Gas prices have hit everybody hard these days. Rising costs at the pump mean that everyone is starting to allocate their budgets a little differently.
This is no different for local school districts - specifically, the bus drivers.
School buses mostly use diesel for their fuel. According to AAA, diesel prices in Virginia have already eclipsed five dollars a gallon.
Dorinda James has been driving school buses for Franklin County Public Schools for 27 years and she has never seen prices go up that high.
“Some of us run our buses every day, some of us have to. I have to fill up every day because I have to go so far out into the county to where I have to fill up every day,“ James said. ”If I don’t, then I don’t have enough fuel, but most of the buses have to be fueled every two days.”
With the amount of runs she makes, every day is another day at the pump.
Jeff Hodges - the transportation secretary for Franklin County Public Schools - says that the district budgets for gas prices each year, but it is also on the schools to budget for the gas, not the county.
“We haven’t gone back to the county that I’m aware of and asked for any additional funds,” Hodges said.
The hope is that prices either stagnate or go down. If they don’t, the school has plans in place.
“We continuously look for different ways that we can maybe, you know, combine routes or cut back on some,” Hodges said. “We’re continuously monitoring our idle time with our GPS systems. We’re able to monitor idle times.”
Elsewhere, Roanoke City Public Schools has a “cooperative contract” with the city of Roanoke to buy gas at a market rate, which allows them to better take the hit of unexpected price increase.
In a statement to WSLS 10, RCPS said:
“Roanoke City Public Schools participates in a cooperative contract in partnership with the City of Roanoke to purchase fuel at the market rate. This ensures RCPS receives competitive pricing and remains a good fiscal steward. However, no contract is immune from dramatic market swings. As a result of recent nationwide increases, RCPS paid $4.19 per gallon in April, up from $2.55 in February. When budgeting for fuel, RCPS staff project needs using average price and usage estimates, and proactively build in a reserve to account for price fluctuations. That planning allows RCPS to absorb some level of unexpected cost increases without disruption.”