- A community college in North Carolina is going remote one day a week because of soaring gas prices.
- Staff will work from home and buildings will be shut on Fridays until mid-August, it said.
- Average gas prices have sunk below $5 a gallon, but that's still an increase of nearly $2 in a year.
A community college in Sylva, North Carolina is going remote one day a week because of the soaring gas prices its staff are facing.
"Due to the ever-rising costs of gasoline, Southwestern Community College's administration has decided to move to virtual operations every Friday starting on June 10 at all SCC campuses and locations," the college said in a statement.
It said that staff members would work virtually on Fridays and that all college buildings except its Public Safety Training Center would be closed on Fridays through "at least" August 5.
The college said that it "will remain open and fully operational" and that its one on-campus class on Fridays would continue as scheduled.
Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis has also shifted to online-only on Fridays, with its president attributing this to "historic inflation numbers and increasing gas prices." The college is closing its buildings, shifting classes online, and making employees work remotely on Fridays through August 12.
Average US gas prices were $4.94 a gallon on Thursday, dropping to $4.58 in North Carolina, according to AAA. Though prices have fallen slightly in recent days, they're still well above pre-pandemic levels and around $2 more per gallon than this time last year, sparking a wave of fuel thefts.
President Joe Biden has said he's considering measures like pausing federal gas-tax, which is 18.4 cents a gallon, though the CEO of Target has said that this would simply "fuel the demand" at the pump without fixing any of the supply problems.