HONOLULU — As public schools in Hawai‘i prepare to open the new academic year on Monday, the state Department of Education announced that “workforce shortages” are expected to affect the availability of student transportation and after-school care services in certain areas of O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island.
The services are outsourced by the Department of Education (DOE) to contractors.
Due to an ongoing shortage of school bus drivers with the required commercial driver’s licenses, a total of 108 bus routes in Central O‘ahu and East Hawai‘i are being temporarily suspended “to prioritize transportation for students with disabilities,” DOE said in a news release on Thursday.
The action will affect nearly 2,900 students who signed up for bus transportation; however, students who receive transportation as part of their special education services will not be affected, the department said.
The suspended routes on O‘ahu are for middle/intermediate and high school students in the Aiea-Moanalua-Radford and Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua complex areas. The suspended routes in East Hawai‘i are for all grade levels in the Hilo-Waiakea and Ka’u-Kea‘au-Pahoa 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, according to DOE.
Among six bus service contractors statewide, an estimated 87 additional drivers are needed to fully staff school bus routes. Over the last school year, 175 school bus drivers vacated their positions.
“The HIDOE will continue to work with the school bus contractors to restore bus routes and will notify families when routes are restored,” the release said.
“The 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,” Randy Moore, deputy superintendent of operations, said in the release. “Working with our contractors to restore the bus routes is critical to support our students’ attendance at school and their learning.”
Impacted high school riders on O‘ahu will be offered HOLO cards to ride the city’s TheBus system for free. High school riders at East Hawai‘i schools are able to use the Hele-On county bus system for free with no pass needed. (For more information, visit https://bit.ly/HIDOE-EXPRESS.)
Mileage reimbursement applications also will be available for parents and guardians who drive their students to and/or from the affected schools, DOE said. 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.
Meanwhile, bus service contractors are continuing to offer hiring bonuses, pay incentives and increased benefits to attract new drivers.
DOE’s after-school care programs for elementary students also continue to experience workforce shortages as the school year opens. Of the 163 school sites, 46 schools have waiting lists for the Afterschool Plus (A+) program, the department said.
A+ contractors have notified families if their child is on the wait list, and in the first month of school they will provide families with weekly updates.
Contractors providing A+ programs are recruiting staff across the islands. For employment opportunities check:
>> Kamaʻaina Kids: jobs.kamaainakids.com/
>> YMCA Honolulu: ymcahonolulu.org/jobs/job-opportunities
>> YMCA Maui: mauiymca.org/employment/
>> Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii: bgch.com/who-we-are/join-our-team/
>> Dream Co.: dreamcohawaii.org/contact-us.htm.
