Purchasing Department

Once the District reaches $10,000.00 in expenditures for any given vendor or in any given commodity during the fiscal year, each subsequent purchase must be covered by written price quotations until the District reaches the threshold for bids and RFPs.  Written price quotations must be obtained from at least three (3) vendors. The District may also elect to follow a more restrictive pathway, and issue a formal solicitation of its own or piggyback off a cooperative contract.

For purchases anticipated to exceed $100,000 of any given commodity during the fiscal year, the District must either conduct a formal competitive sealed process or utilize a cooperative contract for the purchase of requested goods or services.   WESD utilizes an online service to maintain our Prospective Bidder’s List and to issue these formal solicitations.  The Purchasing Department also performs due diligence on any Cooperative contract to verify compliance with Arizona Procurement rules prior to the purchase.

WESD maintains its prospective bidders list at www.azpurchasing.org. To be notified of open solicitations, please register at www.azpurchasing.org. This is the only system WESD uses for solicitation notifications and registration is free of charge for all vendors.  The District encourages participation by all businesses in our solicitation process, including, but not limited to, local businesses, small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women’s business enterprises.  

Arizona Purchasing provides purchasers with web-based tools to more efficiently manage prospective bidders and solicitations while providing effective communication to the vendor community. The website serves purchasers across different disciplines for the purpose of developing a central and statewide prospective bidders list, posting solicitations and requests for quotations online, and more effectively disseminating solicitation information to the vendor and varied buyer communities.

Cooperative purchasing means procurement conducted by, or on behalf of, more than one public agency or governmental entity.  Arizona School District Procurement Rules authorize and govern intergovernmental procurements, and in order to take advantage of these cooperative contracts, a signed intergovernmental Cooperative Purchasing agreement is required. Cooperative contracts benefit its members by helping to reduce administrative costs, reduce duplication across public agencies/governmental entities,  promote "best value", and are used to obtain economies of scale, leading to cost savings.

WESD is a member of and participates in the following purchasing consortiums: 1 Government Purchasing Alliance(1GPA), Arizona State Procurement Office(SPO), Choice Partners, Greater Phoenix Purchasing Consortium of Schools (GPPCS), Mohave Educational Service Cooperative (MESC), Omnia Partners (OMNIA), Strategic Alliance for Volume Expenditures(SAVE), and Tips USA.  We utilize their contracts for purchases as well as our own WESD contracts. 

Conflict of interest law prohibits WESD employees from identifying the need for goods or services from a business for which a relative works. “Relative” is defined as spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, brother or sister, whole or half blood, and their spouses and parents, or a brother, sister, or child of a spouse. Additionally, the WESD employee is prohibited from selecting the business for goods or services, supervising the work of the company, voting on or approving the award of a contract to the company, and approving invoices for payment.  WESD employees are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest on an annual basis. We ask our vendors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest when they register with us. 

Any vendor wishing to be paid under a district purchase order must have completed a WESD Vendor Registration Form and a W-9 form.

Purchases for WESD are authorized only by a Purchase Order (PO) signed by the Purchasing Administrator. Vendors should not accept or deliver orders for products or services without an authorized Purchase Order. WESD will not be held responsible for products or services delivered without a PO in place.    Price increases or substitution of items without prior approval from the Purchasing Department is prohibited.  POs are only authorized for the total amount stated on the PO.  Verbal changes are unauthorized.   All purchase orders are governed by terms, conditions, and instructions and are located at www.wesdschools.org/domain/33. 

Arizona vendors are responsible for collecting and remitting the privilege license tax (City sales tax) of their resident City and the Arizona transaction privilege tax (State sales tax). The District is not tax-exempt. Sales tax added on invoices from Arizona vendors are paid by the District. The District also pays Use Tax on any out-of-state vendors that do not charge a tax on taxable purchases. The tax rate for WESD should be determined by utilizing our full zip code of 85304-1505. 

All deliveries should be made to the WESD Materials Management Center located at 4650 W. Sweetwater Ave, Glendale, Arizona 85304. Deliveries should not be made directly to the school location unless indicated on the Purchase Order. All shipments must reference the PO number on the outside of the box. Failure to list the PO number as required may cause the refusal of packages. Reshipment shall be at the vendor’s own expense. All deliveries should contain a packing slip stating the quantity and description of goods contained in the shipment. 

Invoices In accordance with WESD policy, payment is made after goods are received or services are rendered on Net 30 payment terms. Prepayment is allowed only for specific reasons prescribed by policy. Invoices should be emailed to the WESD Accounts Payable Department at: accountspayable@wesdschools.org, or they can be mailed to the Washington Elementary School District, 4650 W Sweetwater Ave., Glendale, AZ 85304 Attn: Accounts Payable. Invoices should not be mailed to school or department locations. All invoices must reference the PO number, list the description of goods or services provided, quantity, unit price, and extended price. WESD makes every effort to process payment for purchases within thirty calendar days after receipt of an invoice unless a good faith dispute exists regarding the receipt of goods or services. See https://www.wesdschools.org/Page/33 for more information related to Accounts Payable.

WESD gladly accepts donations that provide an overall benefit to WESD. These donations are recognized at our public governing board meetings. However, Arizona State Law and WESD Governing Board Policy prohibit WESD employees from accepting personal gifts. Please refer to the statements below, and do not offer any item that would be construed as a personal gift to any WESD employee.  Also, do not offer WESD Contract discounts to WESD employees for personal purchases.  Arizona Revised Statute §38-504.C states: "A public officer or employee shall not use or attempt to use the officer's or employee's official position to secure any valuable thing or valuable benefit for the officer or employee that would not ordinarily accrue to the officer or employee in the performance of the officer's or employee's official duties if the thing or benefit is of such character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence on the officer or employee with respect to the officer's or employee's duties.   Per State law, penalties for violations of these provisions range from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony for both the district employee and the vendor. 

Public records of the District will be open for inspection by any person in accordance with Arizona Public Records Law.  Information pertaining to public records requests can be found on the District website at www.wesdschools.org/Domain/543.  

WESD thanks you for taking the time to review this information.  Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.  We look forward to conducting business with your company.