Federal mandates that if a homeless child is placed out of district in some temporary housing, say a shelter or hotel, he is given the option of going to school where he is or be bused back to his original district. Seems like the sociably conscious thing to do.
The thing is school districts were told what to do but weren't given any funds to do it. It was the definition of an unfunded mandate. State auditor SUSAN BUMP took a look at this and said "Whoa! This is not fair and maybe unconstitutional.".
SO CONSEQUENTLY.....,
LPS will be getting reimbursed to the tune of $191,496 this year and a projected $213,169 next year. I guess we can buy some extra pencils.
Homeless children have option to go to school that they lived in before family forced to hotel in another community in which case BOTH the sending and receiving school district have been splitting the cost of transportation, which is provided in modes ranging from school bus to a taxicab.
ReplyDeleteOK so if $191,496 is 50% of that cost (approx $400,000), I am curious to how many children are being bused to Lynn from other cities and why is the cost to bus them so high? $400,000 a year seems excessive and I don't question busing them but I do question how the cost is being calculated. How many kids in Lynn shelters (no hotels here) are being bused to other towns?
Those numbers were not given and if you read my comment on Facebook this comes from a recommendation from the state auditor. The legilslature STILL has to approve it, Don't spend the money yet.
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