P.R. Laws tit. 3, § 9121
The Secretary of Education is hereby authorized and directed to establish alternative measures and strategies to maximize the efficiency and cost effectiveness of school transportation, particularly in connection with the direct or indirect subcontracting with the Municipalities, as well as with any Entity of the Executive Branch or private entity that guarantees savings in the cost of providing such services. Likewise, the Secretary of Education is hereby directed, in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget, to devise a plan for the adequate control of the payments made for rendered services and for the evaluation of documents that validate the rendering thereof. Said control plan shall be promulgated within a term that shall not exceed sixty (60) days after the approval of this Act, and filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House not later than thirty (30) days after the adoption thereof. The Department of Education shall not spend, on account of school transportation, an amount of Commonwealth funds exceeding the amount set aside therefor in the General Budget Joint Resolution or, if such Joint Resolution does not specifically provide for such allocation, the amount budgeted and accounted for at the beginning of the fiscal year in its approved budget. Neither the Secretary of Education nor the Office of Management and Budget may transfer additional funds during a fiscal year to cover expenditures that exceed the budget or potential overruns on this account. The Secretary of Education is hereby authorized and empowered to take the necessary measures to renegotiate, restructure, or modify contracts with carriers in order to comply with the mandate of austerity and expenditure control, as provided above. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the Secretary is hereby empowered to execute, modify, or cancel the service contract or legal agreement entered into with any carrier to provide school transportation services in the service zones and under the conditions that he/she may determine. Likewise, the Secretary is hereby empowered to either recover the money paid, or to not pay, for school transportation services charged for an enrolled student, but not rendered due to absenteeism, transfers, or dropouts.
History —June 17, 2014, No. 66, § 15.