Responsible city principals who save up their funds won’t have to spend them or lose them.

After complaints by some principals, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein reversed course Thursday, saying he’d worked out a deal.

“We have adjusted our budget plans to enable schools to roll money forward from their current budgets to the next school year,” Klein wrote in an e-mail to principals yesterday.

The Daily News reported yesterday that Klein was requiring principals to spend their savings out of fear he’d have to hand over unspent funds in June to the Office of Management and Budget to balance the city’s overall budget.

Roughly 800 principals saved more than $95 million from last year, which helped them save programs in the face of two budget cuts this school year.

“I applaud the chancellor for relooking at this matter,” said Edward Tom, principal of the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. “Initially, it appeared like they were punishing those principals that were good fiscal managers.”

Source: NY Daily News