School board to discuss transportation issues Monday

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Two months into the school year, with complaints about school bus service reduced to a trickle, the Fayette County Board of Education may be ready to consider changes to the district’s transportation policy next week.

A called meeting scheduled Monday night will include a short business session, and then a workshop to address the recommendations made last month by a citizens task force formed in August specifically to find solutions to the issue.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, task force chairman Fred Phillips of the district’s purchasing department highlighted the ideas proposed to appease parents angry that bus service was either no longer provided because they live within a half mile of a school, or because buses no longer go into subdivisions but instead pick up kids at a common stop at entrances on “trunk” routes.

The changes, made last spring to make up for about $1 million in transportation funding cuts from the state, were not known about until the last few days before classes resumed Aug. 11.

Phillips told board members in September that the 10-member panel, all volunteers for the task, focused on what the law allows versus what the county policy provides and came up with a dozen or so “ideas” for dealing with specific problems — everything from “make no change” to “raise the millage rate.”

Board member Janet Smola felt uneasy making policy change without knowing which solutions the committee felt strongest about, and since September the task force has prioritized its recommendations, said Superintendent John DeCotis.

Among the most likely adjustments will be to allow buses to enter subdivision entrances for one pick-up, then turn around — a move that adds five minutes to the trip for each stop but doesn’t require more expense for personnel or buses.

Another possibility is reducing the “walk zone” distance within which service is not provided to elementary and middle school students from .5 mile to .3 mile, as it was previously. Buses would still make just one stop inside each neighborhood, but the cost of restoring routes with additional buses and drivers may be impossible this year.

DeCotis said the transportation department has reconciled most all the early complaints, on a case-by-case basis, and they have slowed to a manageable rate in recent weeks.

“We’re hoping that people are being satisfied with the changes we’ve already made,” he said.

In another effort to save money, the board will hear district personnel present their own version of an energy management plan that could shave millions off the current budget just by turning off the lights.

An energy consultant offered his company’s services to the school district back in July, volunteering to set up and manage an education program that would be paid for with a percentage of the money it saved, estimated at $5 million annually.

The school board declined that offer, but felt Fayette County facilities managers could do just as well coming up with a way to save money. It’s a win-win, DeCotis said.

“We talked about it and talked about studying it and decided just to do it,” said DeCotis. “That way, if we save money, great, but if we don’t save that much we’re not out anything.

“With all the cuts coming from the state, we’re trying to save anywhere we can,” he said.

Facilities Services Director Mike Satterfield and Construction Projects Manager Klaus Darnell crafted the plan to be presented Monday.

And yes, it includes things as simple as “turning off the lights,” said DeCotis, “but there are more complicated things too, ways we clearly can save money.”

Among them is asking custodians at the high schools to come back on Saturday morning to clean stadiums after football games, rather than staying up half the night burning the stadium lights.

The board meets at 7 p.m. Monday at 210 West Stonewall Avenue (Ga. Highway 54) in Fayetteville.