We hit a milestone number in the Fairfield School District recently. For the first time in the district’s 79-year history, we spent more than $100,000 in a single month for fuel for our school buses.

Higher crude oil prices are part of this, of course. Another factor is that since October our buses have been required to use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. It burns cleaner, but is more expensive and the buses don’t get as good mileage using it. (A school bus gets about eight miles per gallon.) It’s why a planned school bus replacement cycle is important – newer buses get better mileage, and also have lower maintenance costs. A new school bus, by the way, costs about $80,000.

There isn’t much we can do locally about the price of fuel. But when you operate your fleet a million miles a year, as we do, it’s very important to use it as efficiently as possible.

That’s why I was so proud a couple of weeks ago when I received a report from the Ohio Dept. of Education. The state looked at the 20 largest school bus fleets in Ohio, which includes us, and then did a complex set of measurements to compare how efficiently their route systems operate. We were ranked No. 2. The credit for that goes to our entire transportation department, headed by Bill Westerbeck. Designing a route structure that transports about 8,000 students to and from our 10 schools as well as 20 private and parochial schools is part science, part art. The complexities are staggering.

Every mile we drive costs more than $4, so we do everything possible to reduce miles. That’s why you may see a bus sitting in a shopping center parking lot, or even at someone’s home, during the day. We’re avoiding, when we can, driving the empty bus back to the compound and then back out again on a route just a few hours later.

The highest priority, though, is safety. Twice each year we review the driving record for the last 10 years for all of our drivers. (We have 94 regular bus drivers, plus substitutes.) Every driver is required to have a physical every year. We do random drug testing on one half of the drivers every year. All drivers attend monthly safety meetings. All drivers have a Commercial Drivers License, with school bus and passenger endorsements. Every six years the drivers are re-certified, which involves 12 hours of behind-the-wheel time with a trainer and nine hours of classroom work. We also redo their state and federal background checks at that time.

It is an incredible amount of work. The job of operating a school bus filled with excited, happy children is not easy. A school bus driver is often a family’s first and last contact with the school system each day. We’re very proud of the way our drivers represent us, and of the job that they do for our students all year long.

Published in the Fairfield Echo, April 10, 2008.