Wake County school leaders have agreed to move unused funds from its special education transit to pay for yellow school bus fuel.
The decision comes as the district faces ongoing issues with a budget, an issue that has only worsened as oil prices skyrocket due to the ongoing war in Iran.
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The district says it believes it has enough fuel to last through the end of April, but it’ll need more fuel for May and for a good portion of June — and at a price closer to what the district has budgeted for.
Schools typically pay a much lower price per gallon than consumers at the gas pump because they buy it in bulk in advance. When prices go up, the bulk purchase process tends to benefit rural districts more than populous ones like Wake, according to the state Department of Public Instruction, because they have to buy a minimum amount that tends to last them longer.
"We are trying to position ourselves to aggregate our funds so that when we do need to purchase fuel, it can be a nimble process, and we will be ready to purchase it," said Mark Stickland, Chief of Facilities and Operations.
However, school districts also negotiate their own prices with different sellers, which means prices per gallon vary across the state, according to DPI.
During the week of March 10, sellers of diesel to state on-road vehicles offered prices of about $3.65 per gallon for tanks of 6,000 gallons or more. That’s a steep increase from the week before, when prices were about $2.70 per gallon. In mid-January, the per-gallon price was about $2.35 per gallon.
The district currently goes through around 9,500 gallons of gas per day. And to meet that need, they are looking to purchase between 330,000 and 350,000 gallons of fuel to last until June.
Costs have risen sharply since the Trump administration launched a military operation in Iran late last month. Importing oil to the United States has become more challenging because of restrictions on transport in the region.
That has a trickle-down effect to everyday consumers, not just in terms of what they pay at the pump, but also in terms of how much goods now cost to ship from one place to another.
North Carolina schools will feel the impact of this because of the cost increases in fuel.
Strickland says with the ongoing war in Iran, the district has to be prepared.
"Keep in mind throughout this entire process as we look at the volatility of the fuel market we will be coming back and making additional adjustments to those purchase order amendments to get us through the end of the year," Strickland said.
In Wake County, leaders believe they have enough leftover money from special education transportation costs — money they don’t expect to spend — to pay for the higher fuel prices for yellow school buses.
Wake County school leaders said this change would not impact any students or programs.
"Those are two separate funding sources," Strickland said. "The funding that we are talking about involving the fuel is state funds. And it also funds our special ed transportation vendors."