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Gas prices affecting teachers, students, parents
Comment: Are you changing your back to school habits due to high gas costs?
> More from our continuing series on the economy
Thursday, August 21, 2008
DAYTON — Karen Gaddis used to love back-to-school shopping with her twin granddaughters. But with gas prices hovering around $4, driving from one store to another to find bargains is no longer an option.
"Now I can't afford to drive to different stores looking for bargains," said Gaddis, 47.
The high cost of gasoline is an even larger scale issue for schools around the Miami Valley.
The cost of busing students back and forth has doubled in the past two years, said Kettering City Schools Superintendent Robert Mengerink.
"There's no cure for the problem," Mengerink said. "We just have to pay the additional dollars as we are getting no state assistance."
In fact, within the past year, two of Mengerink's staff members resigned due to increasing driving expenses.
"It's not just because of the rising cost of gas, the construction on I-75 has also increased drive time," Mengerink said.
Centerville City School's board has authorized a comprehensive study to find ways of dealing with rising costs, according to Superintendent Gary Smiga.
"For extracurricular activities we are looking at sending multiple teams on fewer buses," Smiga said. "So some students may have to leave earlier and get back later."
Smiga said safety is a concern for the district as some students will have to walk further to a bus stop and some students will be picked up or dropped off when it is dark outside.
"For a good portion of the school year students will be commuting during hours when it's dark," Smiga said.
Dayton schools have had to reduce field trips, according to Patricia Lynch, president of the Dayton Education Association, which is made up of Dayton public schools employees.
"Gas prices have certainly impacted the school budget as more money has been appropriated to fuel," Lynch said.
Lynch added that costs haven't been easier for teachers either with some driving from Middletown, Springfield, Greeneville and even Cincinnati to work in Dayton. Many have applied for transfers to schools closer to their homes, she said.
Comments
By here's a joke.. im broke!! haha; nahh never thatt
December 16, 2008 11:18 AM | Link to this
you guys are gay
By Jeff
August 25, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this
I don’t know if it would be a good idea to make teachers adhere to residency restrictions. That would make it nearly impossible to get teachers to come to the city to teach which would make the situation even worse.
By The PC Idiot
August 25, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
Skype has computer code, therefore makes it vulnerable to attack. And you’ll “never” get one? You must be amazing.
When did you take this poll to discover why the majority of us drive trucks? I missed it. What percentage of the population did you poll to get that scientific result? I wish I could have participated, b/c you seem to be an amazing individual. (amazingly full of yourself)
By Dayton Resident
August 25, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this
Carpooling is going to help us out since we can’t get bus service in the City. Also, I just have to refer to the comment about the Dayton Public Teachers looking to transfer to towns closer to their homes — they can solve their problems by making teachers adhere to residency requirements just like the city workers do. Hmmm … wonder how they’d like THAT?
By Frank
August 25, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this
Skype runs on standalone telephones not just PCs. Making it pretty tough to “infest”. And unlike many of the people on these boards I am actually computer literate, I have never had (and never will) have spyware or any other type of malware on my PC.
And I stand by my comment, the majority of people who drive huge trucks, do so just for the fact that they feel cool driving around their huge truck. And yes, they deserve to go broke from it.
By John
August 25, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
johnisdumb nice comment shows your intelligence!!
I have five great kids that I have adopted and will give my life for, your right I made my bed and I am very happy adn willing to lie in it and sleep very well at night with my decisions. Unlike you that has a very lonely life and probably don’t have joys in your life like we have. I will continue to pay for gas at a higher price because it’s what makes me happy!
By Bunglelow
August 25, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
We are foregoing school at our house this year. An education is getting to expensive and we’re tired of paying those high teachers salaries. Anyway, an education is way overrated when you consider we’ll all be working for the Indians and Chinese in a few years.
By Frank Is an Idiot
August 25, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
Frank, how do you know what we deserve? Because we don’t think like you or have the same needs, we should go broke? Okay, you deserve to get spyware and a virus using that skype garbage. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits.
By johnisdumb
August 25, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
Hey john, Maybe you shouldn’t have five little heathens to haul around, you made your bed now lie in it lol!
By Frank
August 25, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
Got rid of cable TV, now I just use digital over the air broadcast TV and BitTorrent the cable stuff. I use Skype instead of a standard land line (comes out to about $4 a month when you pay for the year at once). No DDN subscription, just use the tubes for the news. Also I have an economical car that I bought using a GM discount at 0% so that payment is pretty small. And big trucks are pretty pointless those people deserve to go broke from high gas prices.
By john
August 25, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
I drive a big truck because I have 5 kids to move around. So yea gas prices do effect us but I don’t have a choice. How can it change .30 in a day is what doesn’t make sense!!
By Doug
August 25, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this
I personally do not think Gas prices are high. I think Gas is the best deal in town. My car gets 18 miles to the gallon in the city and I’d be willing to pay alot more than 4 dollars NOT to walk 18 miles.
By Hugh Jorgan
August 25, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this
I agree on the newspaper comment. Why would anyone wait 3 days to read something that they could read now on the internet? And wait for someone to throw it into their driveway, or in the mud in their yard, what a great system. Newspaper will be history in 20 years, when the older folks unfortunately pass on.
By Broke as a Joke
August 25, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this
The only cut I did was end my subscription to the DDN. Why pay for birdcare liner when you can read it for free on the World WIDE Web?
By Broke as a Joke
August 25, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this
The only cut I did was end my subscription to the DDN. Why pay for birdcare liner when you can read it for free on the World WIDE Web?
By You Suck
August 25, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this
No, I don’t know. What is smaller?
By trucks suck
August 25, 2008 10:09 AM | Link to this
People that buy these big trucks deserve to go broke over gas prices, they are idiots. I for one laugh at them as they complain about the price of gas, what fools, poor you. The bigger the truck the smaller the, well, you know.
By Jim
August 25, 2008 9:25 AM | Link to this
Ride the RTA than you will be willing to pay the high price for gasoline!!
By thinksyou'reanidiot
August 25, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this
Yeah, that’s why we buy big trucks. Not b/c we have big families, or run a landscaping business. Your view is completely correct, we all think just like you.
By Phil Man
August 25, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this
I’m keeping my 9 kids home this year due to high gas prices. I teach the big ones, and they teach the little ones. But since I never went to school, it makes the whole thing an exercise in futility.
By thinksahead
August 25, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
Nope. I bought a small, fuel-economic car several years ago. Even with the “high” gas prices, I still spend less than $40 a month on gas. If so many people didn’t drive alone in big SUV’s and think they needed to “compensate” for lack of ahems with big trucks they’d not have to complain about gas prices.
By Wordell
August 25, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
Yes. I’m forcing my children to walk to school, barefoot, uphill, both ways.