Transportation Costs Examined at Phoenixville School Board Budget Meeting

Editor's Note: Due to the length of the meeting, this will be broken up into two parts. Watch for a second story on the budget meeting on Phoenixville Patch.

Reducing legal fees, the payment to the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation and factoring in a reduction in audit costs and savings from bond refinancing, Phoenixville Area School District’s proposed tax increase now stands at 3.89 percent.

That’s down from the 5.08 percent included in the preliminary budget, and most likely that number will fluctuate with other savings. There’s also the unknown of school funding in the governor’s budget, which Gov. Tom Corbett will present Feb. 7.

At a public budget workshop on Tuesday, the board got a closer look at the transportation, technology, professional services and activities and athletics budgets proposed for the 2012-2013 school year.

Stan Johnson, executive director of operations, presented on the transportation budget and some proposed cuts and possible considerations. He hopes to trim $200,000, which should push the tax increase further down. Last year, Johnson and his team worked to reroute buses, switch up bus stops and find other efficiencies to help the district save money. In the preliminary budget, $3.7 million is budgeted for transportation, but Johnson hopes to whittle that to $3.5 million.

The district transports 3,976 students, with 3,944 taking Wolfington buses and 32 students using other services. The 32 students are early intervention, special education and private school students.

“We do try to collaborate with other districts [for those routes],” Johnson said.

The bus routes and stops for 2012-2013 most likely won’t change much, he said, as the district took a good look at creating efficiencies last year. He presented several ideas for saving money on transportation costs. These are all still in the early stages and nothing is set in stone yet. The ideas included:

• Evaluate bus aides: Each bus aide costs the district $17,000, Johnson told the board. Most aides are on board due to behavior issues on the bus, and the district currently uses 18 bus aides. Johnson said he and his team will take a closer look to see if all of those aides are needed or if situations have changed on buses.
• Evaluate mid-day busing for kindergarten students: Johnson said he would not recommend this move, noting that a very small number of kindergarten parents drive their kids to and from school, so it would be a big adjustment. It would save the district $72,000. This was put on the “red” list as something the district would only do in dire circumstances.
• Look at PDE reimbursement: The district may not be maxing out its reimbursement from the state’s department of education, Johnson said. Those numbers depend on the age of the bus fleet and other factors.
• Advertise inside school buses: The law is clear on advertising on the outside of buses—you can’t do it. Advertising on the inside, however, may be a possibility. Superintendent Dr. Alan Fegley said it’s more of a school policy issue because it would have to fit into the district’s current advertising rules. Johnson said it may not be an option for the 2012-2013 budget but could work in the future.
• Increase walking distances: The law currently requires that elementary students walk no more than 1½ miles to school while secondary students can walk up to two miles to school. The district’s current policy says that elementary students can walk up to a mile, while secondary students can walk up to 1½ miles. Johnson said he could plug the numbers into a software program to see if changing the district’s policy to be in line with the law would help eliminate any routes. One bus costs the district approximately $40,000.
• Use a common schedule: When the district’s calendar doesn’t line up with the Chester County Intermediate Unit’s calendar or the calendars of other schools, that can mean added transportation expenses. Johnson said the district’s calendar for next year is already aligned pretty closely but he put it on the list of things to consider.
• Pay parents to transport children: The law allows districts to reimburse parents for transporting their children to school at the IRS rates. Big buses wouldn’t be looked at for this initiative, but if the district could save a van run or a smaller bus, paying the parents to bring kids to school might be cheaper than paying for busing, Johnson said.
• Look into hybrid/green vehicles: Wolfington, the district’s main transportation contractor, is currently doing a pilot program with one electric bus through a grant program. Johnson said he’ll be looking closely at potential savings, and he explained that the district could encourage Wolfington to look into more hybrid or electric vehicles if it shows a cost savings. The electric vehicles can only be used for short routes currently, and Johnson said the entire fleet wouldn’t be electric anytime soon, but it could be a savings if the cost of electricity is right.
• Examine the possibility of SEPTA transportation: Board Member Irfan Khan brought this up, and Johnson said there are only two SEPTA routes that currently run through the district and neither come near schools. He said, however, that he’d look into this as a possibility and will follow up with SEPTA.
• Campaign to get parents and students to opt out of busing: The board discussed the possibility of giving students a chance to give up their seats on the bus. This could potentially save bus routes. Students who drive to school could possibly be incentivized to pass up a bus seat if they are offered lower parking fees, which are currently $25 per year. The district will have 120 to 130 parking spaces next year.

Johnson said he felt comfortable reducing the preliminary transportation budget by $200,000 for 2012-2013. Those numbers were not factored into the potential tax increase yet, and by the end of the meeting the tax increase stood at 3.89 percent.

Watch Phoenixville Patch for a follow-up story on the other budgets presented at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The next budget meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21. For a list of topics that will be discussed, see the attached PDF.