Fuel costs hit school district

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

Less than two months into the fiscal year, the Clark County School District's fuel costs have already increased 16 percent, said Kathy Foster, business manager for the operations unit.

The district spent $6 million on fuel costs for the 2004-05 fiscal year, up 20 percent over the prior year's bill of $4.5 million. The district estimated fuel costs would go up 20 percent again this year, Foster said, and budgeted accordingly for $7.2 million.

For the district to remain on budget its fuel costs cannot increase more than 4 percent total over the next 10 months, Foster said.

"Our general fund supports our educational programs as well as our services," Foster said. "We'd certainly prefer to spend as much as possible in the classrooms and as little as necessary at the tank."

Contributing to the higher costs is a state statute requiring school buses to operate on environmentally friendly alternative fuel sources.

Clark County's buses run on fuel that is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum, said Frank Giordano, coordinator of vehicle maintenance for the district. Biodiesel uses recycled cooking oil collected from commercial kitchens and Strip resorts.

That's a higher percentage of biodiesel than what's required by the state. But it's a formula the district has found to produce the least emissions, Giordano said.

"It costs us a little bit more, but it's worth it," Giordano said.

The district is currently piggy-backing on a bid secured by the Las Vegas Valley Water District to purchase biodiesel at $2.60 per gallon. The district, which like other public agencies isn't subject to fuel taxes, is currently paying $2.11 for regular diesel.

At the 80-20 ratio, it's costing the district 9 cents more per gallon to use biodiesel rather than regular diesel, Giordano said. The district uses approximately 3.5 million gallons of biodiesel per year. As the cost of diesel soars, the price difference between it and the cleaner-burning fuel narrows, Giordano said.

When the new school year begins Monday, 1,100 school buses are expected to transport more than 144,000 students to and from school, including 11 new campuses and the accompanying new routes.

Eliminating routes to save on fuel costs isn't a realistic option, Giordano said. However, routes have been revisited and revised over the summer to maximize efficiency, he said.

In addition to school buses, there's another critical component of the district's fleet: the food services division's supply trucks.

Sue Hoggan, spokeswoman for the district's food services division, said 32 trucks drive a total of 10,000 miles each week delivering supplies to more than 300 schools.

While the district's regulations call for its food services division to be self-supporting, there are no plans to raise the cost of school lunches to cover ever-increasing fuel costs, Hoggan said.

"We're not even talking about it at this point although gas prices are certainly on everyone's mind," Hoggan said.

Elementary school students may purchase breakfast for 80 cents while the cost is $1 at the middle and high schools. Lunch prices range from $1.40 for the elementary schools to between $1.60 and $3.00 at the secondary school level.

Currently the district's food services operations and warehouses are spread out over three locations. The district is moving the operation into a new facility on Tropical Parkway near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway that has room for dry goods and frozen food storage, Hoggan said.

A new central kitchen will eventually be put in place at the Tropical Parkway location, giving the district more space to prepare some of the 22 million meals it serves annually.

By consolidating operations at the new location, the district hopes to reduce the number of miles logged by food service trucks, Hoggan said.

"A lot of times the drivers have to stop at three different places to fill one order," Hoggan said. "Anything we can do to cut down on that will help."

Hoggan also reminded parents whose children qualify for free and reduced-price meals must re-register for the current school year even if their students were signed up last year.

Applications are available at all elementary and middle schools and will be accepted this week from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hoggan said. Food service officials will also be registering families at the district's back-to-school fair Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Galleria Mall at Sunset in Henderson.