Oil prices a concern for Peabody schools

PEABODY-With the season?s record snowfalls and below-freezing temperatures, School Business Manager Mike Musto is feeling anything but cold. What?s his trick? The heat from the school?s depleting budget.?We really are doing OK,” said Musto. “I?m not panicking just yet.”The school?s initial budget of $56, 638,441 has already taken several hits thanks to Mother Nature and the rising costs of fuel.?Every time it snows, I?ve got to call custodians in early to shovel and get the schools ready for kids. That?s all overtime,” said Musto. “The same goes with snow plowing. The maintenance department is working all day and night. They run on our overtime budget.”Skyrocketing gas and oil prices are also of concern for Musto.?We?ve had a really cold December and a really cold January. When it?s cold, we use more heat,” he said. “We just didn?t budget enough. Nobody anticipated the cost to be this high.”Musto said it?s still too early to tell how everything will pan out, but he expects the utility bills from December and January to be quite high.?I won?t say we?ve spent everything, because I just don?t know yet,” he said, adding he expects to have a better understanding of where the budget stands in February, after bills have been paid.Transportation fees have also had a negative effect on the budget.The fees, implemented for the first time in Peabody, were expected to bring in revenue of $300,000, at a rate of $100 per child riding the bus. So far, only $170,000 has been paid, leaving Musto and his staff in a bit of a bind.?We just haven?t collected what we anticipated,” said Musto. “We?re making a wholehearted effort to try and collect the balances that people owe.”Musto said that families were given the option to participate in a quarterly payment plan of $25 to be paid throughout the school year. He said that a large number of families have still only made their first payment.?It appears that we?re going to have to come up with another bus pass,” said Musto, discussing possible motives to get the fees paid. “Those who are caught up will get a pass, but those that aren?t caught up won?t and will have trouble getting on the bus.”Such a plan would have to be approved by the School Committee, but the idea is being tossed around. Musto said that if it is approved, new bus passes could be distributed as early as the end of February.In the event that the weather continues in its costly ways and transportation fees are not paid in full, Musto said the district might need to put a freeze on spending and look at other areas for revenue, such as renting out school facilities. Donations are always welcome, he quipped.?This is where we are. These are the possibilities that could happen,” he said. “This (report) is just so (the Committee) is aware, so if something needs to be done, we can start thinking about what to do to correct the problem.”