With higher fuel costs cutting into his profits, school bus owner/operator Joseph Dovin of Browndale says, “It does hurt.”
  Dovin drives for the Forest City Regional School District (FCRSD), bus #28; he has since 1975. Logging about 80 miles a day with his bus, Dovin figures his fuel tab at the end of the week is about $250. Buses only get around seven miles to the gallon. “When he fills up, it costs $150 to $160. I could cry,” says wife, Susan. “Something has to give.”
Pat Chesnick, FCRSD Transportation Director, says, “There’s not a lot of school bus drivers out there. We don’t have a lot of substitutes on our list.” Dr. Robert Vadella, Superintendent for the District, says they have “trigger points” built into their bus contracts to allow for additional funds when fuel costs rise. “The fact that we could do something went a long way,” the Superintendent said. “They were appreciative that we recognized the higher cost of fuel.” Dovin has only high praises for the District.
Jeff Firmstone, Business Manager for the Wayne Highlands School District (WHSD) says bus operators are paid based on the Pennsylvania Public School Transportation Formula. The formula is based on three criteria: the age of the bus, the number of miles traveled, and the number of students. Firmstone says the formula has an inflation index built in for when, “fuel does what it’s done in the last year.” But he says the cost index, “is not keeping up with the extreme increase in fuel cost.” Firmstone figures a bus operator’s annual fuel cost could be up at least $6 thousand more than last year’s cost.
Thomas Jenkins, WHSD Superintendent, says the Board approved a fuel subsidy for school bus operators based on the high cost of fuel. “For the first three quarters, every diesel operator (yellow buses) was given five cents more per mile,” Jenkins said. Van operators were given a two and a half cent increase. In the last quarter, diesel operators were given an eight cent increase per mile and four cents more per mile for gasoline users. There’s no law that mandates they provide a subsidy. They do it, Jenkins said, because, “Our bus contractors and our drivers provide very good service to our district.” WHSD has 40 contractors with 56 buses and 30 vans running every day.
Western Wayne School Superintendent Andrew Falonk says the state’s inflation index for 2008-09 is 4.1 percent. “No one expected fuel to go up $1.50. Does the 4.1 percent increase cover the expense? I don’t believe so,” he said.
Falonk says all but one of their drivers (a handicap accessible van)  is paid on the state formula. “One half of 1 percent of our market value (homes, businesses, and land in the district) comes out to a number; in our case, $640 thousand. Everything that’s spent above that number is reimbursed by the state the following year, provided that you are running your district on the state formula ... Western Wayne gets every dollar back. ” Superintendent Falonk says their transportation budget is $ 3.7 million.
Wallenpaupack School District has its own gas pumps, says Superintendent Mike Silsby. The pumps were put in more than 15 years ago, through the joint efforts of the district and contractors. They did it for a number of reasons, including the ease of getting fuel and being able to lock into fixed prices, the superintendent said. They have both a diesel pump as well as gasoline. “Our fixed price for diesel this year has been $2.25 a gallon. So, they’ve had a significant savings over what they’d have to pay if they were going to the gas station.” Their gas price was locked in at $2.20 per gallon. 
Every year, the Wallenpaupack School District collects bids for gas and diesel contracts. “Right now, bids are being accepted until May 15,” Superintendent Silsby said.
The superintendent says it’s more than fuel that’s hurting bus operators. He says it’s the high cost of buying a new bus (around $70 thousand), tires, maintenance and more. “The cost of them doing business is on the rise. It’s not just fuel. It’s all the other things, too,” he said.