Fuel costs: where they go - Part one: School trips feel squeeze

Rising diesel fuel costs and a slimmer state revenues are forcing area school districts to grapple with which field trips to go on during the upcoming year, and how much money they can afford for the travel.
Since spring, diesel costs per gallon have increased 71 cents.
As a result, area school officials said they will have to devise a strategy about the number and distance of field trips. Some trips will be cut while schools take greater advantage of area historical sites and virtual field trips on the Internet, officials said.
And there could be general budget tightening for school districts.
New revenue for school districts from the state and local sources was lean for the current fiscal year.
A state budget shortfall of $641 million meant school districts such as Waynesboro received less than $1 million in new revenue for its budget.
And things could get tougher.
Virginia Superintendent of Instruction Billy Cannaday Jr. will hold a conference call with school districts next week about possible reductions in state money.
Waynesboro Schools Director of Instruction Laurie McCullough said there could be a limit on the mileage or number of trips. McCullough will coordinate her scenarios with Finance Director Bill Staton. A game plan for the year will likely be put together this month.
“We are talking about being more creative and resourceful,’’ McCullough said.
Staton said the district has budgeted $91,000 for all bus transportation fuel for 2008-09, including field trips. He has requested another $24,000, but suspects that will not be enough.
Field trips are among the few areas where money can be saved since daily busing can’t be slashed, Staton said.
Down the road in Augusta County, there is consideration of tapping more of the Shenandoah Valley’s resources as opposed to students traveling to Williamsburg, Jamestown and Washington, D.C.
“We want them to look at local trips. There are some wonderful historical opportunities in the area,’’ Augusta County Superintendent Gary McQuain said.
McQuain and McCullough said the Internet will be utilized more than ever to help students learn about subjects.
“Every cloud has a silver lining,’’ McCullough said. “We will make better use of technology options than we have in the past. If we are studying Jamestown and using virtual resources, you might see it through a live video feed, or you might have students talk with a museum curator on the exact day you are studying the unit.”
McCullough said “these options have been available before, but these are now options we need to look at.”
Educational Web sites are a worthwhile option, said Diane Wilcox, an assistant professor of learning, technology and leadership education at James Madison University.
“If you are looking for a sense of everyday life and the economy, you can do it virtually,’’ she said.
Wilcox said advances in the Internet such as the ability to handle streaming video and animation also have improved virtual education for students.
Despite the benefits of exploiting technology, McCullough has reservations about the likely cutback in field trips.
“I am concerned about it,’’ she said. “Because the experiences in the field where you can get your hands or eyes on what you are studying are always better than simulating or reading out of a textbook.”
Augusta Assistant Superintendent Pam Ungar will be asked to look at the distance of field trips and instructional value of them, McQuain said. “We’ll have to get smarter, that is for sure,’’ he said.
But McQuain said the annual use of 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of fuel for field trips is something he still would find difficult to part with.
“It’s not a tremendous amount of money. And I don’t want to cut the heart and soul out of the program,’’ he said.
Sixty percent of Augusta’s annual budget comes from state tax money.
Staunton school officials said they are taking a cautious attitude about field trips.
“We are hoping through the concerted efforts and forethought on the part of our staff we won’t have to come up with a hard-and-fast ‘you can and cannot,’’’ Assistant Superintendent Dori Walk said. “We don’t want the fuel crisis to impact the education of our children.”
Also on the potential chopping block are charter bus trips for longer field trips.
Already in Waynesboro, the district has substituted school buses for charters because of the rising costs of charters.
McQuain said he is waiting to see what the costs of charters will be before vetoing their use.
Walk said she plans to talk to teachers about the need for charter trips.
“It will be a decision of teachers whether we can offset these costs,’’ she said.