Fuel costs dent area school-bus budgeting

Establishing more safe walking paths, having fewer after-school activity buses and consolidating routes and stops are among the ways school districts are coping with high diesel prices.

Districts have already added thousands of dollars to this year's transportation budgets. Now, the question is how to save money for the next school year.

"We're in the talking stages in how we can conserve fuel, but we're not at a point now where we can cut programs," said Jim Denton, the Auburn School District's director of transportation.

Auburn added about $220,000 to its fuel budget at midyear, as did Seattle, which added about $160,000 as of March, and Kent, which expects to add about $40,000-$50,000.

Although most school districts projected higher fuel costs for the year, Northshore was among the few to guess right, adding about $250,000 to a budget of $850,000. School buses transport some 400,000 students statewide and typically get about six to seven miles per gallon.

But school districts are just one segment of the transportation industry grappling with diesel prices, which AAA Washington's Web site on Friday said averaged at almost $5 a gallon. King County may consider a Metro Transit fare increase to offset a predicted shortfall in the budget.

The state funds only a portion of the district's transportation costs. The rest is paid for with levy money. So rising costs affect programs regardless of whether a district budgets enough money, said Susan Stoltzfus, spokeswoman for the Northshore School District.

"Revenues to support schools are not keeping up with the increased cost of many things, including fuel," said Stephen Nielsen of the Puget Sound Educational Service District's construction services group. "To the Legislature's credit ... on the occasion they have allocated money for those needs, but it's not a regular adjustment."

Other costs include new regulations for cleaner fuel and biodiesel prices that are rising faster than regular diesel. Some districts, like Seattle, use a 20 percent biodiesel mix, said David Tucker, spokesman for Seattle Public Schools.

Although Northshore cut eight routes last year, next year it plans to cut more after-school activity and special-program routes, Stoltzfus said.

Auburn consolidated bus stops, making students walk farther, and continues working on safe walking paths so students can walk to school, Denton said.

In the Kent School District, buses drive about 1.6 million miles annually, costing about $522 per student, said Don Walkup, the transportation supervisor for the district.

Kent lined up its school's start times so one bus can run six to eight routes daily, Walkup said.

"Schools suffer just like everyone else is suffering," Nielsen said. "What's hard is that all of those things have implications, and all of them hurt kids."

Celeste Flint: 206-464-3192 or cflint@seattletimes.com