The Hawaiʻi Department of Education has canceled over 100 bus routes, affecting thousands of students as the new school year began Monday.
The announcement came after the state lost nearly 200 school bus drivers last school year. At least 87 additional drivers are needed to cover all the routes, the DOE said in a statement Thursday.
The canceled routes will largely impact the ‘Aiea-Moanalua-Radford and Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua complex areas on Oʻahu and the Hilo-Waiākea and Ka‘ū-Kea‘au-Pāhoa complex areas on Hawaiʻi Island.
It's the third year in a row the education department has had to cancel routes due to a driver shortage.
Rep. Trish La Chica of District 37 said she's frustrated about the late notice.
"This is an ongoing crisis. And the Department of Education knew about the workforce shortages. They knew about the new contract coming in," she said.
"But I feel that they still failed to plan or communicate with families and the school principals and the overall community and doing it on such short notice is just creating major disruptions and major transportation challenges."
State and county leaders have been notified of the bus suspension and say they are working on restoring routes. Gov. Josh Green approved an emergency proclamation on Friday, temporarily loosening the rules on the types of vehicles the DOE can use to transport students. That could mean using minibusses or vans for school bus services.
The proclamation also allows the DOE to hire commercial drivers who don't have the specific "S," or school bus, driving certification. Potential drivers will only need to have a "P" certification, meaning they can carry passengers.
“There are a number of prospective drivers in the queue who we are working with our contractor to certify and clear the necessary background checks,” said Randy Moore, deputy superintendent for operations, in a news release.
“As drivers are hired, the routes that are suspended will be reinstated over the next few weeks. We recognize the challenge this creates for parents and schools. Getting all of our students to school each day is a very high priority and we are working to restore service as soon as possible," Moore continued.
Students on Oʻahu will be offered HOLO cards to ride the city bus, and students at East Hawaiʻi schools can use the Hele-On county bus.
Parents who choose to drive their children can apply for mileage reimbursement if they were previously signed up for school bus transportation.
