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Fuel Prices
Drive Schools to Explore Busing Options
Rachel Tuinstra, Seattle Times, September 29, 2005
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The Northshore
School District paid $2.61 a gallon this week for bus fuel.
Rising prices could leave the district's fuel budget $350,000
short.
The rumbling buses that transport thousands of students each day
are giving school districts a hard punch to their budgets.
Districts in the Puget Sound region say recent spikes in fuel
prices have forced them to spend much more to keep their buses
and vans on the road, and they've also had to start looking at
creative ways to economize.
• The Lake Washington School District, which had a fuel budget
of $303,029 during the 2003-04 school year, says this year's
costs may top $847,000.
• The Northshore School District, which transports 10,000
students more than 1.8 million miles a year on 130 buses, says
it may come up $350,000 short in its fuel budget — if fuel costs
don't continue to rise.
• Districts that paid about $1.20 per gallon for diesel last
year through a state bulk contract are now paying at least $2.20
per gallon.
• And school buses generally get only 5 to 7 miles per gallon.
Still, districts here say they aren't considering the dramatic
moves seen in other parts of the country.
Jackson County, Kentucky, students will have four-day school
weeks starting in mid-October to reduce bus runs and save fuel.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, fearing fuel shortages after
Hurricane Rita, asked schools across the state to close for two
days earlier this week.
Most districts here say they likely will rely on reserves or
general-fund balances to pay for the additional cost over the
short haul.
But the increase is causing them to begin looking at ways over
the long haul to save on miles, use alternative fuels and step
up enforcing policies against idling or warming up buses. Some
districts may look at limiting activity buses or reducing bus
routes.
The bottom line, school districts say, is that the cost of
getting students to and from school is higher than ever.
Budget impacts
Seattle Public Schools added an extra $100,000 to its $1.8
million fuel budget for the 2005-06 school year even before
hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, said
Linda Sebring, the district's budget manager. The district,
which spent $1 million on fuel two years ago, will wait to see
the long-term impact from damaged and closed oil refineries
before it allocates more funds for fuel.
"Depending on what happens with the fallout to the refineries,
we may need to add a couple of hundred thousand dollars more for
fuel," Sebring said. "If we do have to do that, we will look at
other resources to backfill for that."
Even smaller school districts like Mercer Island are beginning
to look at ways to reduce fuel consumption in anticipation of
higher prices. That means no more warming up buses in the
morning before picking up students, said Ray Brautigam, the
district's transportation supervisor.
"And we're looking at reducing idling — not letting buses idle
at school loading zones," Brautigam said.
He said the district also might consider operating routes with
other districts and reducing or eliminating field trips or
activity buses.
Area public schools are getting ready to do their annual
weeklong bus-rider counts, which determine how much
transportation funding they'll get from the state.
"If there is a significant impact in [fuel] costs and it looks
like it will be sustained, we will have to have conversations at
the state level at how transportation costs are changing," said
Marla Miller, Edmonds School District's executive director of
business and operations.
Buying in bulk
Some districts buy their fuel through a state contract, using
collective buying power to leverage lower prices, but those
prices still vary depending on the day and the market.
Districts like Northshore, Lake Washington, Snohomish, Mukilteo,
Marysville, Lake Stevens, Issaquah and Riverview buy their fuel
in bulk through the contract, and while they are paying less
than gas-station prices, the contract fuel costs are increasing
dramatically.
Steve Krueger of the Office of State Procurement, who oversees
the fuel contracts, said fuel prices shot up 25 cents a gallon
right after Hurricane Katrina.
Over the summer, the Northshore School District bought fuel for
$2.08 a gallon, but earlier this week it was $2.61 a gallon
through the state contract, said Randy Wolf, Northshore's
transportation director.
"We didn't anticipate it going that high; we were thinking more
in terms of $2.30 a gallon," he said. "It's getting close to
doubling from what it was last year."
Districts that contract out their bus service may temporarily be
protected from this spike in costs. For instance, the Everett
School District contracts with Durham School Services, which
transports the district's 12,000 students about 1.5 million
miles a year.
The district and the company renegotiated the contract in
August, before prices started to soar, said Brian Higginbotham,
Durham's general manager. Because Durham pays for fuel, the
company is taking a hit to its bottom line, he said.
"I've never seen diesel fuel cost more than premium gas at the
pump," he said. "Right now, we are absorbing the cost, and the
onus is on our fleet to manage that the best we can. In the long
term, if it continues to go up, then gosh, we can't make a
profit, and like anyone, we'll have to ask for more money.
"And they'll have to dip into their general fund."
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