Getting to school in the 21 st century is much easier than it was in the days of old, where legends were born of students trudging through endless miles of deep snow only to reverse the trip in a few short hours. Yes, it's easier, but definitely not cheaper.

Always of concern, recent initiatives such as T.A.B.O.R. and Governor Baldacci's consolidation proposal have aimed a spotlight at the cost of education in Maine and have citizens looking closely at how money is spent. Transportation expenses are part of every school system's budget, and there are many variations on the theme of how to manage those costs.

The Wiscasset public school system chooses to own and operate its own bus system. The system owns 12 full size buses, two seven-passenger vans used primarily for special education transportation, one pickup for maintenance and garbage, and one cargo van for maintenance purposes. The buses range in age from a 1993 to a 2005. The miles per gallon which the buses get range from $5.71 per mile to $9.69 per mile.

Transportation Director John Cousins manages the system, reporting to Superintendent Jay McIntire. Wiscasset also hires its own drivers, and a mechanic that maintains the fleet in the bus barn owned by the town. Some repairs can be done in house, but the barn does not have a lift, making it necessary for major repairs to be done off site, McIntire says.

During the school year of 2005/06, McIntire reports that the buses traveled 103,109 miles to transport children to and from schools, including vocational education students who go to Brunswick. Buses traveled 27,089 miles to take students on field trips and athletic events, with a grand total of 130,198 miles. The school system also runs two after school buses to bring students home who have stayed for activities or for extra help.

Alna and Westport students who attend Wiscasset schools are transported on buses owned by their towns. However, their transportation program falls under the direction of McIntire and Cousins. McIntire said that both Alna and Westport pay the town of Wiscasset for the services received, which includes maintenance on their buses. However, Finance Manager Wendy Connor explains that the fees paid for these services go back into general school funds and are not used to offset the transportation budget.

The alternative that schools have to owning their own buses is contracting with private transportation companies to provide the service. McIntire supports Wiscasset's decision to run their own show.

"My background is in education, not transportation," he says. "But I believe that by hiring our own staff and responding personally to the needs of students and concerns of parents, we provide a more personable and responsive service."

McIntire said that he and Cousins juggle the needs of hundreds of students going in many directions, mirroring the challenge parents face getting their own kids to all the places they need to go, but magnified to the power of ten.

They also need to be sure that buses stop at sites that provide the maximum safety for children who are getting off and on the buses. "We are constantly dealing with the balance between efficiency and service," said McIntire.

As a Wiscasset budget committee member, Tony True's job is to look for ways the town may be able to save money.

"Because the school budget is a major portion of the town's overall expense, it has to be looked at," said True. "We should know how much it is costing to transport kids to school."

True said he made about six requests to the Wiscasset system before getting the data he wanted about expenses. McIntire apologized to True for the delay in an e-mail sent on January 23.

Besides his involvement with the budget committee, True runs his own heating repair business and has also worked for 23 years for Bath Bus Service, driving their buses for students in School Union #47. He said that he would like to compare Wiscasset's transportation costs to those of other systems. True says that when it comes to the cost of transportation, the most important figure is what it costs the town per mile to transport a child.

"It is 100 percent mileage," he says.

True also questions when Wiscasset chooses to sell buses and buy replacements. He said that the state requires that buses undergo a safety inspection four times per year, and that every day the driver is required to do a "walk around" inspection to look for problems. He said that he has seen Wiscasset buses purchased and safely driven by other providers for several years.

McIntire says that the school generally sells a bus when it reaches age and mileage guidelines that are set by the Department of Education, which allow the town of Wiscasset to qualify for a subsidy of 50 percent of the cost of a new bus. He said that there are times that they do not choose to sell, when those standards are reached.

And, there are other factors which come into play, he says. Alna had a bus which did not meet DOE guidelines for subsidy, but there was a concern about the structural integrity of the vehicle, because there was rust around rivets on the sides of the bus. Wiscasset worked with Alna to convince the state to grant a subsidy before the guidelines had been met, in order to replace the bus.

The subsidy issue is a wild card when figuring how costs compare among systems. Harry Boatman, who works for the Department of Education and is involved in the bus replacement program, said that subsidies vary between towns, and are based loosely on land values with other complex variables thrown in to the mix.

Another area where both the federal and state government have an impact on cost is through restrictions placed on the use of vans to transport students. Boatman explains that, for years, federal regulations required that 11 or more students be transported in a vehicle which meets school bus standards. Although the regulations have existed for some time, they were formerly not being enforced, he said. However, fines are now being imposed on systems that are not in compliance. He said that they also strongly discourage using vans regardless of the number of children, because they are not considered as safe as school buses.

Vans are still in use throughout the state, but are being phased out. McIntire said that the cost of a half-size school bus is close to that of a large bus. The system presently has two vans, but McIntire says it may be unwise to invest in more.

Superintendent William Shuttleworth oversees Union #47 and contracts with Bath Bus Service to meet all the transportation needs of the five towns in the union: Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich.

"Bill Reed owns Bath Bus Service, and I couldn't say enough about the quality of the service he provides," said Shuttleworth. "There has never been one time that I have asked him to deal with a problem or special request that he has not responded to immediately."

Shuttleworth echoed McIntire's statement regarding his own knowledge of transportation, but has chosen a different approach. "I feel I am a very good educator, but I do not have a background in transportation and choose to leave it to the experts," said Shuttleworth.

He also said he is very happy with the quality of the drivers working for the company. "They are usually the first person that children meet who represent the school, and they can have a meaningful impact on their

day."

Last year the system had a "Bus Driver Appreciation Day," when student presented drivers with cards and driving gloves. "It meant a great deal to the drivers," Shuttleworth said.

School Superintendent Eileen King heads School Union #49, which includes Edgecomb and the consolidated school district of Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor and Southport. Her system also owns their buses, employing bus drivers and a transportation

director, Lyndon Roberts.

The only major administrative difference between her system and McIntire's is that they out-source all their mechanical needs.

"I believe that by hiring our own personnel, we have the ability to have a direct impact on the quality of the personnel and the services the system provides," said King. The system owns 13 buses, and King reports that they are right on schedule with respect to their yearly transportation budget.

McIntire said that for the school year 2005/2006, Wiscasset paid $2.25 for every mile that a child was in transit. To determine that cost, the number of miles driven per year were divided into the total transportation budget. The breakdown includes:

• bus drivers' salaries

• bus insurance

• fuel

• insurance and all benefits for employees

• salaries for the mechanic and transportation director

• maintenance costs for the buses and the bus barn, including supplies, telephone bills, electricity, oil, water and sewer

• advertising costs for any new positions

• yearly payments due on bus replacements.

As of press time, School Union #49 did not have a per mile figure based on the costs that Wiscasset included.

DOE also publishes a table entitled, "2005-2006 Financial Indicators for School Administrative Units - Per-Pupil Expenditures." The table includes information regarding the per-pupil cost for transportation and buses for all cities and towns in the state. It offers another way to evaluate the bottom line.

Those figures are as follows:

Alna

$586

Arrowsic

$318

Bath

$334

Boothbay

$479

Boothbay Hbr.

$479

Dresden

$578

Edgecomb

$513

Georgetown

$730

Southport

$449

West Bath

$304

Westport Island

$567

Wiscasset

$421

Woolwich

$476