Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli thinks he's found a hidden pocket of funds that may help solve city schools' financial woes—problem is the money's locked away tight where no one can get to it. An audit revealed $615 million reserved for school employees to get accrued sick and leave time when they leave their jobs that, through some sort of mix-up, can't be accessed.
"Many districts were putting money into those funds to help pay for the cost of health insurance coverage for retirees," said Dave Albert, a spokesman for the NY School Boards Association. "It turns out the funds cannot be used for this purpose. As a result, there are some districts that have more money in those funds than they need." To free the money, legislators will have to decide to let school districts have more discretion over how their employee funds are spent.
And there's more. On top of the untouchable $615 million, the audit found "$140 million in missed Medicaid reimbursements, $25 million in improper contract payments, $49.4 million in contracts that did not benefit from competition, among other missed opportunities for savings," reports the AP.
The discoveries come at a time when public schools face cuts—like 19 school shut-downs and nixed after-school programs—in part as a result of the state's $8.2 billion deficit. The DOE is also making efforts to deal with the ultimate money sucker—the Rubber Room.
