Some Spokane County school districts still battle with high diesel prices for its buses

Spokane County, Wash. — In Spokane County, some school districts are having to strategize when they purchase diesel for their bus fleets.

At Freeman School District, they have an on-site diesel pump and storage tank located at their Transportation Department, that can hold up to 8,500 gallons. The storage tank has been there for about 13 years, but the recent spike in diesel prices has made the district more strategic about when they fill it up.

“If the price is high, we can just get the fuel to get by. If it drops, then we can fill up the tank. And so we can kind of play with the market that way,” said Everett Combs, the Freeman School District’s transportation director.

Currently, Freeman’s tank is about halfway full and will last the district approximately two months with 13 buses to fuel.

“We were kind of hoping that the prices would go down after the school year started. But it’s gone up. So we’re actually running on diesel that is lower priced than what it is now, because we’re able to run off of this tank,” he said.

According to AAA, the average price for diesel in Spokane County sits at $6.95 a gallon.

The Cheney School District says they have had to pull more money from its budget to help cover added costs from the high diesel prices. The district operates 70 buses and constantly monitors fuel markets on a daily basis.

In the case of Spokane Public Schools, they have recently purchased 149 new buses ahead of this school year. The district says they currently have a set rate for diesel through their bus contractor, Zum. However, once that contract expires next school year, the district will have to pay for its diesel directly.