor space? Is your campus locked by 5:30 PM? These details change what a vendor can actually offer you.
Also include your ELOP allocation amount. Public money is public. Vendors who have worked in Title I schools understand this. If a vendor seems uncomfortable with transparency around budget, that tells you something.
2. Program Requirements
Be precise. How many days per week? What hours? Which grade bands are you serving, and are they mixed or separated? What specific programs do you need — STEM, coding, visual arts, culinary, physical activity, tutoring? If you have a significant ELL population, say so explicitly and ask what language support the vendor provides. “We have 40 percent Spanish-speaking families” is information a serious vendor will use. A vendor who ignores it in their response is already telling you something.
3. Deliverables
Spell out what you expect in writing. Attendance tracking and reporting cadence. Family communication — how often, through what channels, in what languages. Whether you need an end-of-year showcase or student demonstration. And critically: what data you need for LCAP documentation. Vendors who have worked in California public schools will know exactly what this means. Vendors who haven’t will ask clarifying questions — which is fine — or ignore it entirely, which is not.
4. Instructor Qualifications
State your non-negotiables. Live scan clearance, TB test, background check — these should be baseline requirements, not points of negotiation. Beyond compliance, ask vendors to describe their professional development model. How many PD hours do instructors receive before they enter a classroom? How are they coached after? Experience at Title I schools specifically matters here. Running a program at a well-resourced private school and running one at a high-need campus with inconsistent family communication and complex student needs are not the same job.
5. Budget Parameters
Give vendors a real number or a range. Vague RFPs produce vague bids. If your ELOP allocation supports a $120,000 program, say your budget is in the $110,000–$130,000 range. This filters out vendors who will underbid to win the contract and upcharge later, and it saves everyone time. A good enrichment program RFP template should always include budget parameters.
6. Evaluation Criteria
Tell vendors exactly how you will score their proposals. A sample weighting might look like: program quality and curriculum 30 percent, staffing model and instructor qualifications 25 percent, experience at comparable sites 20 percent, pricing and budget narrative 15 percent, references 10 percent. Publishing your criteria forces vendors to respond to what you actually care about, and it makes your selection process defensible if anyone asks.
Questions That Reveal Everything
Include these in your RFP as required written responses. The answers — or the absence of answers — will tell you more than any curriculum deck.
What is your instructor retention rate at Title I schools after year one? Below 60 percent is a red flag. Turnover destroys program continuity, and students at high-need schools have already had too many adults leave.
Can you share attendance data from comparable school sites? Average daily attendance in a quality program should be above 75 percent. If a vendor can’t share data, they either don’t track it or don’t like what it shows.
How do you adapt curriculum for mixed skill levels in the same classroom? This is the reality at nearly every Title I site. Vendors who give you a generic answer have not solved this problem.
What is your backup protocol when an instructor doesn’t show? A non-answer here is a preview of your school year.
How do you communicate with families who aren’t reachable by email? If the answer is only email and an app, they have not worked with your population.
What does onboarding look like for instructors at a new school site? You want to hear about site visits, introductions to your staff, and a real transition period — not a login link to an LMS.
What to Watch for in Vendor Responses
The warning signs are consistent across the after school vendor RFP process. Watch for providers who cannot answer the instructor retention question directly. Watch for proposals with beautiful curriculum decks that say nothing about the staffing model — curriculum only works if someone qualified is delivering it consistently. Check references carefully: if every reference is from a suburban or private school, the vendor has not been tested in your environment.
Be skeptical of vague pricing. “Pricing upon request” in a response to a public school RFP is a yellow flag. Public programs require transparency. And if a vendor submits no outcome data from comparable sites, there are only two explanations: they do not collect it, or they do not want to share it. Neither is acceptable.
At Kodely, we work exclusively with Title I and high-need schools, so when a principal asks us these questions, we have direct answers — retention rates, attendance data, specific site references. That is what you should expect from any serious provider.
A Simple RFP Structure You Can Adapt
Section 1: School Overview — enrollment, demographics, facilities, ELOP budget
Section 2: Program Scope — days, hours, grade bands, subject areas, language requirements
Section 3: Required Deliverables — attendance, reporting, family communication, LCAP data
Section 4: Instructor Requirements — clearances, PD hours, Title I experience
Section 5: Budget Parameters — state the range
Section 6: Required Responses — answer the six questions above in writing
Section 7: References — three sites of comparable demographics, with contact names
Section 8: Evaluation Criteria — publish your scoring weights
Start in March. Do Not Wait Until August.
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