School districts struggle to reduce transportation bill

Portland Press Herald, October 14, 2007

(excerpt) The problem, many school administrators say, is that they've already squeezed the inefficiencies out of their departments. With rising fuel prices and insurance costs, the only way they'll be able to save money is to cut bus service. That could mean longer bus rides, longer walks to bus stops or school, and fewer extracurricular bus trips, they predict.

Transportation costs are one of four areas targeted for savings in the sweeping school consolidation law. The law, passed by the Legislature in June, is aimed at reducing school administration costs by consolidating the state's 290 school districts into about 80 new districts. The state is also reducing state aid for special education and facilities management by 5 percent and school administration by 47 percent. The reductions begin July 1, 2008, a year before the deadline for school districts to consolidate.

State education officials believe Maine's public school transportation systems are filled with waste and that modern technology can help trim the fat.

"We have been told by transportation directors that 5 percent is a conservative estimate. They believe they can find more than that in savings," said David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for Maine's Department of Education.

School transportation expenses, which account for 5 percent of the total amount spent on public education in Maine, have risen steadily over the past decade. While the number of students taking the bus has dropped, the statewide cost to transport pupils to and from school increased by 14 percent, adjusted for inflation, between 1995 and 2005. In 2005, the last year available, school districts spent $80.8 million, or an average $2.33 a mile statewide, transporting students, Maine Department of Education data show.