Free bus rides considered for military kids

Community members will have a chance to weigh in on a preliminary proposal to offer free bus service to military dependents who live a certain distance from their public schools.

The idea is among possible changes to administrative rules that the Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to offer for consideration by the governor and the public. The changes would not take effect until after a series of public hearings and further approvals.

Most public school districts in the nation provide free bus service. In Hawaii, bus rides are free for students from low-income families. Military families who enroll in local public schools are often taken aback when they find they have to pay.

“The disparity unnecessarily causes strife and confusion for these families,” Superintendent Christina Kishimoto told board members in a memo. “Our proposed action will promote the department’s support of military service men and women in Hawaii.”

Assistant Superintendent Dann Carlson said figures weren’t readily available on the number of military students it might affect. But elementary children on military bases typically live close enough to walk to their campuses, and the issue arises more for secondary students at off-base campuses like Radford High School, he said.

The department already was considering a separate change to transportation rules, and thought the military situation was worth consideration, Carlson said.

“One of our most vocal groups that we hear from every year — they change out almost every other year — is from our military community asking us, ‘What do you mean I have to pay for bus?’ because it’s just something that they’re surprised at,” he said. “As we were doing this administrative rule, we thought, maybe we can make a cutout for them.”

Carlson noted that federal impact aid helps cover the cost of educating military students.

The other proposed transportation rule change would specify that students whose families qualify for food stamps are also eligible for free school bus service.

Last year the federal Community Eligibility Provision program extended free lunch to all students in some high-poverty schools, not just those who are needy. That inadvertently extended free bus service to all students on those campuses, at an annual cost of $116,400, according to Kishimoto.

This year the Department of Education would like to expand that free-lunch program to more high-poverty schools. But it could push up transportation costs unless the rules make clear that free bus service applies only to needy students.

Kenneth Uemura, chairman of the board’s Finance and Infrastructure Committee, raised questions about the proposals but joined the unanimous vote to move the process forward to allow public debate.

“As far as providing free service to the military, I think that’s a good thing to do, but are we not discriminating against the nonmilitary families by doing that?”

Board member Bruce Voss praised Carlson and his team for dramatically reducing transportation service costs through new contracts, and emphasized that bus service can boost attendance.

“Access to school is very important, and I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish,” Voss said. “To the extent that a program like this is providing free transportation to families who might not otherwise get their kids to school on time, I hope the department retains some discretion to allow that, if appropriate for the community.”

Elementary students who live a mile or more from their local public schools and secondary students who live 1.5 miles away qualify for school bus service in Hawaii. Carlson said his personal preference would be to give free school bus service to all students who meet the distance requirements.

The proposed rules changes and the department’s rationale are available online at bit.ly/2zpNXXs.