“We’re a little district in terms of the number of students we have, but we cover a huge area,” Ms. Ryan said. “So the price of gas really affects us.”
The Rogers ISD has 10 buses for only three campuses, including an elementary school, middle school and high school, but don’t think they’re saving any money on gas compared to the larger districts that may be running more buses. In reality, rural districts like Rogers are victims of what they consider outdated legislation.
Ms. Ryan said that since the mid-1980s transportation costs have been funded on a per-student basis by the state, without any increases in funding for inflation factors.
“I’d have no problem with the funding if we had to pay 1980s prices for gas,” she said.
For the 2008-09 school year, the Rogers ISD budgeted more than $79,000 for fuel and oil prices, and has a transportation budget of $347,811. To Ms. Ryan’s dismay, the district will only receive an estimated $100,000 in state funding for transportation, less than one-third of their budget estimate.
In order to keep the costs of fuel from impacting classroom funding, districts like Rogers ISD are coming up with different ways to cut costs.
“Every month during the school year, we’re asked to do a count on our buses, and determine the number of students riding,” Ms. Ryan said. “We usually try to perform the counts on the first Wednesday of every month, and we send the results from our top three months to the state.”
During the days they are doing counts, officials try to encourage students to ride the buses, she said.
“We’ve been trying to come up with ways to cut costs without trying to shift much money around from other budgets,” Ms. Ryan said. “We’re doing more clustered student pick-up and drop-offs.”
In the past, the district may have sent buses down old gravel roads to pick up students. Now, those students are picked up in specific locations, she said.
“We’re trying to be proactive,” said Ms. Ryan, who also mentioned the district is having trouble finding licensed drivers. “Things are tough right now. We’re working with a tight budget, and trying to find people to help us out.”
At Academy ISD, which encompasses 56 square miles, superintendent Kevin Sprinkles said the district is feeling the impact of high gas costs because of per-student funding within the small community.
Academy ISD has about 1,000 students and seven buses. The district budgeted $62,000 for fuel costs for the 2008-09 year - nearly 21 percent more than last year’s $49,500 budget.
“The costs for transportation have gone up tremendously,” Sprinkles said. “Right now, we’re not even sure that the amount of money we have budgeted will be less than what we will really need. For us, it may be a conservative number.”
Sprinkles said enrollment has gone up steadily at the district, but it’s not helping alleviate the costs of inflated fuel prices. Sprinkles said that district has gone the route of the Rogers ISD to save money.
“We’ve tried to work more students into each pick-up and drop-off spot, so that we can make less stops - we’re consolidating,” he said. “We’re also trying to cut down the number of buses we’re taking to field trips, or to athletic events.”
For example, now cheerleaders might ride on the same bus as band members to an event, he said.
Sprinkles and Ryan both said they hope lawmakers increase funding during the next legislative session.
“It’s my hope that these issues will be worked out soon,” Sprinkles said.
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