Where is DOE stashing $400 million in savings from cancelled busing this year?
Ever since April, when I saw that the DOE was asking the Panel for Educational Policy to approve retroactive extensions of the busing contracts for March costing $180M, to be automatically renewed in April for about the same amount, I've been concerned about why they were intent on spending these funds despite the fact that there has been no school busing since March 15, when schools were closed due to the pandemic.
The waste involved was even more astonishing, considering that the DOE will be facing big budget cuts next year, which will severely hamper the ability of NYC schools to provide the health and safety protections as well as educational and emotional support that students will need.
The DOE argued that, for some reason, they were obligated to renew the busing contracts through the end of the year, but would only pay 85%, as they apparently get 15% savings on snow days.
This didn't make any sense to me, given that these were contract extensions, with no legal obligations to renew. Moreover, in most such contracts there is a provision called "force majeure" meaning the contract could be rendered null and void in case of a real emergency, including an epidemic.
Sure enough, the City Controller wrote a letter to the DOE on April 17, pointing this out and asking, "Given the extreme budgetary pressures faced by the City amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it would seem contrary to all sense of fiscal prudence that the City would continue to pay for services that can no longer be rendered for the remainder of the CONTINUE READING: NYC Public School Parents: Where is DOE stashing $400 million in savings from cancelled busing this year?