"States grapple with fuel costs for school buses; Class days, trips are among cuts" by Whitney Woodward, Associated Press | May 31, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. - The reality of rising fuel prices cost students in a Tennessee school district their bus ride to school this week on the last day of the year.
That was a minor inconvenience compared with what may happen this fall in Minnesota, where a district west of Minneapolis plans to eliminate classes every Monday to come up with the extra $65,000 it needs to fill its buses' tanks.
Did I just hear some students cheer?
One less day in the school/prison?
Yaaaaaayyyy!
Greg Schmidt, superintendent in the 700-student MACCRAY district:
"I know $65,000 may not sound like a lot, but it's more than one teaching position."
And in North Carolina, Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools teachers scaled back the number of field trips this spring to save fuel, transportation director Binford Sloan said.
Oh, now THAT SUCKS!!!! Public school sucks, readers!
Give a cruise!
The skyrocketing costs at the pump are forcing educators nationwide to trim programs, curb spending, and cut down on fuel consumption. Schools are employing unusual cost-savings measures to salvage busted budgets, while lawmakers grapple with how to pay for classroom initiatives threatened by the need to pour more money into the fuel tank.
Notice how the MILITARY'S CONSUMPTION of fuel NEVER an ISSUE, readers?
Sig Heil!
Nash-Rocky Mount schools burned through about $729,000 in fuel in the last fiscal year - nearly twice as much as in the previous year, Sloan said. The fleet gets about 7 miles to the gallon, which means the district burns through 7,500 gallons every 3 1/2 school days, he said. Recent buys have cost about $29,000.
Sloan: "We've tried pretty much all that we can to save and improve efficiency."
North Carolina's governor, Mike Easley, wants to give teachers a 7 percent raise, but the lawmakers who write the state's budget are also on the hunt for tens of millions of dollars to cover school fuel bills.
What's that, a couple of hours in Iraq, right?
Rising diesel prices prompted Oklahoma's Education Department to ask legislators there to increase the schools' operations budget, while Texas lawmakers have said they will reevaluate their state's school funding system, which has been criticized as ill-equipped to handle sudden spikes in costs such as fuel.
Where is all this money going to come from, taxpayers?
In Tennessee, students who attend Putnam County Schools east of Nashville went without bus service Wednesday, saving the district the $2,300 it costs to operate its fleet each day, said district director Kathleen Airhart. Only a few students usually take the bus on the final day, and Airhart said she received no complaints."
"As fuel prices rise, so do fuel thefts in Maine
BANGOR, Maine --As gasoline and heating oil prices rise to record levels, police say theft reports are also on the rise of gas being siphoned from cars, construction equipment and even school buses, and oil being drained out of heating fuel tanks.
It seems that no type of fuel -- and no amount -- is safe these days.
Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith said this week:
"It's no different than recent thefts of copper pipes or catalytic converters from cars, which have increased in value. This (fuel thefts) isn't something we saw even a couple years ago, but if the value is there, people will take it."
Law enforcement officials say they fear the recent thefts are only the beginning....
Gas station drive-offs and siphoning from cars are the most common types of fuel thefts, and many gas stations now require motorists to pay before they pump. But thieves have also set their sights on other targets.
Nearly 600 gallons of heating fuel was taken a couple of months ago from Cherryfield Foods, a Down East blueberry processor. Thieves are also preying on construction equipment that is parked overnight at job sites.
Earlier this month, the Portland International Jetport said it was investigating reports of someone siphoning jet fuel out an aircraft.
Meanwhile, School Administrative District 37 recently equipped its school buses with locking gas caps after someone siphoned fuel from the tanks. One bus even ran out of gas while en route to school.
Oh, the KIDS must have LOVED THAT!!!!! That poor driver!
In Vermont, state police urged truckers to lock their fuel caps after 190 gallons of diesel fuel was stolen from two parked tractor-trailer trucks in St. Johnsbury last weekend.
Smith said fuel thefts are particularly difficult to investigate because little evidence is left behind:
"People are either using the fuel themselves and it's gone, or they are selling it cheap. Obviously, we need help from the community on this, so if people are seeing suspicious activity, they should notify local police (AP May 30, 2008)."
That doesn't sound right. No evidence left behind?
With surveillance cameras all over the place, etc, etc?
They can pike up a bike bomber at 3 in the morning, but can't identify gas stealers?
No tire tracks left behind or anything?
It gets to the point where you wonder if it isn't the GOVERNMENT who might be stealing the gas.
This, we can't catch them shit isn't selling with me.
Smells like one more reason for a snooper-society like the Stasi!!!
