San Diego City Schools has fully repaid Pioneer Day School, a tiny private school that contracts with the district to teach autistic children, said district spokesman Jack Brandais.
Brandais said the district owed the school a total of $28,346.92 earlier this week, when school staff and parents raised alarms that the pint-sized Pacific Beach school wouldn’t be able to survive unless four different districts repaid the school before Friday, when payroll was prepared. The school was owed a total of roughly $60,000 between the four districts, according to Pioneer director Jim Leiner. Some districts hadn’t paid the school since July.
As of midday Thursday, Brandais said San Diego schools had sent the total payment to Pioneer — including payments for September instruction, which weren’t considered late by the standards of the school’s contract.
The delay alarmed parents and staff at the school, who are pushing to change their contracts with public schools so that the districts pay up front for services, instead of reimbursing schools such as Pioneer afterwards.