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Price of Fuel Has School District Confronting Gas Budget Deficit

Posted on: Thursday, 29 September 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Sarah P. Kennedy, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Sep. 28--The Horry County school district is looking at a minimum fuel budget shortfall of $10,500, and that number is likely to climb, said Bobby Nalley, the district's chief support services officer.

S.C. school districts use state-owned school buses, which the state fuels, for most regular routes, but each district also owns and operates a few buses, which the district must pay to fuel, to run routes the state doesn't cover.

Horry County Schools is encouraging all employees and schools to limit nonessential, out-of-district travel through the end of September, at which time the district will reassess the need for fuel conservation. The school board also will combine its October work session and regular board meeting Oct. 17 and hold it at the district office in Conway rather than St. James Elementary School. The superintendent also has canceled meetings with advisory groups in order to cut gas expenses.

Individual schools pay for fuel for activity buses for extracurricular activities such as sports events. Nalley will gather information on how fuel costs are affecting individual schools in Horry County and report back to the school board at its Oct. 17 meeting, at which time the board might decide how to pay for extra fuel costs.

The Horry County district also recommends carpooling, which is something Georgetown Superintendent Randy Dozier sees his staff doing - and does himself.

Dozier said he is less concerned with the price of fuel, which is offset by revenue generated by high school football games, than the issue of fuel availability.

"It could be a problem," Dozier said. "We can pay for the gas, but if there's a fuel shortage, people get panicky."

He said he does not want to see fuel costs passed on to students; for example, charging students for field trips.

Donald Tudor, director of the S.C. Department of Education office of transportation, said right now the state is receiving all the fuel it requests, but what effect Hurricane Rita will have on the fuel supply for school buses is a question mark.

"We are watching the supply day by day," Tudor said. "We don't know what the impact of Rita is, starting later this week. ... If there are refineries off line for a couple of weeks, there will be an impact. We're just not sure how critical that impact is going to be for diesel fuel."

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Source: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

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