Scores of residents and school district staffers have offered budget cutting ideas to the Pinellas school district in recent weeks. Why not one of the candidates for School Board? Steven Isbitts, who is running for the District 4 seat, today announced a proposal to save $400,000 a year by not running the air conditioning on school buses in the mornings. The only caveats: air conditioners would be on when morning temperatures topped 80 degrees, and buses carrying special needs students would be exempted.

Isbitts, a former journalist, bases his math on an interview with Len Krysko, an official in the district’s transportation department. His news release contains several calculations. He estimates district buses could reduce the number of air conditioned miles by 5-million a year and that non-air conditioned miles would be 15 percent more fuel efficient. He bases the calculation on the district’s last fuel purchase, which came to about $4.17 a gallon.

He also suggests an incentive plan to get more bus drivers thinking about fuel efficiency. The other District 4 candidates are Chris Hardman, Ken Peluso and Robin Wikle.