School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

Rising Fuel Prices a Big
Burden for Pupil Transportation

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

Last month, the Associated Press reported what the vast number of pupil transportation departments has known for some time; the increase of fuel prices is officially out of control.

The AP wrote that the South Carolina Department of Education expects a $1.5 million shortfall this year because of higher-than-expected costs for diesel fuel. The state had expected to spend about $17 million for fuel this year, up $4.5 million from last year. But officials now say the amount will top the $18 million mark.
Donald Tudor, the state's director of pupil transportation, told the media outlet that the office had budgeted $1.08 per gallon this year. This year's average price for diesel has hovered $1.46 per gallon. At press time, the cost per galong was $1.67.
Each penny per gallon increase costs the state $120,000. The state has been dealing with the higher costs by using lottery revenue. Tudor says some repair money is also being used for fuel.

Fuel has become one of the biggest issues adversely affecting school transportation.

Allen J. Jones, Washington's state director of pupil transportation, wonders if the looming June 2006 deadline for refineries to convert to ultra low sulfur diesel might have something to do with the nationwide spike in prices. As oil companies are forced to upgrade equipment, certain refineries go off line, reducing production and raising prices as a result.

"Where to get the money, up front at the pump," said Jones, answering his own question. "That occurred to me; we've gotten too complacent with prices going up."

At press time, diesel fuel prices averaged nearly $2.25 per gallon nationwide, almost a 61 percent increase from last year. School districts and school bus contractors can normally expect to pay several cents less than the average motorist, thanks to special bulk rates. But that is little consolation when school budgets are already stretched to the max.

Flagstaff Unified School District in Northern Arizona was paying about 23 cents less than commercial diesel at $2.07 a gallon. Transportation Director Fred Fennell said the wide area served stretches the district to the max.

"At 4,500 square miles, it's basically a kid for every mile," he said, citing a figure of over 1.65 million miles traveled last year by its school bus fleet of around 110. "Then we did 120,000 miles in field trips."

Fennell said the district runs about 69 regular education routes, with 50 of those falling under a two-tier system for seventh through 12 th graders and kindergartners through sixth graders. Flagstaff also buses about 365 special needs students on 20 buses. The balance is made up by school buses and transit buses with underneath storage bays and more comfortable seats for activity trips. The shortest away game for the local high school is 90 miles away.

He added that the department works with a $3.35 million budget but is already over by $188,000 because of fuel, and was planning a meeting with the school district's business manager to find a solution.

DeKalb County Schools in Georgia, serving an area of about 270 square miles just east of Atlanta, has a total annual budget of about $727 million dollars for its operation of 917 school buses out of a fleet of 1,035. The district transports 78,000 students a day, just over 78 percent of total student enrollment. Dannie Reed, the associate superintendent for administrative support who oversees pupil transportation, said he began the school year with a $2.3 million set aside just for fuel, when the price was $1.15 a gallon. But, with prices now about $1.76 per gallon, the school district was forced to appropriate another $450,000. Reed said he expects the department will need another $400,000 to meet its fuel needs for the final two months of classes.

"We drive 76,000 miles a day (about 13,680,000 miles a year) and burn just short of 12,000 gallons of fuel every day," Reed said.

Georgia, joined by the Gulf Coast states, has the lowest diesel prices in the nation and pales in comparison to California. The Golden Gate state boasts prices hovering around $2.51 a gallon, while things aren't much better in Oregon or Washington at $2.48.

Recently, the Washington state legislature approved a new budget that increased the allocation rate to school districts for fuel by $0.17 per mile. But that will do little for the rural school districts that are paying retail prices at the pump.

"We have local control so it's up to each individual school district to come up with a fuel purchasing system," said Jones. "Some go out for contract with their own fuel tanks and can get bulk delivery prices."

But many others are lining up at the corner gas station and filling up for $2.70 a gallon.

"They should be negotiating contracts with local dealers for discounts," he added, pointing out that additional training is necessary. "Some of those people don't understand they can do that."

The Renton School District No. 403, about 20 miles south of Seattle in a densely populated area, is making do for the greater good.

" It's almost a lost cost to think that we can do anything about fuel prices," said spokesman Randy Matheson. "W e're of course concerned with that but it's not driving where we're trying to go."

The district chooses to offer transportation services to those students who would ordinarily walk to school along hazardous routes. He added that Renton is looking into altering bell times to more efficiently combine routes, but some parents have expressed concerns over placing kindergartners on buses with high school students.

"Eliminating routes would be worse. We don't want to leave students without transportation so we need better efficiencies," said Matheson. " We'll take a look at our routes to see which could be cut or reduced. We do that every year, but the core effort will be layering and consolidation."

The San Diego City Schools in Southern California is in a bit better shape. Last school year, the transportation department spent over $1.7 million on fuel. As of April 1, it had consumed over $1.35 million of the funds to purchase Green Diesel fuel, which at $1.93 a gallon is eight cents more expensive than regular No. 2 diesel.

"We have a contract for purchasing Green Diesel but we do not receive any special pricing because we are a school district or because we use Green Diesel," said Pete Iverson, chief business officer the school district. The school district transports over 22,000 students a day, with a break down of about 15,600 magnet and Voluntary Education Enrollment Program (VEEP) students who choose to go to a school offering a specific curriculum, plus another 4,800 special needs students. The district also transports 1,400 students that live in areas where the local schools are overcrowded. The fleet makes 13,500 daily stops, and travels 11.5 million miles a year.

Iverson said the district is looking to increase efficiencies in its budget for next year. It spends $34 million a year total for transportation, including fuel, equipment and salaries. Not just operating costs. The district is opening new neighborhood schools in September that he said will reduce transportation requirements by allowing more children to attend schools closure to home. This will free up funds to meet No Child Left Behind requirements. Parent of students attending a school that has failed to meet its Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for three consecutive school years can choose another school that is reaching its AYP. Iverson said applications are due so the district is in the midst of sorting through them to figure the additional costs next year.

Current fuel trends don't indicate any relief is in sight.

"There'll be no change until 2007, 2008 maybe," Jones ventured.