The high cost of fuel is putting a squeeze on school district budgets across the state.
Though the school year has just begun, administrators say they fear increased fuel prices may burn through their annual budget for bus transportation or heating this winter.
As New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports, districts are struggling to find creative ways to cut back.
(nat sound buses)
Almost a dozen school buses are picking up students at Rundlett Middle School in Concord.
School buses are notorious gas guzzlers, typically getting only four to eight miles per gallon.
Skyrocketing gas prices from Hurricane Katrina are forcing some districts to rethink how often they use their buses.
In School Administrative Unit 24, which serves Weare, Henniker and Stoddard, business administrator Jim Crane says officials are talking about canceling some field trips.
"we have to ask the question is there another way to reach that curriculum standard rather than to take that field trip this year, we have to look at athletics, can we double up teams on a bus and send one bus instead of two."
Like many districts in the state, S-A-U 24 doesn’t own its buses, but contracts for service and gets billed at the end of the year.
They just got slammed with 27-thousand dollars worth of fuel surcharges from last year for two of its school districts.
That’s about two thousand dollars more than what was budgeted.
Crane wants to prevent that from happening next year.
"I frankly thought we’d be more than safe with what we budgeted but we’re going to be tight with it"
Crane says he’s hoping for a warm winter - because heating oil costs could also run over budget.
The Berlin School District owns its own buses and has infamously cold winters.
Superintendent John Moulis says they’re lucky to have locked in a fixed price with their fuel suppliers.
"we increased our budgets for fuel by approximately 30-percent for this upcoming fiscal year 06 and already it’s risen well beyond that."
But even districts who have fixed price contracts are worrying.
"I think we’re going to manage this year, but certainly next year it’s a huge concern."
Jim Vezina is business administrator for the Keene School District.
"next year we’re thinking of a number around 2.50 a gallon, is that going to be enough, wow, I don’t know. who knows what lies before us far as the energy costs go."
Rising fuel costs are also hurting districts in unanticipated ways.
Again Jim Crane with SAU 24 in Henniker.
"the cost of shipping for books and supplies, school furniture and that sort of thing, what we’re noticing when we estimated shipping charges at 10-percent, that’s not holding that’s not enough."
Crane says increased shipping charges could translate into fewer books, and ultimately affect curriculum.
For school districts already facing tight budgets, the increase in oil prices couldn’t come at a worse time.
That Nashua School District lost 2.3 million dollars in state aid this year, and had to eliminate 55 staff positions, including 11 teachers.
The district heats their buildings with natural gas -- but when oil prices rise, so do natural gas prices.
School District Business Administrator Mark Conrad says he budgeted for a 225-thousand dollar increase in natural gas.
“the increase in natural gas is equivalent to more than six teaching positions and so just as health insurance is having a significant impact on school districts, our price increases in fuel are coming through at the same time and its really having a double impact, forcing us to eliminate existing positions and impact the quality of services.â€
Conrad says if natural gas prices rise beyond a 20-percent increase this year, they’ll have to make further reductions in their budget in the middle of the year.
"80-percent of our costs are in personnel and once you move into a school year, many of the costs are fixed, so it gives you limited options and ultimately it does impact programs when you have a fixed bottom line that you’re working from."
Conrad says the district already runs an energy management program which cut energy costs by 18-percent – but that’s already factored into the budget.
"We’ve already budgeted in those energy savings into our base budget so that increase still hits us, but we’ve done as much as we can do to become efficient in our utilization of energy, right down to taking light bulbs out of out vending machines."
And just as Hurricane Katrina sent already high fuel prices soaring higher, Hurricane Rita is threatening the Gulf Coast again.
Analysts say it could push fuel prices back over the three dollars a gallon. For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.
