As the new school year begins next week, workforce shortages are expected to impact the availability of student transportation and after-school care services in certain areas. These essential services are outsourced by the Hawai\u2018i State Department of Education (HIDOE) to contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student Transportation<\/strong> A total of 108 routes will be temporarily suspended, affecting nearly 2,900 students who signed up for bus transportation. Bus routes for students receiving transportation as part of their special education services are not impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The suspended routes on O\u2018ahu are for middle\/intermediate and high school students in the \u2018Aiea-Moanalua-Radford and Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Areas. The suspended routes in East Hawai\u2018i Island are for all grade levels in the Hilo-Wai\u0101kea and Ka\u2018\u016b-Kea\u2018au-P\u0101hoa Complex Areas. The four impacted complex areas were ones where the contracted bus provider did not have sufficient drivers in place as of this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among six bus service contractors<\/a> statewide, an estimated 87 additional drivers are needed to fully staff school bus routes. Over the last school year, 175 school bus drivers have vacated their positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The HIDOE will continue to work with the school bus contractors to restore bus routes and will notify families when routes are restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe shortage of school bus drivers across the nation continues to impact our schools and requires the temporary reduction of bus routes to ensure that bus services can continue for our special education students,\u201d Randy Moore, deputy superintendent of operations, said. \u201cWorking with our contractors to restore the bus routes is critical to support our students\u2019 attendance at school and their learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Impacted high school riders on O\u02bbahu will be offered HOLO cards to ride the City & County of Honolulu TheBus system for free. High school riders at East Hawai\u02bbi schools are able to use the Hele-On county bus system for free with no pass needed. For more information, please visit https:\/\/bit.ly\/HIDOE-EXPRESS<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mileage reimbursement applications will also be available for parents and guardians who drive their students to and\/or from the impacted schools; schools will be distributing parent notifications with information on mileage reimbursement and refunds for families that have paid for school bus service. Each student may select one option: subsidized county transportation via EXPRESS or mileage reimbursement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Due to anticipated service gaps because of bus contractors\u2019 ongoing shortage of school bus drivers with the required commercial driver’s licenses, the Department is temporarily suspending bus routes in Central O\u2018ahu and East Hawai\u2018i Island to prioritize transportation for students with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n