Faced with stubbornly high fuel prices as the Iran war continues, school districts are moving money around in their budgets to ensure they can keep buses gassed up and running through the end of the school year, according to a new survey.
They’re also making plans for what services they might have to cut or reduce next school year to offset fuel costs should the international conflict continue.
The survey—administered in May by AASA, The School Superintendents Association, along with the Association of School Business Officials International, and the National Association for Pupil Transportation—took the pulse of school district leaders on the impact of rising fuel costs. It found that many districts, so far, have pulled money from reserves or deferred maintenance rather than cut into core instructional programs and staffing. Districts have also focused on strategies such as combining or reducing bus routes and deferring facility maintenance.
Looking ahead, districts are incorporating fuel cost variability into their planning for the upcoming school year, including through contingency considerations (like pulling from reserves) and contract adjustments with vendors who supply fuels, the survey of nearly 200 district leaders found.
Below are some key takeaways from the survey, in which 188 district leaders participated.
The vast majority of the nation’s fleet of 500,000 school buses run on diesel fuel. Nearly two-thirds of school districts also use gas that’s similarly subject to energy market volatility for their HVAC systems, federal data show.
The majority of district leaders who responded to the survey said their fuel costs are at least a bit over budget this year. About 14% of districts said their fuel costs are more than 20% higher than their final budget allocations for the 2025-26 school year. Another 42% said their fuel expenses are 6-20% over budget.
Districts are taking measured steps to mitigate the effects of increased fuel costs. Two in 5 respondents reported adjusting or consolidating bus routes in response, and another 25% reported reducing the overall number of routes their districts run.
More than half of respondents said they haven’t yet had to make budget cuts in other areas because of rising fuel costs, and another 17% have avoided cutting costs by using their reserves or “rainy day” funds. The strain on budgets could play out if fuel prices remain elevated, district leaders told Education Week.
Less than 5% of respondents indicated they’ve taken the following steps: reducing instructional staff, increasing class sizes, delaying instructional improvement initiatives, cutting extracurricular programs, and cutting spending on instructional materials.
While the summer offers districts a reprieve from the usual volume of daily bus runs, district leaders anticipate budget cuts if increased fuel prices continue into the fall. Some plan to rely on reserves to avoid cuts, while others would eye reductions in extracurriculars, facilities and maintenance projects, and noninstructional staffing, among others.
Districts’ ability to weather these costs varies dramatically depending on their capacity to raise local taxes, and the amount of support they get from state funding. School districts that transport K-12 students across long distances in rural areas also face disproportionate budget strain when fuel costs rise precipitously.
About two-thirds of respondents said their states don’t provide dedicated transportation funding that adjusts to rising fuel costs, making it more difficult to manage a volatile market.
