How school districts are coping with diesel’s high cost thanks to Trump’s war: ‘We rob Peter to pay Paul, basically’

How school districts are coping with diesel’s high cost thanks to Trump’s war: ‘We rob Peter to pay Paul, basically’ Diesel powers more than 87 percent of the buses that shuttle about 23.5 million students to school and school-related activities - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in The high cost of diesel fuel is blowing holes in school budgets across the country — forcing officials to scramble to keep their bright yellow buses on the road. Diesel powers more than 87 percent of the buses that shuttle about 23.5 million students to school and school-related activities, according to the Engine Technology Forum, an industry group. And with the national average price per gallon hovering near the record $6.53 reported Tuesday by AAA - an increase from the $3.74 a year ago in September - some administrators have consolidated routes, reducing daily trips and forcing kids to take longer rides on buses crammed with more passengers. Prices have spiked after Donald Trump launched a war against Iran, choking off the world’s oil supply and causing both regular gasoline and diesel prices to soar. “We rob Peter to pay Paul, basically,” Nick Klemisch, superintendent of the tiny Garrison Public Schools district in North Dakota, admitted. “We may have to not purchase a piece of equipment for the classroom.” A survey of 188 school officials earlier this year found that 40 percent had adopted the strategy of consolidated routes, with 27 percent cracking down on idling and 20 percent cutting back on field trips to save on fuel. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-tracking website GasBuddy, said Thursday on social media that the high cost of diesel “comes down to one thing: how hard it is right now to turn oil into diesel, and how many people around the world are fighting over getting it.” In addition to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz over President Donald Trump's war against the Islamic Republic, De Haan blamed diesel export bans by Russia and China, moves that Trump said Wednesday he was considering copying in a bid to bring down domestic prices before November's midterm elections. Here's what The Independent found about how some school districts are tackling higher prices: North Dakota Klemisch oversees the district about 65 miles northwest of Bismarck and said he's budgeted about $100,000 for diesel this school year, up from about $80,000 in 2025-26, and $65,000 in 2024-2025. Up to half of the district's 370 students get to and from school on the district's five bus routes — one of which stretches 42 miles each way — but they're already “bare bones” and can't be consolidated any further, he said. With state law limiting school tax increases to 3 percent a year, the added cost of diesel “cuts into the general fund balance,” Klemisch said. A shortage of bus drivers also regularly puts the superintendent behind the wheel, with Klemisch saying he's racked up 80 hours since classes resumed in late August. “I'm usually the lone sub,” he said. “I drive activities. When you're in rural America, you get other activities as assigned.” On Friday, Klemisch planned to take the football team to a game in Ray, North Dakota, a trip of about 130 miles. The bus was scheduled to leave around 2:30 p.m., he said, adding, "Hopefully, I'll be home by midnight. Wyoming Carbon County School District No. 1's transportation director, Scott Hannum, said he expected diesel would cost about $4.50 a gallon when he prepared his budget for this school year. But when he drove to work on Wednesday, he saw a pump price of $5.99. “It's always a guess,” he said of the budgeting process. Last year, the district's fleet of 32 buses logged about 470,000 miles ferrying about 750 students to and from its three schools in Rawlins, about 100 miles northwest of Laramie, and also taking kids on trips, Hannum said. The district has already consolidated its routes, Hannum said, adding that he didn't foresee any more changes and that the only way to cut costs would be to "cut back activity trips." “We travel hundreds of miles each way,” he said, noting that the football team recently played a game in Jackson, Wyoming. “That's 285 miles away. Wyoming's a rural state. We drive 100 miles, easy, everywhere,” said Hannum, a former Rawlins city manager. The district's business manager, Margaret Quintrall, said this year's school budget allocated $85,000 for diesel, with about one-quarter of that — $21,455 — already spent. Both Hannum and Quintrall said Wyoming's method of funding education includes the full reimbursement of fuel costs. The state education budget has “sufficient funds to cover the higher diesel prices for the current school year,” said Trent Carroll, chief operations officer of the Wyoming Department of Education. Nevada The sprawling Clark County School District, headquartered in Las Vegas, ranks No. 1 in the nation based on the distance covered by its buses, which traveled a total of 31 million miles last year, according to statistics compiled by School Bus Fleet magazine. During the 2025-2026 fiscal year, it spent $15.1 million on fuel to transport 120,000 students, up $2.4 million, or 19 percent, from 2024-2025, the district said in a prepared statement. “Our current fiscal outlook projects this upward trend in expenditure volatility to persist through the better part of the 2026-2027 school year, equating to an additional $2.9 million in fuel-related expenses,” the statement said. The district, which had an August enrollment of 270,975 students and 15,500 teachers, also said it was “working to absorb these costs through the Central Office budget,” without elaborating. The projected higher fuel costs pale in comparison, however, to the anticipated loss of $100 million in state funding due to a higher-than-expected decline in enrollment of 10,400 students that the district announced earlier this month. The district trimmed its budget by about $50 million in the spring, eliminating about 1,200 jobs, and it plans to slash another $51.6 million through cuts that will include an unspecified number of layoffs, according to a news release. Florida The mid-sized Bay District Schools in Panama City has more than 28,000 students, with about 8,000 riding buses that travel about 7,000 miles a day and more than a million miles a year, according to its 2026-2027 budget. The fleet of 40 buses also carries kids on more than 1,000 field trips around the Florida Panhandle, the district's website says, and its spending plan includes $1.8 million for 10 new buses. A spokesperson said in an email that officials initially earmarked $800,000 for diesel, the same amount as in 2025-2026. That's since been increased by about $84,000 from other, unspecified sources to offset higher fuel prices, with no plans to alter any services at this time, the spokesperson said. 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