Simplifying transparency for a public school district

The Challenge

As a public K–12 school district managing capital projects from $100K to $200M, Highline Public Schools must oversee complex construction programs delivered by external general contractors. Historically, the district relied on email, spreadsheets and systems designed for fiscal accounting — not construction — which made it difficult to track budgets in real time, manage risk proactively, and respond quickly to questions from leadership, oversight bodies, and the public.

The Solution

Highline adopted Procore Project Management, Financials, Invoice Management and Analytics to centralize project data and gain much-needed visibility into budgets, changes and documentation. By leveraging a platform already familiar to its field teams, contractors, and consultants, the district established a single source of truth—helping to improve reporting consistency, enable data-driven decision-making, and ensuring all stakeholders were aligned and working from the same, up-to-date information.

The Results

• Helped to reduce time spent preparing financial and audit reports by centralizing project data
• Helped to improve budget forecasting accuracy with real-time visibility into risks and changes
• Increased transparency with frequent reporting for stakeholders
• Helped facilitate faster financial decisions, including optimal timing of bond sales

Managing construction in the public eye

Highline Public Schools sits in a unique position as a public owner. Serving more than 17,000 students across 34 schools in five jurisdictions, the district oversees a diverse portfolio of capital projects, from small facility upgrades to major rebuilds such as Evergreen and Tyee High Schools, where specially equipped classrooms give students hands-on experience in trades like shop, mechanics and the culinary arts. With every project funded by voter-approved bonds, the school must balance progress, cost control, accountability and transparency at all times.

Ellie Daneshnia, Executive Director of Capital Planning & Construction, oversees every capital project in the district. But instead of managing a dedicated field crew, she oversees a sprawling web of contractors, architects and consultants. As Daneshnia explains, her role is to be the connective tissue, coordinating stakeholders, evaluating risk, and making sure projects meet both public requirements and district goals.

That responsibility extends far beyond the jobsite. Highline regularly reports to community oversight committees, county and state agencies, and the public. “As a public district, we have to be ready at any moment to explain where we are with our projects and how we’re using bond funding,” Daneshnia says. “That accountability is just part of the job.”

When legacy systems couldn’t keep up

Before Procore, Highline relied on a patchwork of tools to manage its construction program. Project updates lived in emails, files were shared across multiple platforms and information flowed differently depending on the contractor or consultant involved. “We were using email and other tools, but it wasn’t organized in a way that gave us a clear snapshot of what was happening,” Daneshnia says.

That fragmentation made it difficult to respond quickly to questions from leadership — or the public. Many of the district’s internal systems were designed around education and fiscal-year accounting, not the multi-year lifecycle of capital programs. “Our financial systems weren’t really built for construction,” Daneshnia says. “They look at things on a fiscal basis, but construction doesn’t work that way.”

As a result, answering basic questions — about budget status, risk or how bond dollars were being spent — often required time-consuming manual work. “If someone asked where we were with funding or progress, it wasn’t as simple as running one report,” Daneshnia says. As Highline launched a $518 million bond program to replace and modernize multiple schools, those limitations became increasingly difficult to manage.

Gaining financial clarity and confidence

Highline turned to Procore to consolidate project and financial information into a single, construction-focused platform. The goal, Daneshnia says, was simple: “We needed a system where, on any given day, we could see what was happening on our sites, where we were with our budgets and what changes or risks were coming.”

While Procore supports day-to-day project management, the most immediate impact for Highline has come from financial visibility. “The budget module has been the biggest game changer for us,” Daneshnia says. Capturing risks and changes early helps the team see potential impacts before they hit the bottom line—and better understand how project timelines and cash flow affect decisions like when to sell bonds, rather than discovering issues weeks later through manual reporting.

That real-time insight has transformed decision-making. “Instead of spending hours pulling reports together, I can see the data right away and make decisions on the spot,” Daneshnia says. It has also changed conversations with district leadership. “When you can share accurate information immediately, it builds trust,” she says. “Everyone feels more confident that we understand where the projects stand.”

Transparency that builds public trust

Beyond internal decision-making, Procore has helped strengthen Highline’s ability to communicate with the broader community. Project photos, progress updates and documentation are captured in one place, making it easier for communications teams to share timely updates. “Our communications staff regularly pulls information directly from Procore to tell the story of how projects are progressing,” Daneshnia says.

That transparency is critical for a public school district. Highline provides frequent updates to community oversight committees and must regularly report to county and state agencies. With project data centralized, those requests are easier to support. “Instead of scrambling to gather information, we can run reports quickly and share them with confidence,” Daneshnia says.

For Ellie, the greatest impact goes beyond efficiency. Procore has helped Highline strengthen trust with the community it serves. “Being able to make information available when people ask for it — that’s huge for us,” she says.

Looking ahead, she’s embedding Procore even more deeply into how the district operates, including closeout documentation. “Finishing a project is one thing,” Daneshnia says. “But getting drawings, warranties and documents a year later is another. Now, we’re making sure that information is there when we need it.”