Gas tab shrinks school outings

MIDVALE — Hurricane Katrina didn't come anywhere near Nephi, Utah, but the students of the Juab School District, like those in other Utah districts, are feeling its economic impacts nonetheless.

Rising gas prices, which are due in part to damage to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast, have forced officials in several school districts to make changes in the number and types of activities students are allowed to participate in because they just don't have enough money to pay for fuel.

"This is not just about athletics," said Richard Durbin, a Juab District principal, who pointed out his FFA Club was unable to travel to the Utah State Fair, under way this week in Salt Lake City, and an elementary school class was unable to travel to the zoo for a field trip. He has also canceled a December trip for the girls basketball team and a spring trip to a tournament in Mesquite, Nev., for the baseball team.

The current price of gasoline is $1 more than the price used in budget meetings just three months ago, said Kirk Wright, superintendent of the Juab School District.

"We may have to make some adjustments in the number of kids we're sending and where," Wright said. "It's a matter of making some adjustments. . . . We're dealing with unusual times."

In a lengthy discussion by the Utah High School Activities Association's Executive Committee Wednesday, several districts expressed concern and noted that some had already taken action to deal with the escalating costs.

Juab is one of those districts. Based on the increased cost of gasoline, Wright said, his district has imposed some travel restrictions. They include:

• limiting the travel of sports teams to 170 miles each way.

• limiting field trips to a radius of 50 miles.

• limiting the number of buses that travel to each activity.

The discussion brought out several solutions that just a few months ago would have seemed absurd.

Logan District's superintendent and high school principal suggested that the Board of Trustees consider re-aligning the state's high school regions again for next year in regions that are organized by locations rather than classification. The state re-aligned all of its regions just last spring.

If the regions were made up of 10 teams each, the letter said, maybe it would eliminate most of the need for preseason travel. Then officials could seed teams for the state tournament according to classification.