CHARLESTON, S.C. - State Education Department officials say a funding shortage could threaten school bus service, but some lawmakers aren't convinced there's a pending crisis.

School buses could stop rolling sometime after December 2005 as money to keep the aging fleet on the road dries up, said state Education Department transportation director Don Tudor.

"It's not a threat. It just happens to be what will happen," said Tudor.

But state Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the agency "regularly speaks in terms like the world's coming to an end."

"This is the third time I've heard that if we didn't do something, the fleet would shut down," Harrell said. "This will be the third time that didn't happen."

South Carolina is the only state that owns and maintains a bus fleet for its public schools.

The cost of operating the state's fleet has climbed as old buses have become increasingly more expensive to maintain. Fuel costs have almost doubled and workers' compensation insurance has nearly tripled. Yet the General Assembly consistently has cut the fleet's share of the general fund.

Since 1995, education officials have asked lawmakers to create a 15-year bus replacement cycle. Instead, the General Assembly designated lottery profits "for the purchase of new school buses ... and the repair of existing school buses," in the 2001 law that created the South Carolina Education Lottery.

With other funds cut and costs rising, Tudor's office increasingly is relying on lottery money for repairs. Yet lottery designations are shrinking, too, causing a potential crisis for the fleet, he said.

The average school bus is now 14 years old with 170,000 miles. A new, 66-passenger bus costs about $58,000.

"There's no question we need more money for school buses ... but there's never enough money to do everything everybody wants," said Harrell, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Harrell said the Legislature will not allow the system to shut down. "We will fund what's necessary."

Tudor said his office has enough money to operate buses for the coming school year, largely because he carried over much of the $18 million in lottery money set aside for the fleet last school year.

This year, lawmakers designated the first $12 million of unclaimed lottery winnings to other departments. Tudor's office won't get any money until after that's disbursed, which he expects to be next May or June.

Tudor estimates up to $6 million will be left over.

"That's the money we'll have to carry forward to 2005-06," Tudor said. "We're going to be short unless the General Assembly finds another source, and they've got to be quick."

Gov. Mark Sanford has proposed that the state privatize school bus operations, saying it will save money and improve service.

Lawmakers have directed the state Education Department to coordinate a nine-member committee to study school bus privatization. The committee must report its findings to the General Assembly by Jan. 15. The group plans to meet for the first time next month.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.charleston.net/