Schools tighten fuel budget belt: skyrocketing costs are forcing districts to rethink standard practices.

Schools tighten fuel budget belt: skyrocketing costs are forcing districts to rethink standard practices. WITH FUEL AND ENERGY PRICES soaring but also fluctuating fluc��tu��ate?v. fluc��tu��at��ed, fluc��tu��at��ing, fluc��tu��atesv.intr.1. To vary irregularly. See Synonyms at swing.2. To rise and fall in or as if in waves; undulate.v. betweenhigh and low, school districts across the country are finding ways tocut corners to keep budgets afloat. The American Association American Association refers to one of the following professional baseball leagues: American Association (19th century), active from 1882 to 1891. American Association (20th century), active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997. of SchoolAdministrators' new "Fuel and Energy Snapshot (1) A saved copy of memory including the contents of all memory bytes, hardware registers and status indicators. It is periodically taken in order to restore the system in the event of failure.(2) A saved copy of a file before it is updated. Survey"says that, in an effort to offset fuel and energy costs, nearly one inseven districts is considering moving to a four-day week, one in threeis eliminating teaching jobs, and one in four is considering limits onathletics and extracurricular activities. Reassessing the Budget When negotiating with bus companies, schools are gambling whetherto lock in a rate or keep it floating with what's current. * The Palisades Palisades,cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). School District in Kintnersville, Pa., will lock infuel costs for the first time this year at a fixed $4.33 a gallon.Business administrator Jill Ruch says that although it's a"good price for diesel," it's also 58 percent more thanthe $2.74 per gallon budgeted last year. "We were afraid the budgetwould be overextended overextended,adj 1. the situation occurring when a prosthetic appliance is inadvertently constructed in such a way that part of the oral mucosa is injured by the appliance.adj 2. if we didn't lock in at $4.33," shesays. * Bellevue (Neb.) Public Schools is budgeting $600,000 to coverfuel costs for 2008-2009, compared with $250,000 a year ago.Kentucky's Bowling Green Bowling Green.1 City (1990 pop. 40,641), seat of Warren co., S Ky., on the Barren River; inc. 1812. It is a shipping and marketing center for an area producing tobacco, corn, livestock, and dairy items. Independent Schools is budgeting anadditional $45,000 over last year's $130,000, and Durham (N.C.)Public Schools is budgeting $2.75 million for fuel, up from $2 million ayear ago. * Texas lawmakers say they must re-evaluate their state'sschool funding system a system or scheme of finance or revenue by which provision is made for paying the interest or principal of a public debt.See also: Funding , which uses a 20-year-old formula based onoutdated fuel prices to determine state-appropriated transportationfunds. * The Moorpark (Calif.) Unified School District's 2,400 highschool students don't have buses anymore, as officials haveeliminated rides to cope with operating a service that can cost hundredsof thousands to tens of millions of dollars a year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Shorter Weeks * Two Kentucky districts--Webster County Schools and JenkinsIndependent Schools--are already on four-day-a-week schedules, but withmore than 50 percent of the state's students qualifying for free orreduced-price lunch, those children rely on schools for basic nutritionneeds, and it would be "extremely costly" for most districtsto meet those demands on an extended day schedule, says Kentucky DOEspokeswoman Lisa Gross. * Webster County Webster County is the name of seven counties and a parish in the United States: Webster County, Georgia Webster County, Iowa Webster County, Kentucky Webster County, Mississippi Webster County, Missouri Webster County, Nebraska Schools introduced a four-day school week in the2003-2004 year to cut overall costs, but ended up "gaining muchmore," says the district's director of secondary programs,Carolyn Sholar. Not only did the district save on transportation costs,but state test scores also improved across all subject areas, and theopen Mondays have allowed administrators and and staff to hold committeemeetings and faculty meetings for professional development. Many of thedistrict's high school students now hold part-time jobs on Mondays,and their time at school is spent more effectively. * The 700-student MACCRAY MACCRAY Maynard Clara City, Raymond (Independent School District)school district just west of Minneapolishas cut back to a four-day week for the 2008-2009 year. The change,designed to bring in the extra $65,000 needed to fill buses' tanksfor the year, will mean 23 fewer days of school a year, and the lengthof the day will be extended by a little more than an hour. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Limiting the Fun Stuff * Kentucky districts are cutting back on field trips andextracurricular activities, but the state department of education isalso partnering with school facilities staff to save money in the longterm by achieving energy efficiency through centralized cen��tral��ize?v. cen��tral��ized, cen��tral��iz��ing, cen��tral��iz��esv.tr.1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate.2. heating andgeothermal ge��o��ther��mal? also ge��o��ther��micadj.Of or relating to the internal heat of the earth.ge systems. * At Webster County Schools, plans to "limittransportation" for athletics and extracurricular activitiesinclude the state board's termination of transportation funds forcompetition-based events. In the past, the board of ed has funded alltransportation costs. "Other districts around us have not had thefinancial support of the board for any athletic and extracurricularactivities for some time now," says Carolyn Sholar, thedistrict's director of secondary programs and instruction, "sowe've been lucky." Each individual school sports team inWebster County is spearheading fundraising efforts to boost theirresources, and Sholar says their plans are all in "pretty goodshape." * At the Palisades School District in Kintnersville, Pa., an addedexpense of $0.50 per mile will be incorporated into the fees for everyschool field trip, and a surcharge An overcharge or additional cost.A surcharge is an added liability imposed on something that is already due, such as a tax on tax. It also refers to the penalty a court can impose on a fiduciary for breaching a duty. of as much as $25 could be filteredinto the overall cost for field trips in other districts in the state,says business administrator Jill Ruch.