The Department of Education presented state senators yesterday with a "no frills" operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year that seeks $129 million to restore cuts and an additional $29 million for what was described as a wish list for tough times.

On that list: $20 million to cover a shortfall for student bus transportation, about $2 million for nursing services for medically fragile students and $1.5 million to restore cuts to athletics programs. The DOE also asked for $5 million for planned software upgrades.

"We’re really trying to hold the line and keep the lights on," state schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said yesterday after the legislative briefing . "There’s no frills in it (the budget). We know times are tough. It’s a very tight time, a very tough budget."

She added that the department continues to look for ways to save money.

The DOE’s $1.4 billion request for operating funds includes $86 million to end teacher furloughs on non-instructional days and $43 million to restore cuts to funding for schools.

Though state senators on the Education and Ways and Means committees appeared to largely agree that the DOE’s request was prudent, some wondered whether the department was doing enough to increase efficiency and raise fees to help offset growing costs.

Several questioned, for example, why the Board of Education rejected a proposal in November to increase the price of public school meals. Without the increase, which would have taken effect this month, the DOE is not in compliance with Act 26, which mandates school lunch prices be set at no less than half the cost of preparing the meals.

The board said it shot down the increases out of concern for working families. The department was proposing to increase meal revenues by about $1.3 million by boosting the price of school lunch by 15 cents a day and the cost of breakfast by 5 cents.

State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said the Legislature is having to make tough, sometimes unpopular decisions, and so the board and the DOE should be doing the same. "Did the board shirk its responsibility?" she asked.

Board Chairman Garrett Toguchi was not at the briefing yesterday and could not be reached for comment last night. Toguchi has in the past called for Act 26 to be repealed.

Meanwhile, the DOE has requested $354 million for capital improvements.

The bulk of that — $191 million — will go to repair and maintenance projects.

The DOE has made a big dent in overdue maintenance projects since 2003, when backlogged repairs topped $700 million. But Randy Moore, assistant superintendent of the office of school facilities and support services, said there is still lots of work to do.

In 2010, the DOE had about $392 million in backlogged repairs.