NJSBA’s Cooperative Pricing System Offers Numerous Benefits to School Districts and Municipalities

The New Jersey School Boards Association’s Cooperative Pricing System is an excellent resource for school districts and municipalities throughout New Jersey to save time and money on necessary goods and services. Through the work of this program, members of the CPS have saved millions of dollars by utilizing a variety of cost-saving energy and technology services.

With over 550 members, the Alliance for Competitive Energy Services is the largest energy aggregation program in New Jersey. Its role within the CPS is to help provide access to energy that is less expensive than competitors. School districts throughout New Jersey have saved more than $250 million on energy bills over the last 15 years through ACES. 

In 2014, the ACES service offerings were expanded to include ACESplus, which aids the implementation of sustainability projects at schools. ACESplus makes it easy to engage the expert consulting support needed to implement advanced clean energy projects – typically with no upfront costs. ACESplus projects can provide cost savings, reduce carbon footprint and improve energy infrastructure performance. Access to ACES and ACESplus saves members money while improving sustainability.

Additionally, the CPS offers hardware, software, cybersecurity and technology solutions through partnerships with national vendors. The NJSBA partners with these vendors to help school districts across New Jersey save money on the items necessary to create innovative K-12 classrooms with technology, including devices, discounted education pricing on software licenses, 3D printers, interactive whiteboards, laptops, tablets, coding and robotic kits and much more. In addition, NJSBA offers discounted pricing on cybersecurity solutions. This service allows members to identify, protect, detect and respond to an increasing number of cyber incidents that schools face. The CPS also provides board meeting management services and software to ensure your district is at the forefront of technology in an ever-changing landscape.

Earlier this year, the NJSBA expanded its offerings to provide counties, municipalities, and other local contracting units that wish to voluntarily participate with access to the CPS. To join, school districts, municipalities, and other groups must pass a resolution and sign an agreement to become members of ACES. Once passed, members can begin purchasing through the CPS at any time using the procurement number #E-8801-NJSBA ACES-CPS. 

Membership in the NJSBA’s Cooperative Pricing System is free and unlocks a world of benefits. As part of this program, school districts and municipalities can realize significant savings on energy through ACES, sustainability consulting through ACESplus and discounts on a variety of technology services using the power of cooperative purchasing. The CPS eliminates the need to go through the competitive bidding process and helps members effectively work toward their sustainability goals and ensure a better future for New Jersey’s schools and municipalities. To learn more about these programs, please visit www.njsba.org/services/aces.

Districts that have passed a resolution to join the ACES program can begin purchasing through the NJSBA Cooperative Pricing System at any time. To find out if your district or school is included, please email njsbatec@njsba.org. Districts, counties, municipalities and other local contracting units that are not members must first pass a resolution and sign an agreement to become members of ACES to begin purchasing through the CPS. For more information, please visit www.njsba.org/services/njsba-cooperative-pricing-system.

Deryn Younger is the marketing specialist at NJSBA.