Two Central Maui public school bus routes set to resume service Monday

The Hawai‘i State Department of Education reports today that two previously suspended school bus routes in Central Maui will be reinstated starting Monday, Oct. 14.

Service also is being restored for seven routes in East Hawaiʻi, impacting approximately 100 student riders enrolled at 10 schools on Maui and the Big Island. 

Parents and guardians of student riders will be notified directly of restored routes and any necessary route modifications.

The following school bus routes will resume service: 

Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kūlanihākoʻi-Maui Complex Area: 2 routes

• Waiheʻe Elementary, ʻĪao Intermediate, Baldwin High – BR12A
• Kalama Intermediate, Kekaulike High – UR19A

Following the restoration of the nine routes on Monday, a total of 109 routes will have been restored. Efforts to restore the remaining 29 suspended bus routes are ongoing.

On Oct. 2, Gov. Josh Green extended an emergency proclamation enabling the Education Department to continue addressing the school bus driver shortage. The emergency provisions allow the department to implement alternative transportation methods, such as allowing the temporary use of tour buses to transport regular education students.

It also allows the department’s school bus contractor Ground Transport Inc. 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. 

The emergency proclamation was extended through Nov. 30.