By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

Rising oil prices are surely affecting Maine schools, with bus fleets that need gas and large buildings that need heat.

But how large is the impact on tight budgets? And exactly what are schools doing about it?

The state plans to find out.

The Maine Department of Education has asked all school systems to complete a detailed, 17-page survey on their budgets and fuel consumption. If they’ve tried to cut costs by trimming field trips or asking kids to walk more, the state wants to know.

Until now, the Department of Education has had only limited information on how school systems are dealing with high fuel prices. Most of it came from individual school officials who happened to talk about it.

“The problem with some of that is trying to get an accurate handle on what’s going on,” said Jim Rier, policy director for the department.

A legislative committee last week asked the department to learn more and keep lawmakers apprised.

Fuel accounts for 2.3 percent of all state and local education expenditures in Maine, Rier said. But gasoline, diesel and heating oil expenses vary from place to place.

Some school systems have to pay market value, or close to it. Some get a small volume discount from supplier. Others signed contracts earlier this year, locking in a great price when fuel was cheaper.

Those contracts offer no guarantee, though. Many have catastrophe clauses, allowing the dealer to raise the price in the event of a Hurricane Katrina-like disaster.

The department hopes to find out how many schools may blow their fuel budgets and how many already have. The department has not made plans to ask the Legislature for extra money or to give schools more transportation aid based on the survey results, Rier said.

Despite that, school officials seem eager to share the woe. Thirty responded to the survey the first day it was out.

The response deadline is Oct. 21. Rier hopes to have the results calculated by December or January.

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