JACKSON — The proposed 2011-12 transportation budget for the Jackson School District is expected to total $3.7 million, a decrease of $226,318 from the current school year.
The district’s transportation budget was the subject of discussion at a recent Board of Education meeting. The board is reviewing the budgets of various departments as it develops a spending plan for 2011-12. Residents will vote on the school budget in April.
Transportation administrator Al Olkowitz said there are 10,150 students transported on a daily basis; 9,445 students attend public schools, 635 students attend nonpublic schools, and 70 students have special needs.
Those figures cover transportation to 61 schools in four counties, 113 district school buses and vans to take students to and from school, and 31 private contractor school vehicles.
More than 300 students walk to the Rosenauer and Johnson elementary schools and to Jackson Memorial High School.
Olkowitz said the district has 223 additional vehicles that are used as support vehicles to maintain the school properties or are used for security or other services. Some of those vehicles could be sold as surplus if they are not all needed, he said.
“Last year our school vehicles traveled more than 2.4 million miles and used more than 350,000 gallons of fuel,” Olkowitz said. ”We average more than 13,000 miles a day. The total mileage for the entire districtowned fleet was 2.75 million, using 380,000 gallons of fuel.”
In transportation terms, there are three types of students — public school students who attend Jackson schools; nonpublic school students who attend private or notfor profit schools and parochial schools; and special-needs students who attend a public or private special-needs school, the administrator said.
Olkowitz said there are two types of transportation services — district-run bus service (vehicles owned by the district and operated by district employees), and service provided through a contract with a private contractor or a joint venture with other school districts.
He said the Ocean County Department of Education Pupil Transportation Office has rated school districts according to transportation efficiency standards.
Figures are based on the number of miles traveled and the time it takes to complete a route. Jackson was ranked No. 8 out of 19 school districts with an efficiency rating of 2.05. Pinelands Regional was the No. 1 rated district and Point Pleasant Beach was the No. 19 rated district.
Examining the 2011-12 proposed costs for transportation, the cost for commission fees is expected to be $38,654, a decrease of $23 from the current year; other purchased professional services, $28,592, an increase of $3,330 from the current year; cleaning, repair and maintenance, $120,920, a decrease of $369 from the current year; lease purchase agreements, $589,742, a decrease of $779 from the current year.
Other line items for transportation include aid in lieu of transportation payments, $109,616, an increase of $28,042; contracted services home to school, $174,738, a decrease of $427; extracurricular contracted services, $7,000, a decrease of $3,000; contracted services jointure agreements, $7,072, a decrease of $283; contracted services, regular education, $18,626, a decrease of $12,825; and contracted services, special education, $754,463, a decrease of $441,367.
Other budgeted transportation items include miscellaneous purchased services, $103,387, an increase of $8,088; supplies and materials, $9,900, an increase of $1,800; miscellaneous expenditures, $6,400, same amount as 2010-11; and noninstructional equipment, $17,500, a decrease of $1,300.
These figures bring the total proposed transportation budget for 2011-12 to $3.7 million, a decrease of $226,318 from the current school year.
All of the figures that were presented to the board by Olkowitz are tentative as the board members continue to develop a budget for 2011-12. The budget will be presented to the public in March, and residents will have an opportunity to vote on the spending plan in the April school election.