Two months into the school

year, with complaints about school bus service reduced to a trickle, the

Fayette County Board of Education may be ready to consider changes to

the district's transportation policy next week.

A called meeting scheduled

Monday night will include a short business session, and then a workshop

to address the recommendations made last month by a citizens task force

formed in August specifically to find solutions to the issue.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, task

force chairman Fred Phillips of the district's purchasing department

highlighted the ideas proposed to appease parents angry that bus service

was either no longer provided because they live within a half mile of

a school, or because buses no longer go into subdivisions but instead

pick up kids at a common stop at entrances on "trunk" routes.

The changes, made last spring

to make up for about $1 million in transportation funding cuts from the

state, were not known about until the last few days before classes resumed

Aug. 11.

Phillips told board members

in September that the 10-member panel, all volunteers for the task, focused

on what the law allows versus what the county policy provides and came

up with a dozen or so "ideas" for dealing with specific problems

- everything from "make no change" to "raise the millage

rate."

Board member Janet Smola felt

uneasy making policy change without knowing which solutions the committee

felt strongest about, and since September the task force has prioritized

its recommendations, said Superintendent John DeCotis.

Among the most likely adjustments

will be to allow buses to enter subdivision entrances for one pick-up,

then turn around - a move that adds five minutes to the trip for

each stop but doesn't require more expense for personnel or buses.

Another possibility is reducing

the "walk zone" distance within which service is not provided

to elementary and middle school students from .5 mile to .3 mile, as it

was previously. Buses would still make just one stop inside each neighborhood,

but the cost of restoring routes with additional buses and drivers may

be impossible this year.

DeCotis said the transportation

department has reconciled most all the early complaints, on a case-by-case

basis, and they have slowed to a manageable rate in recent weeks.

"We're hoping that

people are being satisfied with the changes we've already made,"

he said.

In another effort to save money,

the board will hear district personnel present their own version of an

energy management plan that could shave millions off the current budget

just by turning off the lights.

An energy consultant offered

his company's services to the school district back in July, volunteering

to set up and manage an education program that would be paid for with

a percentage of the money it saved, estimated at $5 million annually.

The school board declined that

offer, but felt Fayette County facilities managers could do just as well

coming up with a way to save money. It's a win-win, DeCotis said.

"We talked about it and

talked about studying it and decided just to do it," said DeCotis.

"That way, if we save money, great, but if we don't save that

much we're not out anything.

"With all the cuts coming

from the state, we're trying to save anywhere we can," he said.

Facilities Services Director

Mike Satterfield and Construction Projects Manager Klaus Darnell crafted

the plan to be presented Monday.

And yes, it includes things

as simple as "turning off the lights," said DeCotis, "but

there are more complicated things too, ways we clearly can save money."

Among them is asking custodians

at the high schools to come back on Saturday morning to clean stadiums

after football games, rather than staying up half the night burning the

stadium lights.

The board meets at 7 p.m. Monday

at 210 West Stonewall Avenue (Ga. Highway 54) in Fayetteville.