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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Gas prices continue to climb, and local school districts are feeling the pinch.

"We go through 240,000 gallons of fuel every year," Bill Bair said.

Bair is the Transportation Director for Colorado Springs School District 11.

He said that is how much gas it takes to fill up D-11's dozens of buses and support vehicles.

"We look at long-range projections as part of the budget cycle, and we allocated an extra $100,000 for fuel this year," Bair said.

Bair said the district does get a break because it is able to purchase their fuel tax free.

Even still, he said the price hikes are frustrating.

"We used to pay 90 cents per gallon for diesel fuel, and just a little bit more than that for unleaded," Bair said.

School districts are not the only ones whose wallets are on their way to empty.

Southern Colorado drivers are also feeling drained.

"The dollar is weaker against other currencies right now, and fuel is priced in dollars," Wave Dreher with AAA Colorado said. "So whenever dollars are lower against other currencies fuel prices go up."

There is some good news through, as Dreher said Colorado and Wyoming have the lowest prices in the country.

"Our crude oil comes from landlocked north pipelines, so they do not have anywhere else they can send it expect south to us," Dreher said.

That's a plus for School District 11, whose bus service is essential to its students.

Which is why Bair said his department is looking toward the future, and alternative fuel.

"We rolled out our first propane bus today," he said. "Propane is going for $1.95 a gallon for us, and that helps us fuel those buses."

Last year Falcon School District 49 implemented a bus fee for students.

Bair said adding a bus fee in D-11 is not an idea they are currently considering.