Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Braselton News
Page 3A
Barrow County schools
Fatal crash
Rising fuel, food prices affecting local school budgets
BY KRISTI REED
hile food and fuel pric
es are having a dra
matic impact on the
budgets of American consumers,
local government agencies are also
dealing with increased costs.
Barrow County School transpor
tation director James Cantrell and
nutrition director Terri Cato are all
too familiar with the effect of rising
prices on fixed budgets.
While the Federal Reserve can
point to numbers such as the core
inflation index to paint a rosy pic
ture of the current economic situ
ation, Cantrell and Cato are not as
optimistic.
The most recent reports show that
the core inflation index was 2.3 per
cent in April, down from 2.4 percent
in March. That number might be
reassuring if you have no fuel or
food costs - items which are exclud
ed from the core inflation index.
FUEL COSTS
DOUBLE IN BARROW
When budget planners set the fis
cal year 2008 budget, diesel was
costing the system a little over $2
per gallon. By the time the school
year had begun, fuel prices had
increased to $2.46 per gallon.
As prices have continued to rise,
school administrators were forced to
revise the fuel budget from its origi
nal $529,000 to $1 million dollars.
With diesel costing the school
system $3.64 per gallon in early
May and rising, budget planners
are concerned that the $1.2 million
budgeted for next year may not be
enough.
Dr. James Cantrell, director of
pupil transportation, said he hopes
the prices will stabilize.
“I've talked to several distributors
and they are afraid to say what it’s
going to be next week, much less
six months from now,” he said. “If
you listen to the news, people think
it may get to five, six dollars a gal
lon. I hope and pray it doesn’t get
to that.’’
Cantrell hopes once the summer
driving season is over, prices will
decline.
“I hope it does, but I don’t have
any evidence to say that it would,”
he said.
As a rule of thumb, the school sys
tem’s wholesale fuel cost averages
approximately 40 cents less than
what the average consumer pays at
the pump.
If the wholesale price rises above
$4.25 per gallon, the $1.2 million
will not be enough. With a projected
annual fuel usage of 280,800 gal
lons, the fuel cost would increase to
$1.26 million.
While rising fuel prices have a
major impact on individual budgets,
the effect on a system that averages
1.5 million miles per year in travel
distance is profound.
The Barrow County school system
operates 123 buses traveling 204
routes daily at an average of 8,745
miles each day or 43,700 miles per
week.
The county’s aging fleet of buses
averages six miles per gallon. Of
the 123 buses in the Barrow County
School fleet, 72 will exceed ten or
more years of use within the next
four years. Approximately one-third
of the fleet is already more than ten
years old.
The Barrow County Board of
Education recently approved the
purchase of fifteen new buses. The
new buses will average 7.5 miles per
gallon, increasing the average for
the fleet to 6.25 miles per gallon.
Even a slight increase will help
the transportation department’s bot
tom line. Cantrell said replacing fif
teen aging buses with fifteen newer
buses will result in a fuel savings of
500 gallons per new bus or $28,125
for the year.
Though the new buses will help
with the fuel budget, other cost sav
ing measures may have to be consid
ered if prices continue to rise.
One option would be to expand
the distance between stops. The state
allows stops to be .3 miles apart.
Barrow County currently sets the
stops every tenth of a mile. While
the BOE has expressed opposition
to expanding the distance between
stops, it is one fuel-saving option to
be considered.
Another even less popular option
would be to combine the elementary
school routes with the middle and
high school routes. While this would
result in shorter routes, it would also
increase the number of routes and
raises concerns among parents and
board members regarding the safety
and security of younger students.
Cantrell said his department may
begin investigating alternative fuel
as another option. Some school sys
tems have begun retrofitting buses
to operate on propane, an expensive
measure but perhaps cost effective in
the long term. Another possibility is
the production and use of biodiesel.
Some school systems have begun
to explore manufacturing biodiesel
with by-products from school caf
eterias.
While Cantrell did not know how
much the school’s cafeterias could
produce, he said it would be worth
investigating.
“If we could just save from buying
500 gallons a week, it would be a
plus,” he said.
FOOD PRICES ON THE RISE
School nutrition director Terri
Cato has only begun to feel the pain
of rising food prices.
While most consumers have
watched prices rise weekly at the
grocery store, many of Cato’s pur
chases are bid on a yearly basis.
Cato said she won’t know until later
this month how much the school
system will have to pay for milk
or bread next year. It will be July
before she learns what food staples
such as canned and frozen food will
cost. Cato said a food vendor has
warned her that he is seeing increas
es of nearly 20 percent.
“There is no telling where the
prices are going to come in when I
bid them out,” she said.
While Cato is expecting bad
news regarding the year long con
tracts, she has already experienced
the effects of rising produce prices.
Unlike other food items the nutrition
department purchases, produce is
bid on a weekly basis.
“[Produce] has just skyrocketed,”
Cato said. “For example, red pepper
is $1.50 for one pepper. I’ve been
having to cut things off my ladies’
produce orders because it has just
skyrocketed. Romaine lettuce is $5
a bag for a five pound bag. Produce
has really gotten high.”
Rice is another item that has
increased dramatically. After a
school vendor could no longer pro
vide the type of rice bid in the
original school contract, a bid for a
new brand was obtained. The best
price available to the school system:
$17 for a 25-lb bag. The school
system had been paying $8 for that
quantity.
Cato’s budget for fiscal year 2009
is $5.6 million, a $300,000 increase
from last year. The money for the
nutrition department budget comes
from federal and state funding as
well as cafeteria income. No local
tax dollars are provided.
“We are self supporting,” Cato
said.
While Cato hopes the additional
$300,000 will be enough to cover
rising food prices and increased
salaries, she is not sure it will be
enough to make ends meet.
“We may eventually have to get
some help from the board,” she
said.
Despite the board’s recent approv
al of an increase in school meal
prices, Cato said the amount charged
does not cover her cost. While it
cost between $2.50 and $2.60 to
provide each meal, elementary stu
dents will only pay $1.25 next year,
middle school students $1.50 and
high school students $1.75. Adult
meal prices will be set at $3.
While the nutrition department
receives some reimbursements from
the federal government for free and
reduced meals, that amount is below
actual costs. Currently, the federal
government pays $2.47 to reimburse
free meals, and only $.23 for paid
lunches.
With reimbursement rates below
the actual meal costs and food prices
rising, Cato has been forced to make
some changes.
“We have not had a price increase
since 2001, so I had no other choice
other than to go up. From talking to
other directors, I’m still going to be
low compared to surrounding coun
ties. I may have to go up mid-year,”
she said.
With low federal reimbursements
and below-average meal prices,
Cato and her staff have begun to
look at ways to trim costs while still
providing nutritious meals.
“We’re trying to serve healthier
foods,” she said. “We’re trying to
serve more fresh fruits and veg
etables, but, with the produce prices,
it is going up.”
Cato said one of the options she
and her managers are considering
to help cut costs is reducing the
number of meal options offered next
year. Instead of offering students
in elementary schools up to four
choices, Cato said they might have
to reduce that to three.
“I think we’re going to have to
look at cutting back with produce
being so high. I’m going to see
what else the managers can come up
with,” she said.
While there are no personnel cuts
planned at this time, the nutri
tion department has eliminated the
use of substitute workers to cover
absent or sick employees and has
reduced the use of overtime. Cato
has also visited with all her manag
ers to verify that the cafeterias are
not over-staffed.
“We’re not laying off anybody.
We’re just not calling in any subs or
trying to get any overtime. Between
food and labor, it just kills you,”
Cato said.
So far, Cato has managed to stay
within her operating budget but
does not know how long that will
last if food prices continue to rise.
“I just want the parents to know
we are self-supportive,” she said.
“If, at mid-year, we do have to go
up, I hope that they will under
stand.”
8 ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS 8
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Two killed in Hwy. 11 wreck
BY KRISTI REED
Just a week after three people
were killed in a fatal crash on the
same stretch of road, two more
people have lost their lives on Hwy.
11, near Marbury Creek in Winder.
Winder resident Donna Shepherd,
48, was killed when the taxi cab
she was driving was struck by a
2004 Dodge Durango driven by
Jackson County resident Margot
Toney. Shepherd’s passenger,
Daniel Marbut, 66, died while being
life-flighted to Grady Memorial
Hospital in Atlanta.
The accident occurred around
9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. According
to Winder police captain Dennis
Dorsey, the Durango driven by
Toney crossed the center line into
oncoming traffic, forced a pickup
truck off the road and then struck
the Winder Barrow cab. Shepherd,
the driver of the cab, died at the
scene.
The pickup driver was uninjured
and remained at the scene to pro
vide information to accident inves
tigators.
Toney is being treated at Athens
Regional Medical Center. Her con
dition was stable as of yesterday
afternoon.
Dorsey said it has not yet been
determined what caused the Durango
to cross the center line. There were
no adverse weather or road condi
tions at the time of the accident.
According to Dorsey, the inves
tigation is ongoing and may take
weeks to complete. No charges have
been filed at this time.
Tuesday’s accident increased the
number of Winder traffic fatalities
to six for the year. Three people
died in traffic collisions last year.
WINDER — cont’d from page 2A
The biggest item in the capi
tal budget is the water fund with
planned expenditures of $7.3 mil
lion. The bulk of the money, $6.6
million, will go to infrastructure
upgrades including a five million
gallon storage tank and upgrades to
the Yargo water line. $308,000 will
go to equipment purchases with the
remainder being spent on vehicles.
The gas department has budgeted
$981,000 in infrastructure improve
ments, $143,500 in equipment,
$162,500 in vehicles and $38,000 in
computers.
Planned administrative capital
expenditures include $15,500 for
the replacement of two early warn
ing sirens, $200,000 for security
cameras for the community center
complex and $245,000 for the pur
chase of various software, hardware
and a citywide phone system.
The police department plans to
purchase a $38,500 crime scene
investigation van, $38,000 tick
et writing software and $301,000
worth of marked patrol cars among
other items.
Winder’s fire department has bud
geted $30,000 to refurbish stations
one and two and $9,000 for phase
four of the training center.
The street department will spend
approximately $460,000 on equip
ment purchases and $500,000 on
street paving and widening projects.
Facility maintenance will pur
chase a half ton pickup and a used
one-ton bucket truck for $50,000.
Vehicle maintenance will purchase a
one ton service truck for $24,000.
Utility administration has bud
geted $20,000 for equipment and
$40,000 for vehicles.
The proposed budget also includes
$600,000 for the construction of city
council chambers at the community
center.
REVENUE SOURCES
The 2009 budget includes the pro
posed fire tax increase as well as
increased license fees.
The city’s minimum business
license fee will increase from $35
to $100, a beer alcohol license from
$300 to $500 and a wine alcohol
license from $300 to $500.
The city has also opted to no lon
ger provide free cardboard recycling
bins to businesses and will pass
along a ten percent fuel surcharge
for garbage collections.
The city administrator and the
mayor have also proposed increased
rates for certain city services.
According to Ginn, the goal is to
eventually bring the rates that city
customers pay in line with what
those customers living outside the
city limits are charged.
Council will vote on the 2009
budget on Tuesday, June 3, at its
regularly scheduled meeting.
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The Braselton News
MEMORIAL DAY
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