“If prices stay at the same level they’re at now, we could save approximately $150,000 for the year,” said Eric Banfield, Belton ISD director of finance. “But that’s just speculation.”
BISD spent $405,000 on fuel, when prices were close to $3.75 per gallon. Currently, Banfield said the district is paying about $1.72 per gallon, without tax. “It seems like prices last year got to the highest levels they could get to and now they’ve dropped,” he said.
The district has a contract with a fuel supplier, which brings fuel to district pumps, and charges them only for fuel they use, Banfield said.
“We’re really not going to be able to say we’re going to save any money until the spring - two-thirds of our school fuel budget is typically spent in the spring, when we have more days left in the school year and more events.”
However, Banfield said, the district is losing revenue in investments because of lowering interest rates, so any savings, which would be calculated in the spring, could be negated. “Based on current conditions, we could lose about $100,000 (in investment losses),” he said.
Banfield said this year’s fuel budget was set at $473,000.
“The price drops caught everyone by surprise,” he said. “But we’re not going to be able to transfer any money or speculate on next year’s budget until we get some final numbers in.
“Right now there’s a feeling out there that this could very well be a short-term thing,” Banfield said. “Just like there was a drop, prices could very well go up higher.”
At the Temple ISD, Walter Prothro, director of transportation, said the district has seen reduced fuel prices over the last three months. “On average, in September we were paying $3.49 for a gallon of diesel,” he said. “That dropped to $2.99 for November, and it should be even lower this month.
“If we continue at this rate, it’s possible that we could save $95,000 by the time the year is over,” he said. “It would be significant, but it’s one of those things you can’t predict. The prices could jump any day.”
Prothro said the TISD has spent about 34 percent of their fuel budget for the year - normally close to 50 percent is spent by the time the holiday break starts. For the current school year, the TISD increased fuel funding by 29 percent, from $366,080 in 2007-08 to $471,548. The district also set aside $59,000 in contingency money in case prices experienced a significant increase.
“We’re not counting all our chickens before they’re hatched,” said Charles Mikeska, TISD executive director of finance. “Who knows what could happen in the spring. Prices could very well flip and head in the opposite direction.”
Mikeska said the district has no plans to transfer any money saved in the fuel budget to other areas, and he has not had discussion about doing so with superintendent Dr. Robin Battershell. “I’ll be curious to see how things shape up in the spring.”
Rogers ISD superintendent Katie Ryan echoed the thoughts of Mikeska.
“We don’t have terribly large storage pumps like some districts do,” Ms. Ryan said. “Every week, typically on Thursday, we’re able to shop around with different fuel suppliers in the area, and we go with whoever gives it to us the cheapest.”
Even though it’s small in population, the Rogers ISD is large is size, covering 144 square miles and has 10 buses for only three campuses, including an elementary school, middle school and high school. For the 2008-09 school year, the Rogers ISD budgeted more than $79,000 for fuel and oil prices.
Ms. Ryan said the district is saving money right now because of the price decreases, but could not speculate on how much.
“We’re in the same boat as other districts,” she said. “We set our budget high just in case there were any increases in costs. Now we’ve kind of been given this Christmas gift before the holidays with low prices, and we’re going to have to see if it lasts until the spring.
“If there is any money left, we’d invest it or pull it into next year’s budget, but we’re going to have to wait and see what happens,” Ms. Ryan said.
