DENVER — Rising gas prices are tightening the Denver Public Schools (DPS) budget with buses that rely on diesel.
DPS operates nearly 300 buses with diesel making up 82% of its fleet. DPS officials said the district has seen diesel prices jump by about $2 per gallon compared to last year.
“Right around the end of the calendar year, we were paying about $2.44 for diesel per gallon, and now we're paying for $4.33, so we've seen a 44% increase,” Denver Public Schools Executive Director of Transportation Albert Samora said.
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Samora told Denver7 that even on years when the district is not seeing a fuel increase, they track fuel prices anyways to get the best pricing.
“We know those vendors generally know when there's going to be an increase, and so we had already been warned that there was going to be some big increases coming. We've been spending some extra time watching them now,” Samora said.
While there is no immediate impact right now, the district is already preparing for what could come next.
“We haven't seen a long-term effect yet, but we're already planning, because we've seen some increases that are, of course, concerning,” Samora said.
This comes as President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Denver Public Schools spends around $1.2 million on fuel every year.
While the district said it has enough padding in its current budget to get through this school year, rising fuel costs could force some tough decisions.
“I’m padded right now, and I’m not in a place where I’m concerned that I think I’m going to have to go after money yet. Transportation has a total budget and if we run over in some in some area, I’m expected to find cuts in other areas in transportation,” Samora said.
Tthat includes cutting spending in other areas of the transportation department or even considering adjustments to bus routes, according to Samora.
“There's nothing planned right now. I think that if this was going to be prolonged, let's say that this was going for another year, there's a possibility that the board would look at whether or not there needs to be change. In order to find savings, for instance, walk distances to schools could be changed. Long-term, it could absolutely affect transportation," Samora said.
Budgets for the next school year have already been set, Samora said, but if prices stay high, the district could make adjustments in December.
DPS is also working on a long-term solution like adding more electric buses to its fleet but officials say fully transitioning from diesel could cost tens of millions of dollars.
