This article reports that with fuel prices soaring nationwide, reaching more than $4 for each gallon of gas or diesel, school districts are struggling to supplement transportation-budget shortfalls and find ways to offset the increasing costs as a new school year approaches. Now districts--most of whose buses run on diesel fuel--are scrambling to squeeze every drop of efficiency out of fuel tanks by consolidating bus stops, revisiting routes with optimized software and GPS technology, and implementing strict "no idling" policies. Some districts, such as the 138,000-student Montgomery County school district in Maryland, are even looking at increasing the distance that students may have to walk in order to cut down on the number of buses on the road. Although school officials in Montgomery County said they have no immediate plans to change the transportation policy in the district, the board of education recently granted Superintendent Jerry D. Weast authorization to modify transportation policy in an emergency situation.