School buses line up to drop off students at the Allen Brook School in Williston in September 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger With diesel prices hitting record highs, Vermont school districts are taking on unexpected costs to bus students to school. The spike is forcing districts to c onsider cutting other spending or tapping their reserves. Champlain Valley School District expects to spend $200,000 over its budget on diesel fuel if prices remain at current levels, according to Meghan Metzler, chair of the district’s school board.  The district is spending about $40,000 a month on diesel, she said, up 60% from what it spent on average last year.  Champlain Valley owns and operates about 60 buses, meaning district officials are immediately confronting the increased costs. Districts that outsource their busing anticipate added costs in the future, but haven’t yet felt the effects.  Lamoille North Supervisory Union faces that added layer of uncertainty. It contracts with a local transportation agency to run 11 buses. The supervisory union enrolls about 1,600 kids from Belvidere, Cambridge, Eden, Hyde Park, Johnson and Waterville.  In its busing contract, the supervisory union pays a set price for fuel, plus a surcharge if fuel rises above $4.33 a gallon, according to Deborah Clark, the supervisory union’s business manager. Costs have clearly surpassed that amount, Clark noted.  “It’s too early in the year to see how big of an impact this is going to be,” Clark said.  If the price of diesel holds steady throughout the school year, the district would be looking at spending an extra $41,000 to $42,000 in fuel costs, Clark said. Any unbudgeted costs will be difficult for the supervisory union to manage, and it’s going to have to adjust other spending accordingly, she said.  “Where those shifts will come from? We don’t know yet,” Clark said.   Retail diesel prices have remained steadily high since hitting a national record of $6.53 per gallon late last month. Districts often pay a lower price for diesel than what’s at the pump, but they’re still seeing unusually costly fuel. The increase is driven by the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and by Ukraine’s attacks against Russian oil refineries, which have made less diesel available on the global market.  “Diesel fuel is only one of many costs that have gone up,” Champlain Valley’s Metzler said, citing healthcare and food prices as well. The district enrolls about 3,600 kids from Charlotte, Hinesburg, St. George, Shelburne and Williston.  District administrators are closely tracking the district’s finances and could decide to freeze spending later on, Metzler said. The district also has reserve funds, where it has set aside money that went unspent in previous budget years, she added.  “It is something that we could go into if we need to, but obviously we prefer not to,” she said.  Meanwhile, Otter Valley School District — which has about 1,100 students from Brandon, Goshen, Leicester, Pittsford, Sudbury and Whiting — is in an unusually fortunate position.  The district operates about 30 of its own buses and has its own diesel storage tanks, according to Laurie Bertrand, the district’s school board chair. At the end of the previous fiscal year, the district used some extra funds to buy up diesel before the price skyrocketed, she said.  Since buying diesel months ago, the district hasn’t needed to refill its supply, meaning it’s been able to stay sheltered from rising fuel costs, according to Bertrand. But when it does have to buy again, it expects to pay 50%-75% more than it budgeted, she said.  “If the price remains that high, we’re going to have to look at other places to cut in order to not go over budget overall,” Bertrand said.  President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday that aims to lower costs by suspending federal enforcement of taxes for the on-road use of red-dyed diesel, which is usually reserved for agriculture and construction. However, Vermont fuel taxes still apply to the use of red-dyed diesel for most vehicles on public roads. The federal order doesn’t change states’ laws, only encourages them to follow suit.  Amanda Wheeler, Gov. Phil Scott’s press secretary, said in an email Tuesday that the governor was working to understand the recent order.  “The Governor is always looking for ways to lower costs for Vermonters, but we will want to understand what the change means, as well as any unintended consequences, to make sure the good outweighs the bad,” Wheeler said. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont school districts scramble to cover the increased cost of diesel. ...read more read less