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Polk Schools Dealing With High Diesel Costs

Posted Jul 2, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Jul 2, 2008 at 06:06 PM

Think you’ve got it bad fueling up your gas-guzzling SUV? Imagine having to pump thousands of gallons every day to keep a fleet of diesel buses on the road.

That’s the reality for school districts around the Bay Area, and Polk County is no exception.

The Polk School District is budgeting an extra $2.3 million dollars for fuel in the upcoming school year just to keep its 515 buses on the road every day.

In the 2006-2007 school years, Polk paid $2.48 a gallon for diesel. Today, that price sits at $4.16 a gallon, said Rob Davis the head of Polk’s School Transportation Operations.

“I think we all knew that prices were going to rise, but a 50 percent jump in two years is not predictable,” Davis said.

Polk isn’t just looking at increasing spending, though. In tight economic times, officials are also looking for ways to slash costs. The district already decided to eliminate busing for summer school students.

At the Harrison School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Lakeland, junior Arica Ardis said she wishes she had the option to ride rather than drive from her home on the north side of town.

“I like driving but if it ever gets to the point where it’s just too much and they offer me I would take the bus. I like driving, but if it has to come down to taking the bus I would take the bus just to help my family out.”

Rob Davis isn’t sure things will improve any time soon, and he said Polk district officials have done everything they can think of to keep costs in check.

“We cut supply budgets. We cut equipment budgets. We cut any programs that aren’t essential, and we’ve done that.”

As for other districts, the story is pretty much the same. Pasco County spent $5.32 million on diesel fuel last school year and expects to pay $6.24 million in the coming year.

Pinellas County is budgeting an extra $1 million for a total 2009 budget of $8.7 million.

Hillsborough County is the only district holding steady on its fuel budget of $12 million.