By Staff
School system paying nearly triplethe price it paid during 2004-2005
By CLAUD HODGES
Senior Reporter
In the past, the price of fuel was not a major factor in the cost of operating buses for Beaufort County Schools, according to the system’s transportation director.
If the cost of diesel fuel continues on the course it is following, the fuel cost per mile to operate a school bus in Beaufort County during the upcoming school year will have tripled since the 2004-2005 school year, he said.
In the 2004-2005 school year, the fuel cost was 26 cents per mile. In 2005-2006, it was 31 cents per mile. In 2006-2007, it was 34 cents per mile.
Fuel cost has hopped over the two other principal costs of operating a bus — the driver’s may and the bus cost, he said.
A driver’s wage costs 51 cents per mile, and the bus cost is 38 cents per mile. The bus cost is derived from the actual cost of buying a bus, which is $75,000, and factoring in the average life expectancy of a bus, which is 200,000 miles or 20 years.
He said there are other costs such as parts and labor for repairs and insurance.
The state provides money to the school system’s budget to cover those costs, Wynne said.
He said that the state can transfer responsibility of covering those costs at any time to individual school systems if it decides that it cannot pay those expenses.
Beaufort County has 102 school buses that travel 6,800 miles a day as they transport students to and from school.
Since July 1, 2007, the Beaufort County school buses have used 179,831 gallons of fuel. A bus’ fuel tank has a 50-gallon capacity. A school bus averages using from five to eight miles per gallon.
The school system buys 7,500 gallons of fuel each time it purchases fuel, about every seven school days. Its last purchase was May 8, and the price was $3.56 per gallon, or $26,700 overall. The fuel price is determined by a state contract.
The system has a tanker truck that makes its rounds every school day to fuel buses while they are parked at schools.
Wynne said buses’ fuel tanks are filled every two to three days.
Wynne said the transportation department is working daily to improve the school-bus efficiency.
TIMS is a computer program that focuses on the operation of buses and their routes.
Some schools in the system are staggering their openings and closings so buses can be used to pick up students from schools where the buses are not based.
Another method of saving time and promoting efficiency is the practice of community stops by school buses.
The concept of community stop is for students from an area to group together as a unit and be transported together instead of a bus making multiple stops in the area.
Community stops have been set up in Aurora, Bath, Belhaven, Chocowinity and Washington.