AUBURN – When Jude Cyr started planning Auburn’s school bus budget for next year, suppliers told him he’d probably pay 93 cents a gallon for fuel.

That was in January.

It was too early in the budget process to lock in a price then. He hates to think about the cost today.

“Now is not the time to buy fuel,” said Cyr, business manager for the Auburn School Department, which runs 24 buses about 33,000 miles a year.

As gas prices continue to rise across the state, so does the sense of dread among school officials. As they look to lock in prices for next year, they’re finding costs up to 20 percent higher than expected. And growing crude-oil prices, which recently hit a 13-year high, don’t provide much hope for relief.

Officials say diesel, gas and heating oil are as essential as teachers and books. “If you don’t have adequate heat in a facility, you can’t have school,” Cyr said.

But schools have little extra cash to pay for the rising costs.

Unlike other consumers, who are paying $2 a gallon for gas at the pumps, many Maine school systems haven’t felt the pinch of price hikes just yet.

They locked in a price with suppliers last summer and have been paying $1 a gallon or less for fuel and oil. Prices were low because schools ordered thousands of gallons at a time, signed a yearlong contract and didn’t have to pay state or federal taxes.

But those same school systems now must plan for the next school year. Many already have set their budgets based on estimates they received from oil suppliers over the winter.

Those estimates have turned out to be too low this year. So, then, have school budgets.

Auburn budgeted 93 cents a gallon for diesel fuel. SAD 58, which serves the Strong area, planned to spend about $1.10 a gallon. SAD 17, which serves eight sprawling Oxford Hills towns, also budgeted $1.10 a gallon.

It would have cost about $1.17 to have diesel delivered without a contract Wednesday, according to Irving Oil. It’s a difference that could mean thousands of dollars for some.

“The prices are so high now, no one even really wants to talk about it,” said SAD 58 Transportation Director Dan Worcester.

Impossible to predict’

For Maine schools, which must deal with sprawling bus routes and cold winter days, diesel fuel, gas and heating oil are basic needs.

“We can’t stop driving a van to pick up kids because gas prices are high,” said Craig Moore, interim transportation director for Gray-New Gloucester’s SAD 15.

To save money, many school systems are joining in negotiations, bargaining for a lower price because they are buying thousands of gallons more. Others are looking for ways to conserve expensive oil and diesel fuel. A few are talking about cutting bus routes.

Officials in Auburn, SAD 17, SAD 58 and other school systems say they may have to make cuts to programs, services or supplies if fuel and heating-oil costs remain out of control.

“There’s no question. We’re talking about maybe over a $100,000 difference, depending on how far it goes,” said SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman, who must heat a dozen schools and fuel 42 buses.

If they want a set price for next year, school officials must negotiate a contract in the next month or two. Many aren’t sure what to do: Lock in a price now or wait and risk even higher prices later on?

The Maine Department of Education is advising school systems to start contract negotiations now. Some oil companies are advising schools to wait.

But Michelle Firmbach, spokeswoman for Irving Oil, said no one really knows which option is best.

“It’s impossible to predict what gas prices will do,” she said.

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