As price of diesel climbs, schools may have to reallocate money to keep buses on the road

Rising fuel costs will impact how school systems allot some of their budgets, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction said Wednesday. 

AAA says the average price in North Carolina for a gallon of diesel like that used to fuel school buses has topped $4.80. That's slightly above the national average and is up nearly a dollar compared to a week ago.

School districts are planning for the possibility of more pricing instability as conflict in the Middle East continues. 

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"We all know with the recent world events and if you put fuel in your car recently, you know what has happened to fuel prices," said Chief of Facilities and Operations for Wake County Public Schools Mark Strickland during a committee meeting Tuesday. "We are mindful of what's going on with the price." 

Strickland said the district has enough fuel to last through the end of April, but that adjustments may need to happen ahead of future purchases. 

"At the [Board of Education] meeting next week, there will be a number of strategic realignment items as far as taking funding from areas where we think we'll be good for the rest of the year, and we're taking that funding and going to utilize it to purchase fuel for the end of the school year, to get us through the end of the school year," Strickland said.

He mentioned that money could come from dollars used for Special Education transportation, as officials "feel good" about current funding levels for that program. A school system spokesperson did not immediately respond to our request for more information about the potential realignment. 

A district spokesperson did note that the school system buys fuel in bulk. Costs are expected to rise as future bids go out for future bulk fuel purchases. 

Strickland hinted at potential conversations between the NC DPI and state lawmakers over possible fixes for the pricing surge.

"DPI staff are monitoring fuel pricing on the State Term Contract for diesel fuel and are keeping leadership informed as the situation changes," a DPI spokesperson said in a statement to WRAL on Wednesday. "There is a great deal of market uncertainty presently and over the past week which makes any speculation on the impact over the rest of the school year unwise."

In 2022, DPI asked the North Carolina General Assembly to provide at tens of millions of dollars for a school bus fuel reserve to help pay for rising diesel costs.

The state budget at the time provided schools with $2.30 per gallon toward fuel costs.