Gov. Josh Green has extended emergency provisions, enabling the State Department of Education to continue addressing the school bus driver shortage that has disrupted student transportation services.

These provisions have allowed the Department to implement alternative transportation methods and restore suspended bus routes over the past two months, ensuring students can safely travel to and from school.

Since the start of the 2024/2025 school year in early August, the Department has reinstated 100 bus routes on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island, however active efforts to restore 38 more routes are ongoing.

The emergency proclamation, which has been extended through November 30, 2024 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.

The proclamation also provides 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.

 

Photo credit: Hawaiʻi Department of Education