The school Board have received several decisions for the new sports complex for the district. Before issuing the bid, for the project, the Board agreed during one of their meetings that the primary criteria for selecting the bid would be price. The lowest priced bid will get the contract. They received several bids. There was one bid that was significantly lower than the other bids. However, there were several elements that were missing from the bid, that the other bidders included in their bids. The lowest bids' total square footage, for the complex, was at least 1000 sq ft smaller than all of the other bidders. There were fewer parking spaces and there were no energy saving features. The bid was for a basic sports complex. The school Board is now faced with a dilemma. If they move forward with the lowest bid, the citizens will probably vote all of them out of office, as they were promised a state of the art facility if they approved the school tax increase to fund the project. However, the school Board agreed to base their decision on total cost. What lesson should the school Board take away from this dilemma?

1. They should ask a local architect to submit a bid
2. Bidders should make sure they submit their bids before the due date
3. It is important to ask the bidders to attend a Q & A before submitting bids
4. It is important to establish clear, relevant criteria that consider all stakeholders