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Fuel prices causing concern at school system

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizen.com

As families cope with rising costs of gasoline, the Coweta County School System is also trying to find ways to cut corners.

School spokesperson said the dramatic rise in the cost of diesel fuel is definitely hitting the school system hard.

“It’s costing us $200 more a day to pay for our buses to transport students,” he said.

In 2004, the school system was paying as little as 85 cents a gallon. But last week, the price was almost $3.10 a gallon. A lot of the rise is attributed to the hurricane-damaged refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, and Jackson is hoping to see the prices start dropping again.

During the last budget cycle in the summer, the Board of Education increased the fuel budget because of escalating costs. But nobody could have forecasted they would have gone as high as the current prices.

“Just last April, we were paying $1.75 a gallon,” Jackson added.

In response to the fuel price crisis, the board decided to take a close look at any field trip requests and limited field trips to one in-county and one out-of-county field trip per grade, per school.

Now, Jackson said, the board is looking at further tightening the restrictions. “Anything that has been already approved through December is OK. But after that, we’re asking principals to look hard at finding in county places for the out of county field trips.”

Of course, the primary job in the transportation department is getting to and from school. But the rising costs could have severe implications for other programs.

“Supt. Blake Bass always says that for every extra dollar spent for transportation, something else will have to be cut,” Jackson said.

The extra costs are coming out of the current fuel budget. But when those funds run out, the Board of Education will have to make tough decision on where the money will come from, Jackson added.