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Highlands Today

Fuel Costs Affecting High School Athletics

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: June 21, 2008

SEBRING — As the School Board of Highlands County looks to increase transportation charges for field trips, high fuel prices are affecting high school athletics.

The cost for using school buses for athletic road trips comes out of the money brought in through fundraising.

"We are not given any money to operate on for athletics; it's all self supporting," Sebring High School Athletic Director Terry Quarles said Friday.

Currently organizations who want to contract for a district school bus pay $15 per hour for the driver and $1.30 per mile.

Pricing for district schools is the same for the driver, but 65 cents per mile.

District Transportation Director David Solomon recommended changing the per mile charge for outside groups to $1.80 per mile and for district field trips to 90 cents per mile.

At the time he wrote his proposal, diesel was $3.97 a gallon now it's $4.20 at wholesale, Solomon said.

"I would probably like to hold it open where I could come back to you next year, if need be, and say we might need to raise it again," he said. "The way gas is going now it's just off the charts."

Since the mileage rates do not cover the complete operating cost of a bus, which is about $3.58 per mile, School Board Chairman J. Ned Hancock said the rate for outside groups should increase to cover the full cost.

The school board decided not to approve the proposed increase and directed Solomon to prepare another proposal that would tie the charge to use school buses to the cost of fuel.

"Our coaches have been aware that the prices are going up and they've been busy trying to raise money and having fundraisers," Quarles said.

Redistricting next year by the Florida High School Athletic Association will hopefully eliminate expensive two-hour trips to Palmetto, Bradenton and Sarasota, she said.

"There's got to be a closer way than us driving over to Sarasota and Manatee counties," Quarles said. "There's got to be somebody closer even if we go up into Polk County."

But, being larger with more schools, Polk County athletic teams don't have to leave their county to fill their athletic schedules. Starting next school year, the Polk County junior varsity (JV) teams will not be allowed to travel outside the county.

Her junior varsity teams are not able to fill their schedules with opponents, Quarles said. Frostproof High school may bring their varsity team here to play soccer, but they won't bring the junior varsity team.

"So our JV schedule has been cut in most sports," she said.

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