Schools put brakes on bus costs

By Harold Gwin

State law doesn’t require school districts to transport high school students.

YOUNGSTOWN — Local school districts are reducing bus routes, looking for field-trip sponsors and, in some cases, even eliminating busing for high school kids in an effort to deal with rising fuel prices.

“It’s an issue for everyone,” said Dante Zambrini, superintendent of the Canfield schools, one of the more affluent districts in the tri-county area.

His district paid $167,000 for bus fuel in fiscal 2007 and saw that cost jump to $221,000 in fiscal 2008, he said.

Canfield has cut some field trips and enlisted the backing of its parent-teacher organization to pick up the tab for some others, Zambrini said.

The district also has been minimizing the use of bus transportation for high school students for several years, requiring those who need it to sign up for it at the beginning of the school term.

“We have streamlined. Our routes are compact,” he said.

The Newton Falls Board of Education decided in May that it would suspend busing for all students in grades nine through 12 starting this fall.

It is just one part of an overall financial plan to reduce spending in light of increasing costs and failed levies, said David Wilson, superintendent.

He estimated Newton Falls will save $55,200 in fuel and salary costs alone this school year by eliminating high school busing. Add maintenance costs, and the savings could rise to $92,000, Wilson said.

There has been some community reaction to the plan, he said, noting that parents have raised legitimate concerns for the safety of their children who must now walk to school. About 450 high school students will be affected.

Voters turned down a 4-mill tax levy last fall, and the tax issue will be back on the ballot in the May 2009 primary, Wilson said. There hasn’t been a tax increase approved in the district in 19 years, he said, adding that rising costs have forced the school board to make some difficult decisions.

State law doesn’t require school districts to provide transportation for children in grades nine through 12, although it is a common practice.

The law also says that districts don’t have to transport any pupils who live within two miles of their school, but many districts provide the service anyway.

Lakeview, like Newton Falls, has announced high school students won’t be getting bus rides this school year, and the district is reducing busing for all pupils to the state two-mile minimum.

The move is expected to save $75,000 in transportation costs.

That’s part of the district’s effort to deal with a deficit that reached nearly $900,000 last fiscal year.

Voters turned down a 7.5-mill tax levy in March, and the school board has put a 3.9-mill levy on the ballot for this November.

No new tax levies have been passed in Lakeview in 10 years, school officials said.

Dr. Robert Zorn, Poland superintendent, said bus drivers have been directed to reduce idle time, shutting off engines instead of letting them run while awaiting pupils. It saves fuel and is more environmentally friendly, he said.

Field trips have been reduced in Poland as well, and the district has just eliminated plans to purchase four new buses over the next two years. That’s a savings of $300,000, Zorn said.

The Youngstown City School District has been in fiscal emergency since November 2006.

The district, which spent $5.5 million to transport pupils last year, eliminated six bus routes last year and will cut four more this fall, reducing the number of runs to 54 a day, said Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent of school business affairs.

Cutting the 10 routes is saving the district about $300,000 a year, he said.

The bus fleet has also been reduced by 10, leaving the district with 75, and all of the gas-powered buses, which are less efficient in the use of fuel, have been eliminated in favor of diesel engines, DeNiro said.

Youngstown also expects to save $300,000 a year by terminating its rental of a bus garage on the East Side of town.

The school board has purchased property on Teamster Drive on the North Side where the fleet will now be parked outdoors.

Youngstown recently signed a new three-year special-needs pupil transportation contract with Community Bus Services Inc. to serve about 450 children.

The new pact reflects a $371,000 savings in the first year. That savings will be reduced in subsequent years as the contract has built-in annual increases.

In Warren, Dr. Kathryn Hellweg, superintendent, said the district has had a number of procedures in place for several years to combat rising transportation costs.

Bus routes are refined on a regular basis, even at midyear, when it is determined that routes can be combined or restructured at a cost savings, she said.

The district also is involved in bulk fuel purchasing, which helps secure the lowest possible price, Hellweg said.

Bus drivers have been advised to reduce idling time whenever possible, and there have been adjustments on field trips, both from the standpoint of cost and lost instructional time, she said.

gwin@vindy.com