Record diesel prices strain North Texas school bus budgets, with Allen ISD eyeing a $1 million fuel bill

School districts around North Texas say record diesel prices are eating into transportation budgets, with one Collin County district now warning its fuel bill could top $1 million this year, KERA News reported Wednesday.

Allen ISD buys fuel in bulk for its buses, a cost administrators said has usually been steady. In February, the district's projected fuel spending for the year jumped from an expected $400,000 to $500,000 to $650,000, according to Kyle Penn, Allen ISD's assistant superintendent for business and technology. He said that was the sharpest increase the district has seen, about equal to four teachers' salaries.

"I think this year exceeding a million dollars in fuel is definitely not out of the realm," Penn told KERA.

He said bulk prices rose about $1 a gallon for unleaded fuel and nearly $2 a gallon for diesel, and the district is looking for a supplier willing to lock in a fixed price for a longer term, though that would leave it paying more if prices fall.

Denton County districts

In Denton County, Denton ISD runs 209 buses on weekday routes, eight of them on diesel and the rest on propane, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported in late September.

Nick Petito, the district's chief communications and marketing officer, told the paper the district was paying about $1.10 a gallon for propane, $5.30 for diesel and $3.45 for unleaded gasoline, and buys propane in bulk when prices dip, with the vendor storing it until needed.

Petito said higher fuel costs will require a larger fuel allocation in the 2027-28 budget, "leaving less funding available for vehicle replacement, repairs, equipment and other transportation priorities." He added that a federal alternative fuel excise tax credit the district had received expired at the end of 2024 and has not been renewed.

Ponder ISD, whose 21 buses all run on diesel, has already spent a large share of its transportation budget, Superintendent James Hill told the Record-Chronicle. "Fuel costs are more than double what we paid last year," he said. The district has changed some travel policies for staff vehicles to save money.

Prices

Diesel in Texas hit an all-time high of $5.97 a gallon on Sept. 19, according to AAA figures cited by KERA, compared with about $3.14 a year earlier. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster over fuel costs on Sept. 28, a step that temporarily expanded the use of dyed diesel on Texas roads, the Record-Chronicle reported.

Sources

kera.org

Denton Record-Chronicle