Education officials are again seeking a school bus fare increase after a similar proposal to more than double fees died before the state Board of Education two months ago.

At a meeting of the BOE's Administrative Services Committee yesterday afternoon, public school officials requested that bus fares be increased from 35 cents to 75 cents for a one-way trip. For annual bus riders, that means the cost to ride the bus would increase from $119.60 to $225.

The proposal would need the approval of the full Board of Education. The next full board meeting is Nov. 19.

The fare increase proposal comes at a time when the state Department of Education agreed to 17 days of furloughs for public school teachers in order to address some $227 million in budget cuts.

Education officials say the state can no longer afford to subsidize bus transportation at the level it has for years.

"Every dollar you pay to subsidize the student transportation is a dollar you don't spend in the classroom," said Randy Moore, assistant superintendent for school facilities and support services.

The DOE covers more than 90 percent of the cost of operating the school bus system, which serves roughly 40,000 pupils, or about one-fourth of public school students. Of the approximately $48 million it takes to run school buses throughout the state, the DOE only collects about $3 million in revenues.

Increasing bus fares should result in an additional $3 million a year, Moore said.

Meanwhile, the DOE is also seeking support from board members to increase the "walk distance" from a mile to 1 1/2 miles for middle and high school students. By doing so, it would require students to live farther from school before they are eligible to ride a bus.

"You'll have fewer riders, and you'll need fewer buses," Moore said.