PSESD

What PSESD does

PSESD is a regional Educational Service District created by the Washington State Legislature in 1969, serving as one of nine such legislatively mandated agencies in the state. Headquartered in Renton, WA, the organization coordinates more than 100 educational programs and services across King and Pierce counties (including Bainbridge Island) for 35 public school districts, 10 charter schools, 267 private schools, and 2 tribal compact schools, reaching 424,562 K-12 public school students (approximately 38% of Washington's K-12 public school population) and approximately 5,000 early learners through Head Start, Early Head Start, and ECEAP programs. Governance rests with a nine-member elected Board of Directors, and operations are led by Superintendent Dr. Gustavo Balderas with 400+ staff organized into three core departments: Administrative & Management Services, Equity in Education, and Learning, Teaching and Family Support (LTFS).

The service portfolio spans direct educational programs (Early Learning, Professional Learning/Clock Hours, ReLife alternative education school, Diverse Educator Pathways), shared-service cooperatives (Puget Sound Workers' Compensation Trust & Unemployment Pool, Safety Cooperatives, ReLife Cooperatives), administrative services (Fingerprinting, Communications and Public Relations, Fiscal and State Reporting, Government Relations, Transportation), and statewide convening functions (Washington Learning Source procurement platform, SAVE superintendent advocacy coalition). Technology infrastructure is operational rather than proprietary, comprising pdEnroller for event registration, BoardDocs for board management, and Google Translate for website accessibility; no proprietary software platform, AI/ML capabilities, or differentiated technology assets are disclosed.

PSESD's funding model derives 77% from contracts and competitive state, federal, and private grants, 12% from cooperative services and fees, 9% from trust and pool insurance services, and less than 2% from a $491,000 core state legislative allocation. This small core allocation is leveraged into more than $58 million in funds generated and delivered to PreK-12 schools and students. As a public government entity rather than a corporate enterprise, PSESD does not have shareholders, is not subject to equity financing or M&A activity, and operates on a non-profit mandate to deliver educational equity, regional efficiency, and shared services across its legislatively defined service region.

Name

PSESD

Legal name

Puget Sound Educational Service District

Website

https://psesd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

PSESD is a Washington-state legislatively mandated regional educational service district coordinating 100+ programs for 35 school districts, charter schools, tribal compact schools, and private schools, reaching 424,000+ K-12 students and 5,000 early learners across King and Pierce counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Educational Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional Education Service Agencies (ESAs/BOCES/Intermediate Units) (EDADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

K–12 SIS & District Administration Platforms (EDAFAEAA)

Keywords

• Educational services
• K-12 support programs
• Early learning services
• School district cooperatives
• Equity in education

Headquarters

HQ city

Renton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Contracts & Grants: PSESD applies for and receives competitive state, federal and private grants to fund programs. This represents 77% of funding.
2. Services & Fees: Operating cooperatives among schools and other agencies, supported through membership fees and service charges. This represents 12% of funding.
3. Trust & Pool Services: PSESD operates trust and pool services including Puget Sound Workers' Compensation Trust & Unemployment Pool for member districts. This represents 9% of funding.
4. State Allocation: Less than 2% of funding comes from state allocation. With a core allocation of $491,000 from the state legislature, PSESD creates and delivers more than $58 million for PreK-12 schools and students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PSESD is a regional educational service district that coordinates over 100 programs and services for 35 school districts, charter schools, tribal compact schools, and private schools in King and Pierce counties, Washington. The organization delivers educational programs through three core departments—Learning, Teaching and Family Support; Equity in Education; and Administrative and Management Services—including early learning (Head Start, ECEAP), professional development, fingerprinting, workers' compensation trust, communications, alternative education, and cooperative purchasing.

Product overview

PSESD is a regional educational service district offering over 100 programs and services organized into three core departments: Administrative & Management Services (including Conference Center, Communications, Fingerprinting, Workers' Compensation Trust, and Safety/ReLife Cooperatives), Equity in Education (including Diverse Educator Pathways and youth voice initiatives), and Learning, Teaching and Family Support (including Early Learning with Head Start/Early Head Start/ECEAP, Professional Learning, and direct student services). The agency coordinates alternative education through ReLife School and operates Safety Cooperatives and ReLife Cooperatives across 35 school districts. PSESD also provides a Conference Center facility for meetings and events, fingerprinting services for background checks, and hosts partner sites including Washington Learning Source for statewide procurement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSESD: Puget Sound Educational Service District 121 - Regional educational agency serving King and Pierce counties, WA

Products and services

• Administrative & Management Services Provides strategic leadership and inter-agency cooperatives supporting school administrative, business, finance, communications, evaluation, policy, transportation and human resources functions for school districts in King and Pierce counties.
• Conference Center Flexible meeting and event space in Renton, WA for groups of 10 to 250 people, with video conferencing capabilities, available for school districts, agencies and community organizations.
• Communications and Public Relations Award-winning communications team providing consulting, design services, marketing tactics, crisis communications, community engagement, media relations, and emergency email communications for school districts and schools.
• Fingerprinting Services LIVESCAN digital fingerprinting service by appointment for individuals requiring background checks for educational certificates, employment, or volunteer work involving unsupervised access to children. Fee is $104.98.
• Puget Sound Workers' Compensation Trust & Unemployment Pool Insurance pool cooperative providing workers' compensation and unemployment insurance services to member school districts and agencies in the region.
• Equity in Education Department supporting racially equitable and culturally responsive educational approaches among staff, students, parents, and communities across districts, building capacity for racial equity leadership.
• Diverse Educator Pathways Initiative focused on diversifying the educator workforce including Educators of Color Leadership Community, Grow Your Own programs, and Teach for Liberation, serving aspiring and current educators of color.
• Learning, Teaching and Family Support (LTFS) Core department delivering opportunity gap-closing services, professional development, and resources to pre-K through postsecondary students and school systems, coordinating over 100 programs.
• Early Learning Programs Early learning programs including Head Start, Early Head Start, and ECEAP serving approximately 5,000 early learners with comprehensive education, health, nutrition and family support services.
• ReLife School Alternative education school in Puyallup, WA providing alternative educational pathways for students across multiple participating districts.
• Professional Learning/Clock Hours Professional development programs for educators offering Washington State clock hours through the pdEnroller event registration system, available to participants and event sponsors.
• Safety Cooperatives Regional safety cooperatives providing risk management and loss exposure reduction services to member school districts.
• ReLife Cooperatives Alternative education cooperatives providing ReLife alternative education services across multiple school districts including Auburn, Bethel, Clover Park, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Fife, Franklin Pierce, Kent, and others.
• Washington Learning Source Statewide ESD program publishing RFPs with defined scope of work, product specifications, evaluation, scoring and award processes for K-12 products and services statewide.
• Strategy Evaluation & Learning Provides strategic planning, evaluation, and learning services supporting data-driven decision making and measuring progress toward organizational goals for school districts and education partners.
• DiscoverWorks Free, full-day summer learning and enrichment program for students in King, Pierce, Kittitas, Yakima, Klickitat, and Grant counties, helping students thrive during summer months.
• Transportation Services Student transportation services operated from the PSESD Transportation office in Pacific, WA, supporting school districts across the region.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Washington State LegislaturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSESD was created by the Washington State Legislature as one of nine regional educational agencies. The legislature provides core funding allocation ($491,000) and establishes the mandate for ESDs as essential regional delivery systems for early learning and K-postsecondary services.
• SAVE - Superintendents Advocating for and Valuing EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSESD serves as the convener of SAVE, which unites the superintendents of the 35 school districts in King and Pierce counties to advocate for education.
• K-12 Education PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with 35 school districts across King and Pierce counties, including Bainbridge Island, to deliver educational programs and improve quality, equity, and efficiency of educational programs.
• Early Learning PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with early learning providers including Early Head Start, Head Start, ECEAP, and earlylearningwa.org to coordinate early childhood education services.
• Higher Education InstitutionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with higher education institutions to support postsecondary pathways and educator development.
• State-Tribal Education Compact SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with 2 State-Tribal Education Compact Schools providing culturally responsive educational services.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• WestEd: A national non-profit serving K-12 and higher education with research, professional development, and program support — broader in geography than PSESD and overlapping on professional learning and equity-focused services.

Direct peers

• Educational Service District 113: Washington ESD serving the Capital Region (Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Pacific counties), operating an analogous portfolio of administrative cooperatives, professional development, and equity-focused programs.
• Educational Service District 105: Washington ESD serving Yakima, Kittitas, Klickitat counties — overlapping with PSESD's new DiscoverWorks expansion geography and operating the same statutory model of regional educational service delivery.
• Educational Service District 112: Another of Washington's nine legislatively created regional Educational Service Districts, serving southwest Washington districts with cooperative services, equity programs, and administrative support — the most directly comparable agency in the same state system.
• Erie 1 BOCES (New York): A New York Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) organization — the New York state equivalent of Washington's ESDs — providing shared educational services, special education, and career/technical programs to component school districts.
• Northeast Washington Educational Service District 101: Washington ESD serving the northeast region with cooperative administrative services, equity initiatives, and early learning programs — directly comparable peer under identical legislative framework.
• Education Service Center Region 4 (Texas): One of the largest Texas ESCs providing cooperative purchasing, equity programs, and district administration services — directly comparable to PSESD in function and customer base (K-12 districts) under a different state's analogous regional delivery model.
• Education Service Center Region 13 (Texas): Texas regional Education Service Center serving schools with professional development, administrative support, and cooperative services — the Texas structural analog to Washington's ESD system and PSESD's role.
• Olympic Educational Service District 114: Washington ESD serving Kitsap, Clallam, and Jefferson counties with a similar mix of regional educational services, special education cooperatives, and equity programs under the same legislative mandate.
• North Central Educational Service District (NCESD): One of Washington's nine regional ESDs serving Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties with early learning, equity, and administrative cooperative services — directly comparable in mandate, service mix, and governance structure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PSESD
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCcIwgx4szcHtCjw2nynM6Pw
• Facebookfacebook.com/PSESD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/puget-sound-esd
• Instagraminstagram.com/psesd121

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PSESD