GLOUCESTER -- School children will soon be learning a hard lesson in economics.

They'll have to help pay for fuel when school buses take them on field trips.

The school superintendent says it's a necessary step to offset high fuel prices.

Before implementing this plan, about a dozen field trips were cancelled. The remaining trips that are scheduled will have the fuel supplement attached to them.

In February, officials say they’d already spent the entire year’s fuel budget.

The Gloucester transportation director estimates the system will be $200,000 in the hole by the end of the fiscal year.

WATCH 13NEWS BEGINNING AT 5:00 P.M. FOR REACTION AND WHY THIS MAY BE ONLY BE THE BEGINNING OF COST-SAVING MEASURES.