School cut costs

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

No one at the gas pump leaves happy these days, but the Washington County Public School system has a frown worth more than $1 million.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Tim Graves, the combination of the county’s bus and car fleet, coupled with rising utility costs, has put the system in excess of $1.2 million over its fuel and utilities budget. While there have been whispers of kids even losing field trips as a result, Graves said it hasn’t come to that – just yet.
“We’re not cutting field trips, but we are asking teachers to heavily scrutinize field trips,” he said.
Graves said the field trips aren’t the only thing getting a more watchful eye as far as energy and gas conservation goes in the schools. According to him, the schools are taking many steps to cut back as gas, coal and oil prices go up.
One of the first things the school system did, according to Graves, was embrace more technology. Distance learning where the teachers are at a different location than the students is becoming a more popular choice, as well as holding conference calls instead of having school officials drive all over the county and beyond.
Continuing with technology, Graves said the school system used a computer program to chart out their bus routes, eliminating one of their routes and making the rest more efficient.
“We eliminated one bus route while maintaining the quality for our kids,” he said.
As far as buses are concerned, Graves said they’ve instituted a “no idle” policy for buses sitting outside schools. He said they would often idle for up to half an hour while waiting on kids. The policy has shown a significant cutback on fuel consumption. They’re also using the buses at their full capacity, combining sports teams that need to go to or near the same place.
And the plan doesn’t stop with the school system’s vehicles. Graves said they’ve done a slew of things to save power in their buildings, including shutting down the small power plants they own. They’ve also taken measures as simple as turning off lights in rooms they’re not using and turning the heat down to 65 degrees in colder months.
However, despite their efforts to save money, the price of utilities is catching up. According to Graves, every time they save a penny, they have to spend more.
“We’re basically at the budget and redirecting funds,” he said.
While Graves said they’re not taking funding away from academics, that could change as the prices soar higher.
“It’s hard to monitor. As we save, the utility costs go up,” he said.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or