Finance

The Finance Department provides business and finance services for the school district in support of The Bellingham Promise. The department is responsible for budgeting, accounting, contracts and procurement, payroll and benefits, levies and bonds, risk management and insurance.

Contact

Kathryn Weilage
Chief Financial Officer

Navie La Tray
Accounting Manager
360-676-6529

Staff Resource – Finance Department Staff Hub

View the 6000 policies and procedures related to accounting, budget and purchasing

Accounting

Contact us: (360) 676-6529

Vendor Payments: bps.accountspayable@bellinghamschools.org

Billing: bps.accountsreceivable@bellinghamschools.org
(Pay your bill online)

Employee Reimbursements: bps.reimbursements@bellinghamschools.org

Accounting performs the following functions in support of district operations including recording district financial transactions, oversight of receipt and deposit of cash throughout the district, fiscal reporting and much more. Accounting provides timely and accurate disbursement of payments to vendors and reimbursements to employees and is also responsible for coordinating employee travel and creating invoices for external and internal customers.

Budget

Bellingham Public Schools’ budget is prepared in accordance with the laws and legal requirements of the school district board, Washington state and the federal government. The budget is a moral document that expresses how the school district will direct limited resources to achieve the goals described in The Bellingham Promise, our strategic plan.

Visit the budget for current and historical budget information and ASB reports.

Contracts and Procurement

Contact us: (360)-676-6498

bps.contracts@bellinghamschools.org

The contracts and procurement team provides support to schools and district-wide programs and operations to allow for the uninterrupted flow of supplies, equipment, and services while ensuring purchases and contracts conform to district policy, applicable state and federal laws, and sound business practices.

Use this link to be added to the Small Works Roster.

Bid and Quote Opportunities

Contract management software:

Purchasing

Contact us: (360) 671-5951

bps.purchasing@bellinghamschools.org

Purchasing provides the necessary materials, supplies, and equipment to perform the district responsibility, education of our students. With the exception of books, the manner in which we procure furniture, supplies, equipment, building improvements or repairs, or other work or purchases for the district must be in compliance with RCW 28A.335.190.

You can review our terms and conditions for billing and shipping.

Payroll

Contact us: (360) 676-5009

payrolloffice@bellinghamschools.org

Payroll is dedicated to providing accurate and timely paychecks and other comprehensive payroll-related services to all employees of Bellingham Public Schools. Payroll is a service-oriented office whose goal is to assist employees with payroll/benefits questions and resolve problems.

Employees and prospective employees may access payroll and benefit information via the Employee Benefits webpage.

Risk Management

Risk Management focuses on providing a safe environment for students and staff by assessing, minimizing and preventing accidental loss to the district.

Visit our Risk Management page to learn more about student safety as well as staff safety and return to work.

Levies and Bonds

Bonds

Funding for school construction, facility improvements, and property purchases mostly comes from local voters through bond elections. This is separate from the district’s general fund and by law, cannot be used for day-to-day operations or to address budget shortfalls.

Learn all about our ongoing facilities projects here.

Learning about our 2022 bond here.
Learn about our 2018 bond here.
Learn about our 2013 bond here.

Levies

Our schools cannot rely on the federal and state government to adequately fund a high quality education for our local children. These levies provide critical basic funding to help cover budget cuts and shortfalls from state and federal funding. Levies pay for nearly 25 percent of education in Bellingham Public Schools as well as technology, which is not funded by the state.

Learn more about our 2024 levies

Interlocal Agreements

Listed below are Interlocal Agreements currently in effect and as adopted by Bellingham School District #501.

RCW 39.24.040 requires interlocal agreements to be filed with the county auditor or, alternatively, listed by subject on a public agency’s website or other electronically retrievable public source.