Put students on bus or schools lose money

KIRA MILLAGE - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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In these tight budget times, school districts have been scrambling to make sure they have enough money for books, supplies and teaching staff.

But that effort is being hindered by the fact that a lot of money, in some cases nearly $1 million in extra annual costs, is being spent on diesel and basic operation of school buses, something that the state is supposed to be funding.

Much of the problem lies in how the state calculates busing costs. Instead of basing funding on fuel prices, the number of students riding buses and the actual miles driven, the state bases bus funding on two factors: how far the distance is - as a crow flies - and how many students ride during a particular week.

DANNY GAWLOWSKI | DANNY GAWLOWSKI THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

For most Whatcom County districts, the annual headcount begins Monday.

If parents don't pack their students on the buses this week, districts could end up hundreds of thousands of dollars short in state reimbursements for busing. Because busing is not optional - districts must get students to schools - shortfalls must be made up by cutting into reserves or taking money from other programs.

"It's not adequately funded and we take anywhere from $800,000 to $900,000 a year away from the core mission of educating kids," said Ron Cowan, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the Bellingham School District. "There's no plans to get out of the school bus business. I just wish we could get to a break-even scenario."

While bus funding has long been irksome for districts, its drawbacks exploded as diesel prices soared higher than unleaded gasoline.

From September 2007 to June 2008, the Bellingham School District saw diesel prices rise from about $2.60 to about $4.10 per gallon. And when buses travel more than 728,000 miles during the year, including field trips and athletics that aren't reimbursed by the state, it means hundreds of thousands of dollars more is needed.

But the state is still paying based on the two factors, not on fuel prices.

And for some rural districts - or those with a big lake right in the middle - the "crow flies" measurement makes matters worse. Only two students in the Mount Baker School District were considered 17 or more miles away from their school in the last academic year.

But any high school or junior high student living in the Glenhaven area is at least 20 miles in driving distance from their school - unless you draw a straight line through Lake Whatcom, as the state does, making the distance significantly less.

"This has been a one size fits all (formula)," said Frank Cain, transportation director for the Mount Baker School District, where 82 percent of the student body rides the bus. "So how can you get more fair than that, but at the same time cover expenses accrued by school districts?"

About $1.5 million, or almost 7 percent of the Mount Baker district's budget, goes to busing students the actual distance to and from school. But the state allocation is only about $908,000, leaving a shortfall of close to $600,000.

In Bellingham, where transportation costs are about $2.6 million, or about 3 percent of the budget, state funding falls short more than $900,000.

School districts across the state, which combined have 9,300 buses traveling about 500,000 miles every day - or the distance to the moon and back - are facing similar money crunches because of fuel prices.

"That's why most school districts across the state are in bad shape financially," Cain said.

Schools might get a helping hand in getting more students on board for bus ridership week this year. Transportation officials have already seen an increase in ridership this school year, quite possibly because of gas prices.

"One thing I see is that the parking lot is not as full as it used to be," Cain said. "So I know more kids are riding (the bus) or carpooling."

"I've had a lot of parents call and say, 'We never rode the bus, but because of gas prices, we need to take the bus this year, so where's the nearest stop?'" said Mike Dobbins, transportation director for Bellingham School District.

A state task force is looking at changing the bus funding model, which is at least 20 years old according to Cain, but options aren't due to the Legislature until December. There's no word as to when or if action will be taken.

Until then, school districts are working with what they have.

To help reduce costs, the Mount Baker School District cut back service, requiring students who live on dead-end roads to walk to the intersection for pick up, Cain said. That reduced the number of miles driven every day by more than 100. The district also has reduced the number of bus routes from close to 100 to 89.

The Bellingham School District has taken a similar approach by combining stops and making sure stops serve neighborhoods, rather than individual houses.

But at the beginning of every school year, Dobbins said he gets upwards of 200 requests for school bus stops closer to people's houses. There just isn't enough money to pick up each student at their door.

"This is a partnership," Dobbins said. "We get (kids) safely to school, but we need parents to get (kids) to the stop."