The Transportation Budget is Feeling Gassy

From a piece earlier this year in the Seattle Times:

The state funds only a portion of the district's transportation costs. The rest is paid for with levy money. So rising costs affect programs regardless of whether a district budgets enough money, said Susan Stoltzfus, spokeswoman for the Northshore School District.

"Revenues to support schools are not keeping up with the increased cost of many things, including fuel," said Stephen Nielsen of the Puget Sound Educational Service District's construction services group. "To the Legislature's credit ... on the occasion they have allocated money for those needs, but it's not a regular adjustment."

This is one of those issues that effects everybody, and it’s certain to be a high legislative priority when Olympia gets going again in January. Larger districts like Mead struggle with the costs of driving thousands of students every day, while a district like Reardan (which covers as many square miles as East Valley, West Valley, Mead, and Spokane combined!) has to account for long rural routes that add up the mileage in a hurry.

Don Johnson did some figuring and found that it now costs $4.13 a mile to operate a school bus. That’s a pretty incredible number, and a large part of it is diesel being $4.00 a gallon. Consider, too, that the district has to supplement what the state gives us by using almost $200,000 a year out of the general fund, money that could be used for staffing and programs, and you start to see the scope of the problem.

Dan Cools does a superior job of running our bus barn; it’s just a shame that the state hasn’t risen up to the challenge of funding transportation the way it should. You'll be hearing more about this come January when the Legislature goes back in session.