FARMINGTON -- Although the Davis School District is feeling the same pinch the rest of America feels with high gasoline prices, Davis School District Transportation Director Brian Larsen said the big changes that were made a year ago will keep any changes made this year minor in comparison. The district has slightly increased drivers' wages and Larsen said it is likely the $1.75 per mile schools paid last year for extra trips will also increase. "Right now we are in the process of evaluating how much it will go up per mile," Larsen said. The district's total budget for this last year was $650,000. Larsen said this year's budget is very close to the same amount. Still, this amount is approximately $300,000 more than the district had budget just three years ago.

Each school is given a certain amount of money each year that it is allowed to use during the school year.

High schools receive more money than junior high schools and junior highs receive more than elementary schools.

This money can be used on field trips, textbooks, technology or a number of other things the schools deem necessary.

Larsen said the transportation department has had some troubles because of the high fuel costs, but it has been able to deal with the problems fairly well.

Most school buses hold between 60-100 gallons and most school buses get about 7 miles per gallon, Larsen said.

Average gas prices in the Davis County area are around $3 per gallon. That means that it costs about 43 cents per mile in fuel costs to operate a bus.

Larsen said the district is doing some things to try to keep costs down as much as possible.

The district has instructed drivers to not leave buses idled when waiting to pick up kids at school. Also, the district buys fuel at the Freeport Center's state fueling site, where it costs "a little bit less," Larsen said.

While there was not a huge decrease in extra trips last year, Larsen said that there was enough of a decrease that it was noticeable.

"I think some schools had to cancel some trips toward the end of the year because they ran out of money for it," he said.

The initial significant increase in fees came after the 2004-05 school year, during which the fuel cost was nearly 30 percent over budget.

cphares@davisclipper.com