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Schools not yet troubled by fuel shortages
More students taking the bus; systems look for ways to conserve gas.
Robert C. Reed
Chad Johnson, with Catawba County Schools, refuels school buses.
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Published: September 28, 2008
NEWTON - Motorists may be stressing about finding fuel, but the county's three school systems say they have a steady supply for their buses and are working to obtain more for their reserves.
Catawba County Schools, Hickory Public Schools and Catawba County Schools have all seen an increase in bus riders this year. Hickory estimates the increase is around 5 percent, mostly at the high schools. Newton-Conover didn't have an estimate as of Friday, although Sylvia White, personnel director with the system, said there were more students riding buses at Newton-Conover Middle School and Conover School.
Catawba County Schools has seen an increase of approximately 12 percent in students riding the bus, primarily at Startown, Blackburn and Sherrills Ford elementaries, as well as at Maiden and Fred T. Foard high, said Steve Demiter, assistant superintendent of operations for Catawba County Schools.
"Some of these schools fit into the pattern of growing areas, but some of the increased ridership is because of the economy and the increased gas prices," Demiter said.
Like Catawba County Schools, Newton-Conover and Hickory also attributed the bump in students riding buses to some parents no longer being able to afford the higher gas prices to take their students to school.
Although the school systems do not get fuel the same way the public does — Catawba County Schools operates the bus garage for all three systems and fuels buses with the distributor Colonial Pipeline — they still work to eliminate extra driving wherever possible.
"We tried to centralize the stops without causing a safety issue for the students. Instead of making two stops that are three blocks away, we're making one in the center," said Tim Beane, transportation director for Hickory Public Schools.
Catawba County Schools is doing something similar with its routes and Newton-Conover's, said Cecil Davis, transportation director for the school system.
"For the last three or four years, we have been tightening routes to make sure they're not crisscrossing over each other," he said. "This past summer, we've reduced Newton-Conover's mileage by 30,000 miles a year. This was the first time we've done their routes."
All three systems try to avoid adding extra buses, if possible, because that adds the extra cost of paying another driver, additional maintenance of another bus and additional fuel. If a route is full and more students need to be picked up, the routes may be shifted slightly so another bus that isn't full may pick up students on the street.
The school systems have taken all these measures to reduce the amount of fuel they use because they want to use as little as possible. They also want to be sure they will have enough money budgeted by the N.C. legislature to buy fuel to operate throughout the year. With rising fuel prices, that's not necessarily a sure thing.
During the 2007-08 school year, the state legislature budgeted about $46 million for state school systems to spend on fuel, expecting diesel fuel to cost $1.69 per gallon. With increasing gas prices, they wound up spending about $68 million. The extra funding came from money in the state budget planned for other line items, according to Rep. Ray Warren's office.
This year, the money allocated to school systems for fuel is based on the price of $3.25 per gallon, said Derek Graham, section chief for transportation services with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
The amount of money allocated to each district is based on the number of students, buses operated and mileage traveled the previous year. The information is updated, and funding based on new numbers is distributed Dec. 1, Graham said.
"We track prices in each county on a daily basis. If the money is not enough, we go back to the state legislature to ask for more," he said. "If what was authorized is not enough, then the local school district will have to look where to make cuts."
With its most recent delivery on Sept. 24, Davis said Catawba County Schools purchased its supply of fuel for $3.12 a gallon — below what the state averaged. That doesn't mean the price won't go up again. On July 10, fuel cost $4.08 a gallon. With the current fuel crunch, prices may spike again.
Davis said the school system got down to 2.5 days of fuel about two weeks ago, when Hurricane Ike struck.
He said a lot of their fuel comes from Charlotte, but some comes from Greensboro, Wilmington, Raleigh and Pennsylvania. The buses are filled up at their respective schools every other day by three tankers operated by Catawba County that drive out to the schools to fill up the buses and do maintenance.
To reduce the likelihood of having a fuel shortage, Catawba County Schools is in the process of building an additional 15,000 gallon storage tank on its property to double the amount of fuel they'll have on hand.
The three systems also are starting to take a look at extra-curricular trips. Catawba County Schools said it hasn't had a major discussion on scaling back out-of-county field trips yet. They system is looking at the supply situation before eliminating them, Demiter said.
Barry Redmond, superintendent of Newton-Conover City Schools, said the system is not taking any unnecessary or lengthy trips, but plans to discuss further steps at the principals' meeting in October.
Hickory Public Schools' board of education, however, discussed at its recent meeting having clubs pay for their own charter buses for field trips outside Catawba County. While nothing was decided conclusively, it is something they plan to discuss further.
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