Complete Coverage

Hurricane Adds to Concern Over Rising Fuel Costs

School districts already struggling to meet the high costs of fuel are bracing for a rising tide of red ink in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the yet-untold damage it dealt to oil production along the Gulf of Mexico.

Overnight, fears of $3-per-gallon fuel for school buses has given way to nightmares of having to pay closer to $6 per gallon—as some communities have already seen—if the nation’s fuel supply is severely damaged for a long period of time.

Even worse, the Baldwin County, Ala., school district extended its storm-related closure for at least one day on Sept. 1 because there was no gasoline available for parents or school personnel to...