The school system, in an effort to combat rising fuel prices, will be looking to reorganize its current bus routes to make them more efficient for all involved.
They will use software known as "optimizer," which has been used previously, that is provided by the Department of Public Instruction. The program is based on state government and DPI guidelines and will ensure efficiency of routing for the entire state.
The North Carolina General Assembly allotted $35 million to cover the cost of transportation for the school systems for the coming year, a rate of $3.23 per gallon. The amount allocated by the state was enough to cover the cost of fuel until prices began to rise during the 2007-08 school year. At that time, it fell to the local school systems to supplement the funds to cover any additional costs. During that year, Surry County Schools transportation services needed monetary support from the three local boards of education it serves in the amount of $254,574.
For the 2008-09 school year, the local boards of education will be expected to once again come up with additional funds in the amount of $103,500. The estimated cost of fuel at the beginning of the school year was $846,400. It is suspected that the downward trend of fuel prices will continue, but will not be enough to offset this additional need.
In an effort to decrease the cost to local boards of education, the Surry County Schools transportation services department has come up with several plans. One of those plans is to optimize the routes taken by buses. The organization estimates that this concept will save approximately $25,000. If current route trends were to continue, it is estimated that the county could be $400,000 in the hole by next year.
Optimizing routes refers to consolidating some of the closer stops into one stop. If several children live in houses next door to each other, it is possible that with the new routes, instead of the bus stopping at each house, it would stop at a mid-way point, not to exceed two-tenths of a mile from its previous stop. This would mostly affect those living on dead-end roads or long driveways.
Another strategy would be to make the routes shorter, according to Dr. Ashley Hinson, superintendent of Surry County Schools. This would separate the routes so that buses traveling for hours to complete their routes would not travel as far.
The primary concern, however, remains the safety of the students who ride the buses. Special circumstances will be taken into consideration when reformatting the bus routes to ensure that all children are transported safely to and from school.
"Safety will still be our guiding principle. This not an easy thing," Hinson said at the August Surry County Board of Education meeting where the solutions were first presented.
Other options available include having buses arrive so that students can immediately disembark into the schools regardless of whether or not they eat breakfast. This would help prevent idling of the buses. Other ideas include enforcing a stricter attendance policy for bus drivers, cutting down the idling time in the morning by not having the first person to arrive start all of the buses and looking into different tires that may increase the fuel efficiency of the buses.
Hinson has written a letter to parents of students in Surry County Schools explaining the new policy and how students may be affected. He believes that this will be an ongoing process as the administration and transportation department continue to look for ways to decrease the cost to operate the buses.
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