Big, yellow and thirsty: School districts looking for ways to pay for fueling fleets of buses

School district leaders worry rising fuel prices will guzzle their budgets.

Since the beginning of the school year, districts' cost per gallon on diesel has increased by more than a dollar and gasoline prices by around 70 cents.

So, school district leaders have had to pick at other areas in their budgets to pay for fuel.

In McAllen, leaders are looking at scaling back some maintenance projects and waiting on purchasing instructional technology like overhead projectors and electronic chalkboards. In Mission, administrators might have to put off buying newer, more fuel-efficient buses.

The McAllen district owns a fleet of about 89 buses. About 75 are on the road.

Its fleet is used year-round to shuttle students to and from school, athletic events and field trips. The buses also burn fuel when dispatched to campuses twice a year for state-mandated safety evacuation drills, said Arturo Perez, the district's administrator for support services.

The rising fuel costs have hurt just about every aspect of school operations, especially maintenance and food services, Perez said.

Food prices have gone up, partly because it is costing businesses more money to transport food. Perez said the McAllen district has had to pay 5 cents more per carton of milk for school, costing an additional $290,000 this school year.

The state reimburses school districts about $1.43 per gallon for fuel for regular buses and $3.71 for buses dedicated to special education students. But as prices increase, the districts have to rely on local revenue to make up the difference, Perez said.

Mission schools leaders spent $384,000 on fuel for transportation and maintenance departments last year.

This year, the district budgeted $561,000, but it expects to spend more than that by the end of the fiscal year, said Connie Lopez, the district's chief financial officer.

The district spent $2.33 a gallon on diesel and $2.12 on gasoline in September. Last month, before the state's reimbursement, the district paid $3.53 a gallon on diesel and $2.80 on gasoline, Lopez said.

School districts purchase fuel at a discounted rate.

Still, "it just eats our lunch," Lopez said.

Mission school leaders keep about 75 buses in their fleet.

School districts contract with private companies to purchase fuel in bulk as needed and receive diesel and gasoline at a discounted rate. Districts usually buy several thousand gallons of gasoline and diesel every few weeks.

Weslaco schools administrators have not had to dip into other areas of their budget, but they already are feeling the pinch of rising fuel costs. They spent $500,000 on fuel in the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

So far this school year, Weslaco leaders spent $430,000 and anticipate spending $170,000 more by the end of this fiscal year, said Andres Sanchez, the district's chief executive director of business operations.

The Weslaco district purchases about 7,000 gallons of diesel every other week and about 6,000 gallons of gasoline every month. The buses consume about 3,000 gallons of diesel a week, Sanchez said.

To avoid raiding other areas of the budget, district leaders rely on taxes, interest from investments and various discounts, he said.