Policy: 6220P

(Part 1 of 2) 

Section: 6000 - Management Support

Title: Bid Or Request for Proposal Requirements

Status: Active

Adopted: August 26, 2025

---

Procedure - Bid or Requests for Proposal Requirements 

Procedure - Bid or Request for Proposal Requirements 

The board recognizes the importance of: 

• maximizing the use of district resources; 

• the need for sound business practices in spending public money; 

• the requirement of complying with applicable state and federal laws governing purchasing and public works; 

• the importance of standardized purchasing regulations; and 

• the need for clear documentation. 

Informal Competitive Bidding 

For purchases of goods or services, other than public works, that fall within the district’s range for informal bidding, the following process will be used. 

1. The district will reach out to various sources to obtain quotations for the goods or services to be purchased  

2. The district will get quotations from no less than three different sources. 

3. If there are not three sources available, the district will record the attempts to contact all available sources and document the limited number of sources. 

4. Quotations shall be documented and be available for the public to review following the awarding of the contract. 

For public works contracts under $100,000, the district reserves the right to use Direct Contracting in lieu of utilizing the Small Works Roster per RCW 28A.335.190. 

Formal Competitive Bidding Process 

The following procedures will be in effect for purchasing and public works through the bidding or request for proposal process: 

1. The district will prepare complete plans or specifications for the goods or services to be purchased. 

2. The district will provide notice of the call for formal bids by publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the district once a week for two consecutive weeks. 

3. The district will publicly open and read formal bids on the date, time, and place named in the notice. Bids will be available for public inspection. The district will return any bid received after the time set for opening, to the contractor unopened and without consideration. The district will accept proposals in the place named and no later than the date and time named in the notice; 

4. Formal bid or proposal tabulations may be presented at a meeting of the board 

5. Contracts requiring board approval, will be made on the basis of staff recommendations; 

6. The district will reserve the right to reject any or all bids or proposals, waive any formalities, and/or irregularities, and cancel the solicitation if a reason exists; 

1. The district may reject bids by resolution; and 

2. Provide notice of acceptable of further bids in the same manner as the original notice. 

7. For public works projects estimated to cost $350,000 or less, the superintendent or designee may solicit bids by telephone, electronic or written quotations from contractors on the project specific small works roster through MRSC.  

Small Works Process 

For public works contracts that are under $350,000 exclusive of state sales tax, the district may utilize a small works roster for the project. The district will utilize the services of MRSC for its small public works roster process. 

 

1. Each year, MRSC on behalf of the district, will publish a notice of opportunity regarding the small works roster in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the district.  Contractors will need to be registered with MRSC and selected Ferndale School District in order to receive Small Works Roster bid invitations. 

 

Contractors registering for our Small Works Roster through the MRSC, will be required to identify if they are a PWSBE (Public Works Small Business Enterprise). 

Solicitations will include a scope of work including equipment and/or materials required if applicable. 

 
The district will secure written or electronic quotations when using the small works process. 

The district will award the contract to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. For small works contracts under $150,000 not including sales taxes, the district may directly contract with a contractor meeting the statutory definition of a small business as follows: 

1. If the district’s small works roster has six or more small businesses, the district must rotate through the businesses on the roster and must utilize different contractors for different projects. 

2. If there are five or fewer small businesses on the roster, the district may choose to directly contract with any of the businesses. 

3. At the conclusion of negotiations with the directly selected, rotated contractor, all contractors on the project specific roster must be notified of the selection which includes the basis of rotation as documented. 

 

If the contract is under $5,000, there is no requirement for retainage or performance bonds. For any other small works process, the district may waive or reduce the retention requirements by assuming the liability for any non-payment of labors, mechanics, subcontractors, material persons, suppliers, taxes and any penalties relating to these. 

 

The following will be in effect for purchasing and public works awards: 

A. The contract for the work or purchase shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder as described in RCW 39.26.160(2), but the board may by resolution reject any and all bids and make further calls for bids in the same manner as the original call. In determining whether the bidder is a responsible bidder under RCW 39.26.160(2), the district will consider the following elements: 

1. The ability, capacity, and skill of the bidder to perform the contract or provide the service required; 

2. The character, integrity, reputation, judgment, experience, and efficiency of the bidder; 

3. Whether the bidder can perform the contract within the time specified; 

4. The quality of performance of previous contracts or services; 

5. The previous and existing compliance by the bidder with laws relating to the contract or services; 

6. Whether, within the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation, the bidder has been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgement entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated any provision of chapter 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52 RCW, as defined in RCW 49.48.082. Before awarded a contract, a bidder shall submit to the district a signed statement in accordance with RCW 9A.72.085, verifying under penalty of perjury that the bidder is in compliance with the responsible bidder criteria requirement of this subsection of RCW; and 

7. The district may secure such other information as may have bearing on the decision to award the contract. 

 

B. Before award of a public works contract, a bidder must meet the following responsibility criteria to be a responsible bidder and qualified for award of a public works project. The bidder must: 

 

1. At the time of bid submittal, have a certificate of registration in compliance with chapter 18.27 RCW; 

2. Have a current state unified business identifier number; 

3. If applicable, have industrial insurance coverage for the bidder’s employees working in Washington as required in Title 51 RCW; and employment security department number, as required in Title 50 RCW; and a state excise tax registration number, as required in Title 82RCW; 

4. Not be disqualified from bidding on any public works contract under RCW 39.06.010 or 39.12.065(3); 

5. If bidding on a public works project subject to the apprenticeship utilization requirements in RCW 39.04.320, not have been found out of compliance by the Washington State Apprenticeship and Training Council for working apprentices out of ration, without appropriate supervision, or outside their approved work processes, as outlined in their standards of apprenticeship under chapter 49.04 RCW for the one-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation; 

6. Until December 31, 2013, not have violated RCW 39.04.370 more than one time as determined by the Department of Labor and Industries; and  

7. Within the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the bid solicitation, not have been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction to have willfully violated, as defined in RCW 49.48.082, any provision of chapter 49.46., 49.48, or 49.52 RCW (before award of a contract, a bidder shall submit to the district a signed statement in accordance with RCW 9A.72.085 verifying under penalty of perjury that the bidder is in compliance with the responsible bidder criteria requirement of this subsection). 

C. For any public works contract, the district shall retain a portion of the amount paid to the contractor, based on the following guidelines: 

1. For any contract awarded using the small works roster procedure that is valued under $5,000, the district may waive retainage. 

2. For any contract under $150,000, the district may retain ten percent (10%) of the contract in lieu of a payment and performance bond. 

3. For any other contract, the district will retain five percent (5%) of the contract until such time as the project has been accepted as complete and all liens released. 

4. The contractor may submit a bond to cover amounts that would otherwise be retained by the district. 

In addition to the bidder responsibility criteria, the district may adopt relevant supplemental criteria in accordance with RCW 39.04.350(3) for determining bidder responsibility, applicable to a particular project with which the bidder must meet. 

 

Child Nutrition 

When procuring food for all child nutrition-related programs, the district will follow these additional guidelines. 

1. Purchases of food should include, to the maximum extent possible, items that meet the requirements of being domestically grown or substantially produced in the United States. Substantially produced means over 51% of the processed food comes from products produced in the United States. 

2. The district may include language providing for a preference for unprocessed food purchased for child nutrition program to be grown locally. 

A. “Locally” shall include “Washington grown” in accordance with RCW 15.64.060. 

b. “unprocessed” means the food that is delivered to the district retains its inherent character, as defined in 7 CFR 210.22(g)(2), 7 CFR 215.14a(e), 7 CFR 220.16(f)(2), 7 CFR 225.17(e)(2), and 7 CFR 226.22(n)(2), as applicable to the appropriate program. 

c. Such language preference may include a provision to award contracts to companies that are not the lowest responsive, responsible bidder in an effort to meet these provisions. 

To the extent it is practicable to do so, the district will ensure that material purchases of supplies made with Federal funds contain the highest levels of recovered materials possible under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. 

I. Procurement and Public Works Using State or Local Funds 

A. Furniture, Supplies, or Equipment  

Whenever the estimated cost of furniture, supplies or equipment (except books) will cost: 

• less than $40,000, no competitive bidding process is required to make the purchase; 

• between $40,000 and $75,000, the board will follow the informal competitive bidding process by requiring quotes from at least three different sources to be obtained in writing or by telephone and recorded for the public to review; 

• over $75,000, the board will follow the formal competitive bidding process by: 

 

1. ​preparing complete plans and specifications for such purchases; 

2. providing notice of the call for formal bids by publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the district at least once each week for two consecutive weeks; 

3. ensuring that the district takes steps to assure that when possible, the district will maximize the potential to use small and minority businesses, women’s business enterprises and labor surplus firms; 

4. providing the complete plans and specifications to those interested in submitting a bid; 

5. requiring that bids be in writing; 

6. opening and reading bids in public on the date and in the place named in the notice; and 

7. filing all bids for public inspection after opening. 

​B. Exemptions 

The board may waive bid requirements for purchases and public works under the following circumstances: 

• purchases that are clearly and legitimately limited to a single source of supply; 

• purchases that involve special facilities or market conditions; 

• in the event of an emergency; 

• of insurance or bonds; and  

• involving public works in the event of an emergency. 

"Emergency" means unforeseen circumstances beyond the district's control that present a real, immediate threat to the proper performance of essential functions or will likely result in material loss or damage to property, bodily injury, or loss of life if immediate action is not taken. 

 Whenever the board waives bid requirements, the board will issue a document explaining the factual basis for the exception and record the contract for open public inspection. 

 
C. Rejection of Bids  

The board may by resolution reject any and all bids and make further calls for bids in the same manner as the original call.  

  D. Interlocal Cooperation Act 

The board reserves the right to enter into inter-local cooperative agreements for purchases and public works with other governmental agencies pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Chapter 39.34 RCW. 

 

E. Crimes Against Children  

The board will include in any contract for services with an entity or individual other than an employee of the district a provision requiring the contractor to prohibit any employee of the contractor from working at a public school who has contact with children at a public school during the course of his or her employment and who has pled guilty to or been convicted of any felony crime specified under RCW 28A.400.322. The contract shall also contain a provision that any failure to comply with this section shall be grounds for the district immediately terminating the contract.  

 
The superintendent will establish bidding and contract awarding procedures for all purchases of furniture, equipment, supplies (except books), or public works projects consistent with state law. 

  

F. Use of State Funds for Improvements or Repairs 

The board may make improvements or repairs to district property through a district department without following the competitive bidding process if the total cost of improvements or repairs does not exceed $75,000. If the board estimates that the total cost of a building, improvement, repair, or other public works project is $100,000 or more, the board will follow the formal competitive bidding process outlined above, unless the contract is let using the small works roster process authorized by RCW 39.04.155 or under any other statutory procedure authorized for school districts, such as but not limited to RCW 39.10, RCW 39.04.270, and RCW 39.04.290. There are no statutory bidding requirements for public works projects involving improvements or repairs that are under $100,000. For projects under $100,000, the district may consider: using its small works roster process, under RCW 39.04.155; using an inter-local agreement, using another statutory procedure, or contract with a vendor of the district’s choice, without any competitive process, under RCW 28A.335.190; or choosing to require quotes for the work to make the process more competitive. 

  

  [Continue to Part 2]