Some districts have their own storage tanks, making it
easier to buy fuel when costs are down.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
More of school districts' dollars are ending up in their buses' fuel tanks these days, but the higher prices are having different effects on different districts.
Some district officials are trying to cut back by telling drivers to take measures such as reducing engine idling. And some are taking it in stride, saying that while the price of diesel has gone up, it's still just a drop off the end of the fuel nozzle when compared to what they pay for electric service and natural gas.
For the last school year, Boardman schools spent $251,499 on fuel, said Hugh Braham, supervisor of transportation.
The district doesn't budget a separate line item for fuel at the beginning of each year.
The district has spent $187,200 for fuel this year. If prices stay steady for the remainder of the school year, Braham expects that amount to rise to about $210,000.
School districts buy buses with mandated emission devices on the engines. Those devices operate cleaner and are better for the environment, but gas mileage is worse, Braham said.
The district opts for a high-mileage fuel and ensures that buses receive proper maintenance and repair, Braham said.
That can help to keep costs down, he said.
Poland schools
Poland Superintendent Dr. Robert Zorn said the district's fuel costs for buses has increased over the last few years.
The district has a 10,000-gallon diesel tank that allows it to buy in bulk when prices are lower and store the fuel short-term until it's needed.
The costs held steady for the 2002-03 year at $48,355 and $48,818, respectively. It jumped to $66,215 in 2004-05 and to $91,360 last year.
The schools budgeted $97,500 for bus fuel in this year's budget, and so far has spent $87,534.
As prices have increased, the transportation department has worked to revise bus routes and make fewer stops.
"We also told the bus drivers not to sit in idle when they're waiting for kids to load and unload from the buses," the superintendent said.
Zorn said that the district tries to buy diesel fuel at a lower price, sometimes waiting a few days to do so.
The transportation coordinator pursues bids to get the best price, he said.
Zorn said he expects the district to buy more diesel, possibly 3,000 gallons, to get through the rest of the school year.
With prices at about $2.60 per gallon, that would increase this year's fuel cost to $95,334.
Schools with fewer buses
Lowellville schools have three buses, all diesel. They don't travel a lot of miles, but the district "gets hammered" on extracurricular trips, said Schools Superintendent Rocco Nero.
The price of diesel fuel has not been affected as much as gasoline, but the price is on the way up, Nero said.
"We budgeted for a slight increase, but not this much," Nero said.
Likewise, Struthers School District has a relatively small number of buses, six, which operate on diesel fuel. Also, said Schools Superintendent Sandra DiBacco, the district is fortunate that the city is not large and mileage to and from school is not huge; and the price of diesel has been down.
MRDD fuel issues
However, the price of fuel is a much larger problem for the Mahoning County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities program.
The MRDD program operates about 40 buses and 10 other vehicles, such as vans and pickup trucks, which ring up some 800,000 miles a year transporting clients to adult workshops around the county and to the Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown.
The MRDD board, which operates on a Jan. 1-Dec. 31 fiscal year, budgeted for 2007 based on fuel being an average of $3 per gallon, said Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent.
He said the MRDD has its own underground fuel storage tanks that hold about a month's worth of fuel. Duck said MRDD obtains quotes each month from fuel wholesalers to refill the tanks.
"An increase in fuel prices was anticipated this year, but not this large," Duck said.
"We transport all of our clients that the parents don't transport," he said.
The sad part of it is, when the fuel budget comes up short, money is moved from other client programs to pay the bill, the superintendent said.
"The profits that these oil companies are making is not fair to individual consumers and to programs like MRDD and schools," Duck said.
"We don't have the means to increase revenues, and we can't stop transporting. We're just stuck," he said.
The MRDD program spent $158,606 for diesel fuel and $51,092 for gasoline in 2005. In 2006, the program spent $196,521 for diesel and $52,380 for gasoline. So far in 2007, MRDD has spent $79,732 for diesel and $19,474 for gasoline, said Waymond Grace, of the transportation department.
Youngstown city
The Youngstown city schools have seen the cost of fuel for student transportation more than triple over the last eight years, the result of a combination of price increases and expanded bus routes.
The city schools began providing transportation for charter schools in the city in 2000 and the routes continued to expand as more charter schools opened in the following five or six years.
Under state law, charter schools can request that home public school districts provide free transportation for their pupils.
Youngstown paid $111,000 in fuel costs in 1999. That expense is now pushing close to $400,000.
Youngstown runs 61 routes daily, all with diesel-powered buses. The district also maintains about 18 back-up buses, most of which are gasoline-powered.
The district buys 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel about every six days, according to Steve Ambrosio, chief of transportation.
Based on a 183-day school year, that amounts to around 150,000 gallons a year.
Gasoline is usually purchased in 2,000-gallon increments every couple of months, Ambrosio said.
Efforts to conserve
At the Lakeview School District in Trumbull County, the increase will be taken out of the general fund next year.
Milt Williams, district treasurer, said the school system paid $69,000 for fuel in the 2006-07 school year and will pay an added $3,500 in the coming school year.
The district, Williams explained, was able to save money because the buses were converted from diesel-powered to compressed natural gas.
The new diesel engines, the treasurer said, can't be converted to run on natural gas. The district has five buses in the 24-bus fleet that are fueled with natural gas.
In Warren, the district has spent $157,000 so far this year on gasoline and diesel fuel.
Mark Donnelly, executive director of businesses operations for the Warren School District, said planning for fuel costs is impossible because of the worldwide influences on the price.
Also, it's a bill that must be paid to keep the fleet running.
The district has a 31-bus fleet that runs on diesel and its vans operate on gasoline.
Donnelly said the district has been trying to keep costs down by reducing idling time and minimizing miles driven, but buses still only get seven miles per gallon.
Like other districts, transportation and operations supervisor Jeff McVickers said his drivers haven't been allowed to idle their vehicles, and use one bus rather than two to transport students to events.
Under and over budget
In the Springfield Local School District, treasurer Ed Sobnosky said he's not as worried about rising fuel prices as he is about the rising costs of electricity and natural gas.
Springfield spent $52,000 on fuel last year and will probably spend between $60,000 and $70,000 this year, he said.
Debbie Brothers, Springfield's transportation director, said the district has a 10,000-gallon storage tank. "I bought when the price was reasonable," she said.
At South Range Schools, treasurer Jim Phillips said the district spent $497,698 last year and $489,303 this year with a budget of $118,000. He said it's important to remember when comparing costs per year that busing needs and routes change.
"It's a moving target," he said.
At Western Reserve Schools, treasurer Carol Brobst said the district budgeted high. Last year and this year's budget for fuel was $45,000, she said, with $43,302 being spent last year and $38,370 so far this year.
Austintown's transportation director Colleen Murphy said the district spent $167,313 in the 2004-05 school year.
Last year, it spent, $195,733, she said. Murphy did not provide figures for this year so far, saying they are incomplete.
Mark Bello, Girard schools treasurer, said the district is under contract with Ainsley Oil in Orwell, Ohio, for diesel fuel.
The district is paying $2.46 per gallon. It budgeted $50,000 for fuel this year and has used slightly more than $40,000 so far. Bello said the district will likely finish the year under budget.
Tracey Obermiyer, Liberty schools treasurer, said the district will finish the school year under its budgeted amount.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Some districts have their own storage tanks, making it
easier to buy fuel when costs are down.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
More of school districts' dollars are ending up in their buses' fuel tanks these days, but the higher prices are having different effects on different districts.
Some district officials are trying to cut back by telling drivers to take measures such as reducing engine idling. And some are taking it in stride, saying that while the price of diesel has gone up, it's still just a drop off the end of the fuel nozzle when compared to what they pay for electric service and natural gas.
For the last school year, Boardman schools spent $251,499 on fuel, said Hugh Braham, supervisor of transportation.
The district doesn't budget a separate line item for fuel at the beginning of each year.
The district has spent $187,200 for fuel this year. If prices stay steady for the remainder of the school year, Braham expects that amount to rise to about $210,000.
School districts buy buses with mandated emission devices on the engines. Those devices operate cleaner and are better for the environment, but gas mileage is worse, Braham said.
The district opts for a high-mileage fuel and ensures that buses receive proper maintenance and repair, Braham said.
That can help to keep costs down, he said.
Poland schools
Poland Superintendent Dr. Robert Zorn said the district's fuel costs for buses has increased over the last few years.
The district has a 10,000-gallon diesel tank that allows it to buy in bulk when prices are lower and store the fuel short-term until it's needed.
The costs held steady for the 2002-03 year at $48,355 and $48,818, respectively. It jumped to $66,215 in 2004-05 and to $91,360 last year.
The schools budgeted $97,500 for bus fuel in this year's budget, and so far has spent $87,534.
As prices have increased, the transportation department has worked to revise bus routes and make fewer stops.
"We also told the bus drivers not to sit in idle when they're waiting for kids to load and unload from the buses," the superintendent said.
Zorn said that the district tries to buy diesel fuel at a lower price, sometimes waiting a few days to do so.
The transportation coordinator pursues bids to get the best price, he said.
Zorn said he expects the district to buy more diesel, possibly 3,000 gallons, to get through the rest of the school year.
With prices at about $2.60 per gallon, that would increase this year's fuel cost to $95,334.
Schools with fewer buses
Lowellville schools have three buses, all diesel. They don't travel a lot of miles, but the district "gets hammered" on extracurricular trips, said Schools Superintendent Rocco Nero.
The price of diesel fuel has not been affected as much as gasoline, but the price is on the way up, Nero said.
"We budgeted for a slight increase, but not this much," Nero said.
Likewise, Struthers School District has a relatively small number of buses, six, which operate on diesel fuel. Also, said Schools Superintendent Sandra DiBacco, the district is fortunate that the city is not large and mileage to and from school is not huge; and the price of diesel has been down.
MRDD fuel issues
However, the price of fuel is a much larger problem for the Mahoning County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities program.
The MRDD program operates about 40 buses and 10 other vehicles, such as vans and pickup trucks, which ring up some 800,000 miles a year transporting clients to adult workshops around the county and to the Leonard Kirtz School in Austintown.
The MRDD board, which operates on a Jan. 1-Dec. 31 fiscal year, budgeted for 2007 based on fuel being an average of $3 per gallon, said Larry Duck, MRDD superintendent.
He said the MRDD has its own underground fuel storage tanks that hold about a month's worth of fuel. Duck said MRDD obtains quotes each month from fuel wholesalers to refill the tanks.
"An increase in fuel prices was anticipated this year, but not this large," Duck said.
"We transport all of our clients that the parents don't transport," he said.
The sad part of it is, when the fuel budget comes up short, money is moved from other client programs to pay the bill, the superintendent said.
"The profits that these oil companies are making is not fair to individual consumers and to programs like MRDD and schools," Duck said.
"We don't have the means to increase revenues, and we can't stop transporting. We're just stuck," he said.
The MRDD program spent $158,606 for diesel fuel and $51,092 for gasoline in 2005. In 2006, the program spent $196,521 for diesel and $52,380 for gasoline. So far in 2007, MRDD has spent $79,732 for diesel and $19,474 for gasoline, said Waymond Grace, of the transportation department.
Youngstown city
The Youngstown city schools have seen the cost of fuel for student transportation more than triple over the last eight years, the result of a combination of price increases and expanded bus routes.
The city schools began providing transportation for charter schools in the city in 2000 and the routes continued to expand as more charter schools opened in the following five or six years.
Under state law, charter schools can request that home public school districts provide free transportation for their pupils.
Youngstown paid $111,000 in fuel costs in 1999. That expense is now pushing close to $400,000.
Youngstown runs 61 routes daily, all with diesel-powered buses. The district also maintains about 18 back-up buses, most of which are gasoline-powered.
The district buys 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel about every six days, according to Steve Ambrosio, chief of transportation.
Based on a 183-day school year, that amounts to around 150,000 gallons a year.
Gasoline is usually purchased in 2,000-gallon increments every couple of months, Ambrosio said.
Efforts to conserve
At the Lakeview School District in Trumbull County, the increase will be taken out of the general fund next year.
Milt Williams, district treasurer, said the school system paid $69,000 for fuel in the 2006-07 school year and will pay an added $3,500 in the coming school year.
The district, Williams explained, was able to save money because the buses were converted from diesel-powered to compressed natural gas.
The new diesel engines, the treasurer said, can't be converted to run on natural gas. The district has five buses in the 24-bus fleet that are fueled with natural gas.
In Warren, the district has spent $157,000 so far this year on gasoline and diesel fuel.
Mark Donnelly, executive director of businesses operations for the Warren School District, said planning for fuel costs is impossible because of the worldwide influences on the price.
Also, it's a bill that must be paid to keep the fleet running.
The district has a 31-bus fleet that runs on diesel and its vans operate on gasoline.
Donnelly said the district has been trying to keep costs down by reducing idling time and minimizing miles driven, but buses still only get seven miles per gallon.
Like other districts, transportation and operations supervisor Jeff McVickers said his drivers haven't been allowed to idle their vehicles, and use one bus rather than two to transport students to events.
Under and over budget
In the Springfield Local School District, treasurer Ed Sobnosky said he's not as worried about rising fuel prices as he is about the rising costs of electricity and natural gas.
Springfield spent $52,000 on fuel last year and will probably spend between $60,000 and $70,000 this year, he said.
Debbie Brothers, Springfield's transportation director, said the district has a 10,000-gallon storage tank. "I bought when the price was reasonable," she said.
At South Range Schools, treasurer Jim Phillips said the district spent $497,698 last year and $489,303 this year with a budget of $118,000. He said it's important to remember when comparing costs per year that busing needs and routes change.
"It's a moving target," he said.
At Western Reserve Schools, treasurer Carol Brobst said the district budgeted high. Last year and this year's budget for fuel was $45,000, she said, with $43,302 being spent last year and $38,370 so far this year.
Austintown's transportation director Colleen Murphy said the district spent $167,313 in the 2004-05 school year.
Last year, it spent, $195,733, she said. Murphy did not provide figures for this year so far, saying they are incomplete.
Mark Bello, Girard schools treasurer, said the district is under contract with Ainsley Oil in Orwell, Ohio, for diesel fuel.
The district is paying $2.46 per gallon. It budgeted $50,000 for fuel this year and has used slightly more than $40,000 so far. Bello said the district will likely finish the year under budget.
Tracey Obermiyer, Liberty schools treasurer, said the district will finish the school year under its budgeted amount.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Some districts have their own storage tanks, making it easier to buy fuel when costs are down.
VINDICATOR STAFF...
