As the gas meter began to approach the $50 mark, I groused about having to make the hour’s drive to a family function yesterday. With the cost of fuel averaging just above $4 a gallon in the Washington Metro area, the spike in gas prices has hit my pocketbook and altered my driving habits. I couldn’t help but wonder how school districts -- responsible for transporting millions of students each day -- are faring.

Let’s take a look.

In the Seattle area, where diesel fuel is currently at about $5 a gallon, school districts tried to offset the increase by allocating more money to transportation costs. The Auburn and the Northshore school districts both funneled about a quarter of a million dollars extra into their fuel budget midway through the year. But it wasn’t enough.

Northshore had to nix eight routes last year and has plans to pare down after-school and extracurricular activity routes. Meanwhile, Auburn is making students walk farther in tandem with creating safer walking routes.

In Colorado, Boulder Valley School District officials instituted cost saving measures like idle-reduction methods at bus stops and schools, and they have combed through all of its routes to make sure buses are running as efficiently as possible. The district has also discussed making families pay for transportation services and eliminating some service, but hasn’t made any moves in either direction … yet.

“We anticipated some of this, and because of previous planning we’re not hurting yet,” Bob Young, the district’s transportation director, told the Daily Camera. “The real question is, ‘Where’s it gonna go?’”

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor