Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fuel costs a cause of concern for Magdalena Schools

T.S. Last El Defensor Chieftain General Manager

TSLAST tslast@dchieftain.com

Magdalena Municipal Schools is eligible to receive slightly more than $8,600 from the state Public Education Department to help cover the cost of transporting students to and from school.

Escalating fuel prices has been a topic of discussion at recent meetings of the Magdalena School Board. At its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16, the subject came up again and again as the board moved through its agenda.

One agenda item addressed a transportation budget increase approved as a supplemental fuel adjustment by the state Legislature. Based on a formula that factors annual reported school bus mileage, the Magdalena School District is eligible to receive a supplement of $8,602.54.

The district must submit a budget adjustment request in that amount to the Public Education Department before it can access the funds. The supplement would increase the district's transportation budget from $30,000 to $38,603.

During last month's meeting of the board, Superintendent Mike Chambers expressed concern about the rising cost of fuel and the impact it could have on the district's transportation budget.

"One of the biggest issues this year is transportation," he said. "Something's got to be done. Unless they (the Legislature) do something, we'll run out of funds in January."

The Legislature did do something during its special session in August, when they authorized more than $1.37 million in emergency funding to be distributed to school districts throughout the state.

The subject of fuel costs has also come up during discussions of transportation involving athletic teams.

At Tuesday's meeting, while reviewing the month financial report, Chambers noted that it cost the district $1,700 to pay officials for a two-day volleyball tournament Magdalena hosted in August. He said that cost should be weighed against revenues generated from the event and how much they would pay to send the Lady Steers on the road to play if they had not hosted the tournament.

"It's something we have to keep an eye on," he said. "With the cost of travel, it's getting crazy."

Mileage reimbursement for school employees and feeder route recipients was also revisited during Tuesday's meeting. The board had approved an increase from 30 cents per mile to 36 cents per mile at the August meeting. Chambers said board member Randell Major asked that the item be placed on the agenda again after Major spoke with parents who receive reimbursements for transporting their children from their home to a designated school bus stop.

Parents who have to transport students more than 2 miles are eligible to be recipients.

"People were happy to get the increase, it's just not enough," said Chambers, adding that he thought the reimbursement had been at 30 cents per mile for about four years.

Chambers also said that he thought government employees receive more than 50 cents per mile for reimbursement.

After some discussion, board member Abie Carbajal said he would like to know the impact an additional increase would have on the budget.

Chambers said he wouldn't have a problem with the board increasing the amount to 38 cents, but anything more than that could be problematic.

The item was tabled after Chambers said he could have his staff calculate the difference in costs if mileage reimbursements were set at 36, 38 and 40 cents per mile, and have it ready for review at next month's meeting.

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