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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
 Posted - 07/28/2004 : 07:59:21 AM
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Jul 27 2004
The Post and Courier
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - State Education Department officials say a funding shortage could threaten school bus service, but some lawmakers aren't convinced there's a pending crisis.
School buses could stop rolling sometime after December 2005 as money to keep the aging fleet on the road dries up, said state Education Department transportation director Don Tudor.
"It's not a threat. It just happens to be what will happen," said Tudor.
But state Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the agency "regularly speaks in terms like the world's coming to an end."
"This is the third time I've heard that if we didn't do something, the fleet would shut down," Harrell said. "This will be the third time that didn't happen."
South Carolina is the only state that owns and maintains a bus fleet for its public schools.
The cost of operating the state's fleet has climbed as old buses have become increasingly more expensive to maintain. Fuel costs have almost doubled and workers' compensation insurance has nearly tripled. Yet the General Assembly consistently has cut the fleet's share of the general fund.
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Lawmaker denies school bus crisis
