The second episode of Words in Edgewise takes listeners behind the scenes of a two-year investigation into the New Rochelle City School District’s spending of more than $3.2 million on four students placed at Shrub Oak International School, which was not approved by the New York State Education Department.
Journalist and publisher Robert Cox joins AI podcast host “Claire T. Forall” to explain how a $400,000 payment discovered in July 2023 led to a series of Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, an Article 78 lawsuit and an ongoing legal battle over records of the district’s legal expenses.
Although Cox prevailed in State Supreme Court, the district appealed. The dispute is now before the Appellate Division, Second Department, in Brooklyn, where Cox is seeking to lift an automatic stay preventing the release of records.
The conversation explores newly obtained State Education Department correspondence, questions about the district’s decisions and why the full cost of the placements remains unknown.
Readers join the discussion as Cox responds to questions from Stef Zivan and Marypat Hayes Antonioli about the spending, accountability and how placements at an unapproved school continued for years.
Cox closes by explaining what happens next in the court proceedings, including the October 26 return date for his motion, and why the public deserves a full accounting of the district’s expenditures.