Bill Would Help School Districts Pay for Fuel
By Selicia Kennedy-Ross, San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.
Nov. 7–RIALTO — Even as gasoline prices are dropping a bit, school districts that provide their own transportation are still burdened by the high cost of fuel. But help could be on the way.
Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, is pushing for federal legislation that could help school districts like Colton Joint Unified, Rialto Unified, Fontana Unified and San Bernardino City Unified pay for fuel.
Baca introduced a bill last week, as a result of what he termed “skyrocketing gas prices” that have caused already scant education dollars to be spent heating classrooms and filling school-bus tanks.
“At a time when escalating fuel costs are creating budget shortfalls for many school districts, America cannot afford to compromise the education of our nation’s children,” Baca said in a written statement. “We must provide relief to these school districts most in need now.”
If passed, the bill, known as the School Energy Crisis Relief Act, would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Energy to issue grants to each state according to its population and gas prices, although no amount of funding has been set.
Districts do not need to have their own transportation department to apply for the federal grant. A formula based on the percentage of students and increase in local fuel costs will determine if a school district is eligible for the grant.
Even districts that contract for bus services will face additional costs and could be eligible, Baca spokesman Mike Levin said.
San Bernardino City Unified School District contracts its bus transportation to Laidlaw, but must still buy fuel for its 250-vehicle fleet that uses unleaded gasoline along with several smaller vehicles that use diesel.
Most school districts that have their own bus fleets, like Rim of the World Unified and Rialto Unified, buy gasoline in bulk.
Most school buses average about five miles a gallon.
Syeda Jafri, spokeswoman for Rialto Unified, said any help from the federal funding would provide much needed relief from high fuel prices.
“Any time public education has an opportunity to extend its budget for the betterment of our students, that’s something any school district can support,” Jafri said. “The state’s budget crunch has hit California schools now more than ever, so for us to receive any type of additional funding would help us tremendously.”
Colton Joint Unified pays about $2.72 for a gallon of diesel fuel, which cost less than $1 in 2003.
Now the district spends about $300,000 more on fuel than it did two years ago, district administrators said.
“I’m eager to examine it more carefully to see if our district is eligible and can benefit from such assistance,” superintendent Dennis Byas said in a written statement.
“I see it as a possible opportunity to assist students by placing the dollars where they can benefit students the most in the classrooms, not the fuel tanks of buses.”
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