Diesel prices across Texas are running about $2.10 higher per gallon than this time last year, and school districts are feeling it where it hurts: the transportation budget. Down in San Antonio, North East ISD is spending $30,000 to $50,000 a week fueling its 205 buses, and it has already used more than half its transportation budget with over half the school year still ahead. Northside ISD locked in diesel at $4.46 a gallon through a statewide co-op and still expects to exceed its fuel budget by $1 million.

Districts are responding with practical changes. Austin ISD eliminated neighborhood bus routes for high schoolers and set up student walk-to bus hubs. San Antonio-area districts are cutting bus idling, including band programs waiting with the AC running. Fuel hedging and co-op rates help, but as Northside’s numbers show, they don’t make a district immune to a price spike this steep.

The ripple effects matter here in Ellis County, where growth debates and school budgets already compete for attention. When fuel eats a bigger share of transportation money, districts face hard choices between routes, programs, and classrooms, and taxpayers ultimately foot the bill. Have your local district’s bus routes or schedules changed this year? Tell us what you’re seeing.