ผู้ว่าการจอช กรีน ได้ขยายเวลา emergency provisionsทำให้กรมการศึกษาของรัฐฮาวายสามารถดำเนินการแก้ไขปัญหาการขาดแคลนคนขับรถบัสโรงเรียนซึ่งส่งผลให้บริการขนส่งนักเรียนหยุดชะงักต่อไปได้ บทบัญญัติเหล่านี้ทำให้กรมสามารถนำวิธีการขนส่งอื่นๆ มาใช้และฟื้นฟูเส้นทางรถบัสที่ถูกระงับในช่วงสองเดือนที่ผ่านมา ทำให้มั่นใจได้ว่านักเรียนจะสามารถเดินทางไปกลับโรงเรียนได้อย่างปลอดภัย
“Education of our keiki is an absolute priority,” Governor Green said. “Getting our keiki to their classrooms has always been a state responsibility and remains so, despite challenges brought about by wildfires, other natural disaster, or in this case, a workforce shortage. We enacted the Emergency Proclamation to ensure our children have no barriers to receiving their education.”
ตั้งแต่เปิดภาคเรียนต้นเดือนสิงหาคมเป็นต้นมา กรมฯ ได้... เปิดเส้นทางรถเมล์ใหม่ 100 สาย on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island. Service has been restored for 88% of impacted students—3,263 out of 3,720. Active efforts to restore 38 more routes are ongoing.
“We are deeply thankful to Governor Green for extending the emergency proclamation, which has been crucial in mitigating the school bus driver shortage. Thanks to this flexibility, we’ve been able to deploy multiple solutions to restore routes. We also extend our gratitude to the affected schools and parents for their ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to work toward full resolution,” Deputy Superintendent Randy Moore said.
การ emergency proclamation allows for the temporary use of tour buses to transport regular education students, a solution that has enabled school bus contractor Ground Transport Inc. to subcontract with such providers as Polynesian Adventure Tours. This collaboration has been instrumental in filling transportation gaps.
การ proclamation also provides critical flexibility with procurement rules, allowing the Department to contract directly with additional providers like Roberts Hawai‘i to supply buses and drivers in shortage areas.
It further permits Ground Transport to place drivers on school buses before they have fully completed their licensing process. Although full licensure —commercial driver’s licenses with a “P” endorsement to drive passengers and an additional “S” endorsement to drive school buses — is still required for permanent positions, these provisions help speed up the availability of drivers in the short term.
การ emergency proclamation, which has played a vital role in maintaining student transportation services, has been extended through Nov. 30, 2024.
