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Museum School budget includes $196,000 for vans and field‑trip logistics; applicants say daily expeditions drive costs
Summary
Applicants told TEA they budgeted about $196,000 in the zero‑year budget for four vans, maintenance, insurance and frequent learning expeditions; they said routine student transportation will be provided only for students with IEPs and that the vans are intended mainly for afternoon community‑based learning.
Museum School of East Dallas applicants told TEA on May 14 that a $196,000 zero‑year line item in their workbook represents the conservative cost to procure and operate four vans for frequent learning expeditions, insurance, maintenance and fuel.
“Financially, we would not be able to get a big charter bus and do all of that, so it really was thinking about ... four of those vans,” an applicant said, explaining the budget includes purchase and operating costs in case donated or auctioned vehicles are not available.
The applicants said routine home‑to‑school transportation will be provided only when required by an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and they budgeted for door‑to‑door transport for an anticipated three students with IEPs. For most families, the school said it has strategically chosen a campus location meant to be walkable or accessible by public transit to minimize daily transportation costs.
Applicants described the vans’ primary use as learning expeditions embedded in the afternoon explore block and said some partners already have grant funding to support programming (applicants cited Artist Outreach and a recent City of Dallas grant). They told TEA that if enrollment falls short of projections, they would first attempt to reduce partner hours, seek grant funding for partners, or reduce nonessential expenses before cutting core instructional staff.
TEA financial staff requested reconciliation of the transportation budget with the described usage and asked applicants to provide follow‑up documentation on vehicle purchase plans, insurance estimates and planned routes if the school is approved.
