Approve bills to fix schools bus system

Following the extensive advice of a consultant, the Legislature is finally moving ahead on overhauling Hawaii’s school bus system to put the brakes on a process that has sent costs careening out of control.

Given the opportunity, the state Department of Education must engage in strict oversight to avoid what the state auditor described as a systemic planning failure.

The department didn’t dispute the major findings last November of the consultant, Maryland-based Management Partnership Services, that the bus system had allowed the skyrocketing costs that exceeded national norms.

The recommendation came on the heels of a scathing report by the auditor’s office, which concluded that the department had "lost control of its student transportation program."

Those assessments quantified some alarming information: The cost of carrying about 35,000 students on 700 buses skyrocketed from $29 million in the 2005-06 school year to $77 million in 2011-12 — about $1,750 for every student rider, according to the state auditor.

This year’s main legislation — Senate Bill 1082 — would eliminate the DOE’s "atypically specifying contractual requirements by statute" and allow it to set policies with more flexibility in awarding, executing and managing bus contracts.

Board of Education Chairman Don Horner testified that this would allow the department to "more effectively manage the contract- ing process."

It certainly will be incumbent upon the school board to keep atop of the needed changes, following up on the sense of urgency expressed last fall for strategies to solve the problems.

"We need to start having some plans we can chew on," said Wes Lo, chairman of the BOE Finance and Infrastructure Committee, told DOE officials in September. "There’s a tremendous opportunity to make some changes now."

Another bill, SB 1083, would eliminate the requirement that school bus contracts provide wages that at least match wages paid to public employees who do similar work, as recommended by the Maryland consultant. That change would "stimulate competitive bidding," which would help reduce costs, it predicted.

That sounds wholly reasonable and an important step in the right direction.

Significantly, the 12-company Hawaii School Bus Association has not opposed the legislation.

John Radcliffe, the association’s lobbyist, said in an email following the consultant’s report that bus operators "have been doing their best to provide quality service," resulting in "the safest and best way to get to and from school."

Changes in the legislative restructuring, though, will not by itself drive down the price. The state audit raised questions about "highly suspicious anti-competitive practices" among bus contract bidders. It pointed out that the DOE has not reviewed services for potential cost efficiencies or available basic information, such as daily ridership statistics.

Importantly, the consultant recommended that training be offered for the staff of the DOE’s student transportation services branch on such issues as contract management and oversight.

In addition, the branch should be provided with new software and other technological tools to provide updated information on route and ridership trends.

The department and the school board should have realized much earlier during the six-year price explosion that the bus system was running amok.

Finally, there now exists a collective will to turn this costly situation around, via legislative changes and improved administrative oversight and training.

The consultant called for "commitment to a long-term program of change" — state lawmakers, the DOE and the BOE must put pedal to the metal toward that process.