GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — The first day of school here was met with an unusual hitch: Vandals dumped sugar in the fuel tanks of about half of the school district's buses.

Twenty-three Grain Valley School District buses were disabled by the act, which was discovered Wednesday morning when drivers couldn't start their buses. Empty sugar bags were found in the bus lot.

"Parents will be responsible for transporting their children home from school this afternoon due to vandalism to the transportation fleet last night," the district said Wednesday morning. "We are only able to transport those students with special needs who rode buses this morning."

Superintendent Roy Moss told KMBC that an estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel had to be dumped, totaling at least $7,000. He said that the district was having a company come in to siphon the fuel from the tanks and dispose of it.

Other local districts sent technicians to help change filters and get the buses running again.

KMBC also reported that the Grain Valley district is looking at whether a fence is needed around its open lot.

The district said it would transport all students beginning Thursday morning with buses borrowed from Independence School District.

A full investigation of the incident is underway. Despite the vandalism, the district said that its schools were having a productive first day.

"We appreciate the community support this morning as everyone pulled together to help the students get their first day of school underway," the district said.