Proctor Journal

Increasing fuel costs are causing the Board of Education to consider moving up the start date of combining students of all grades on buses. The issue will be discussed at a special meeting Tues., July 8 at 7 p.m. in the Pike Lake Elementary Media Center.

Parents recently received a letter from Superintendent Diane Rauschenfels alerting them to the meeting. They were also beginning to work on a task force that will examine the issue.

The Board was going to delay the introduction of “One-Tier Busing” until the 2009-2010 school year. However, because of increasing fuel costs they will consider implementing the plan at the beginning of this school year.

The changes are an effort to reduce the number of duplicate miles the buses need on their routes.

“The unprecedented increase in the cost of fuel has become a concern to the district,” she stated. “If the district is to continue with the current transportation configuration, the impact of the new fuel costs must come out of other programming.”

Going from two-tier to one-tier busing will result in a common start time for elementary and secondary schools. A residual benefit would allow for consistent planning and teaming time for teachers, which is endorsed by the Districts “Long Range Planning Committee.”

About 97 percent of students Kindergarten though ninth grade ride the bus while those in 10th, 11th and 12th find alternative ways to get to school, observed Transportation Director George Saarela.

Proctor’s budget for diesel for the 2007-08 school year was $130,475. District Business Manager Stephen Anderson said the Board added an additional $70,000 to the diesel budget for a total of $200,475.

In 2006-07 the school districts on average were paying about $2.27 a gallon. This year they averaged about $3.28. On Monday diesel was at $4.12 a gallon.

The district’s 28-vehicle fleet uses 45,900 gallons of fuel a year traveling 416,714 miles.

Broken down:

• The 22 big school bus fleet uses 35,900 gallons a year of diesel, traveling 273,325 miles a year.

• The two wheel chair buses and four vans use 10,000 gallons and travel 143,389 miles a year.

• The average miles-per-gallon for the fleet is 7.6 miles.

Proctor buys its diesel in bulk, which has insulated them from larger increases. “We have been watching the prices increase. The last fill in May went up dramatically,” Anderson said.

The average transportation cost per student in Minnesota went from $440 in 1997 to $529 in 2007 according to the Department of Education.