In the Schools, Calm in the Face Of the Storm

Loudoun County Public Schools has got it bad. Diesel fuel, on which most of the school system's buses run, has increased $2 a gallon in the past 12 months -- from $2.30 per gallon in May 2007 to $4.28 today.

"If fuel stays at the current price, we'll be operating over budget next year," said J. Michael Lunsford, transportation director for LCPS. The school system's fiscal 2009 budget estimates the price of diesel fuel at $3.75 a gallon.

Each year, the system transports 38,000 students over some 8 million miles. That, if diesel averages $3.75 a gallon, works out to be about $5 million.

Lunsford said one thing on their side is the presidential election. "In previous election years, fuel prices have gone down about 7 percent," he said.

Let's hope that tradition prevails.

From an efficiency standpoint, the school system is doing all it can to decrease fuel costs. The transportation department has initiated a strict no-idling policy, and bus routes have been streamlined to minimize mileage.

There are hybrid buses on the market, but they cost $200,000 each, whereas a new diesel bus is $100,000. "There's just not the return on investment that we need to justify the cost at this point," Lunsford said.