Cyndi Loza

A Washoe County School District committee is looking at changing school schedules and bus routes to absorb the skyrocketing price of gas, superintendent for operations Ken Grein said Wednesday.

The School Bell Committee will revisit the efficiency of the bus system and re-evaluate public sentiment on schedules to save on fuel, Grein said.

The panel, which began meeting in April, seeks comment about schedules from parent organizations and educators but hasn’t been given a deadline for recommendations, Grein said.

“(But) the sooner the better so we can start moving forward,” Grein said. “The parents, the schools and the (fuel) cost are all issues that we have to consider.”

The committee was organized two years ago “with the intent of saving operating dollars in transportation,” district spokesman Steve Mulvenon said. As a result, schedules were adjusted and bus routes consolidated or eliminated, he said.

The process made many parents unhappy, said Tamala Green, Parent-Teacher Organization president at Towles Elementary School. She said bell schedules could hinder parents and students in after-school activities.

“What if you have elementary school kids going later to school?” said Green. “What do you do with them in the morning?”

“I think they need to think outside the box,” Green said. “They have to stop thinking about it as just school buses but as city transit.”

Todd Duncan, district fleet operations manager, said the transportation department is trying to find ways to reduce the idle time of all school buses by at least 15 minutes or less.

The district has 300 buses that run on diesel fuel. The fuel budget increased 20 percent from about $2.3 million in 2007-08 to $2.8 million in 2008-09.