On March 27, 2020, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) put out an “On The Desktop” notice regarding Payment for Contractual Services (i.e., bus contracts). In that message it says “we expect school districts to continue payments for outsourced operational services that are needed to ensure continuity of essential services when schools reopen.” It does recommend negotiating changes based on the change in circumstances or services needed.
Whether or not district should or can continue to pay bus contractors for services they are not actually providing as a result of the school closures has been a hot question not just in Massachusetts but across the country.
