2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 5 - Taxation and Financial Administration › Article 73 - Apportionment of Public Moneys › Part 2 - Aidable Transportation Expense › 3625 - Contracts.

§  3625.  Contracts.    1.  Form  of  transportation  contracts. Every
contract for transportation of school children shall be in writing or in
an electronic form approved by  the  commissioner  when  available,  and
before  such  contract  is  filed  with  the  department  as required by
subdivision two of  this  section,  the  same  shall  be  submitted  for
approval  to  the  superintendent  of  schools of said district and such
contract shall not be approved and filed by such  superintendent  unless
he  or she shall first investigate the same with particular reference to
the type of conveyance, the character and ability  of  the  driver,  the
routes  over  which the conveyances shall travel, the time schedule, and
such other matters  as  in  the  judgement  of  the  superintendent  are
necessary  for  the  comfort  and protection of the children while being
transported to and from school. Every such contract  for  transportation
of  children  shall contain an agreement upon the part of the contractor
that the vehicle shall come to a full stop before crossing the track  or
tracks of any railroad and before crossing any state highway.
2.  Filing  of transportation contracts. Every transportation contract
shall be filed with the department within one hundred twenty days of the
commencement of service under such contract. No  transportation  expense
shall be allowed for a period greater than one hundred twenty days prior
to  the filing of any contract for the transportation of pupils with the
education department. No contract shall be considered  filed  unless  it
bears  an  original  signature,  in the case of a written document, or a
certification, in the case  of  an  approved  electronic  form,  of  the
superintendent   of   a   school   district   or  the  designee  of  the
superintendent and the  sole  trustee  or  president  of  the  board  of
education  of  the  school  district.  The  final  approval  of any such
contract by the commissioner shall not, however, obligate the  state  to
allow  transportation  expense in an amount greater than the amount that
would be allowed under the provisions of this part.  The  state,  acting
through  the  department  of  audit and control, may examine any and all
accounts of the  contractor  in  connection  with  a  contract  for  the
transportation  of  pupils,  and  every  such contract shall contain the
following provision: "The contractor hereby consents to an audit of  any
and all financial records relating to this contract by the department of
audit and control."
3.  Allowable  expense  for  transportation  contracts.  The allowable
transportation expense for any school district contracting for  the  use
of  a  bus  or  buses  for  the  transportation of any or all the pupils
attending school in such school district, other than a contract  with  a
public service facility for such transportation operated on routes under
franchise  or  operated  by a municipality or public authority, shall be
determined in the same manner as though such bus or buses were  district
owned, except that the amount computed for such bus or buses used in the
computation  of  the transportation expense may not exceed the amount of
the contract or contracts for such bus or buses.
4. No transportation aid or other public moneys shall  be  apportioned
and  paid  as  provided  in  this  chapter  to  any  district furnishing
transportation for pupils until the contract  for  transportation  shall
also  have  been  approved by the commissioner. In defraying any expense
incurred in providing transportation of any pupils or children under any
provision of this chapter, public moneys apportioned to the district  in
which such pupils or children reside may be used therefor.
5. Transportation contract penalties. a. All acts done and proceedings
heretofore  had  and  taken,  or  caused  to be had and taken, by school
districts and by all its officers or agents relating to or in connection
with a transportation contract, to be filed with the  department,  where
such  contract  was  not timely executed and/or filed within one hundred

twenty days of the commencement of service under such contract  pursuant
to  subdivision  two  of this section and/or where the advertisement for
bids for such contract did  not  meet  the  requirements  set  forth  in
paragraph  a  of  subdivision  fourteen of section three hundred five of
this chapter, and all  acts  incidental  hereto  are  hereby  legalized,
validated, ratified and confirmed, notwithstanding any failure to comply
with  such  filing  and/or advertising provision or provisions, provided
that the conditions in  subparagraphs  one,  two,  three,  and  four  of
paragraph b of this subdivision are met.
b.  The  department  is hereby directed to consider the aforementioned
contracts for transportation aid as valid  and  proper  obligations  and
shall  not  recover  from such school districts any penalty arising from
the failure to execute and/or file a transportation contract in a timely
manner and/or meet such advertisement requirements,  provided  that  any
amounts already so recovered shall be deemed a payment of moneys due for
prior  years  pursuant  to  paragraph  c  of subdivision five of section
thirty-six hundred four of this article and shall be paid to the  school
district pursuant to such provision, provided that:
(1)  such  school  district submitted the contract to the commissioner
and such contract is  for  services  in  the  two  thousand  twelve--two
thousand thirteen school year or thereafter;
(2) such contract is approved by the commissioner;
(3)  all  state  funds  expended  by the school district were properly
expended for such transportation as approved by the commissioner; and
(4) the failure to execute or file such contract in  a  timely  manner
and/or   meet   such   advertisement  requirements  was  an  inadvertent
administrative or ministerial oversight by the school district or due to
extenuating circumstances, and there is no evidence of any fraudulent or
other  improper  intent  by  such  district,  as   determined   by   the
commissioner.