School districts in Colorado and throughout the country are implementing new strategies to cut fuel costs this coming school year because of the high price of diesel.
Some have installed new Global Positioning System tracking devices that will allow officials to monitor how long a bus idles at any given time.
Others have changed school start times to better coordinate busing in the morning.
Still others are cutting down on the number of field trips and urging parents to drive their children to sporting events and other activities.
Denver Public Schools is using a new tracking system that will allow it to better gauge how bus drivers spend their time on the road, then make adjustments.
“We’re looking at the efficiency of the routes,” said DPS spokesman Alex Sanchez.
“School boards are trying very hard to avoid cuts in instructional programs, and they don’t want to lay off teachers,” said Marc Egan, director of federal affairs for the National School Board Association. “So, they are trimming the budget in other areas. It’s tough.”
Jefferson County schools has implemented numerous programs to reduce consumption of diesel, which costs about $5 a gallon right now. School districts do not have to pay taxes on the fuel and buy it for about a buck less.
But the district still expects its transportation budget to be a million dollars more than last year, even with all the saving measures, said Jan Clopton, executive director of transportation and fleet services for Jefferson County.
Clopton said the district is in negotiations to purchase two new electric buses to add to its fleet of 355 buses that run on diesel.
The batteries can be charged at night, then run during the day, and will cost a fraction of what it costs to run diesel buses.
“In the future, there are a lot of things we can look at to reduce our fuel costs,” Clopton said.
Aurora Public Schools this year decided to change the start times for most schools to “widen the window” so buses could serve more schools, said Rob Schmedeke, director of transportation for APS.
“We were able to tighten up routes,” Schmedeke said. “Routes that served only two schools will be serving three and four schools.”
Even such simple measures as installing interior heaters that are on timers so a bus can be warmed inside and ready to go as soon as the driver arrives can help, he said.
One measure that could save money but could be controversial are four-day school weeks. Colorado has one of the highest percentages in the country of schools that have classes only four days a week. More than 60 districts, mostly rural, are in session for longer hours but fewer days.
Recently, the Prairie School District in eastern Weld County made the switch to four days.
While it makes sense in rural areas, experts say, urban and suburban districts have yet to go to that type of schedule.
Dale McCall, who will be the executive director of the Colorado Board of Cooperative Educational Services next month, was superintendent in the Woodland School District that has been on a longer day, shorter week schedule for more than 10 years.
He said the district saved money in fuel, heating costs, utilities and even food services.
The potential downsides include finding day care for younger students.
And some thought that having students out of school for even an extra day in a row was a detriment to achievement, McCall said.
Still, he thinks a four-day school week is an option that bigger districts may have to implement at some point, given the tight economy.
“I think that should really be a consideration for school districts as they face these unusually high costs,” McCall said. “I don’t think they are going away.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
