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The Department of Education on Monday will restore school bus service for approximately 100 Lahainaluna High School students, following a two-week suspension of multiple routes on Maui amid a driver shortage.
The restored route includes two morning runs: first to the Kapalua area on Lower Honoapiilani Road starting at 6:33 a.m. and dropping students off at the school at 7 a.m.; then to the Wahikuli area of Lahaina along Ainakea Road starting at 7:10 a.m. and dropping students off at 7:25 a.m.
The DOE said the restored routes for the high school will add to two routes
already operating — for
students living in the
Honokohau Valley and
Olowalu areas — that also
service Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahienaena Elementary schools. Routes servicing more distant communities will be prioritized as more routes are restored, the DOE said.
“The department is working hard with our school bus contractors to return affected routes to service and we anticipate more routes to come online in the coming weeks,” Assistant Superintendent Dann Carlson said in a statement. He thanked parents, students and staff for their patience.
Ground Transport Inc., the state’s new school bus contractor on Maui, is short 11 qualified drivers there, down from 20 vacancies two weeks ago, the DOE said Thursday. The company told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week that it had about a dozen applicants working toward the specialized commercial driver’s license and other requirements for school bus drivers, and that a few of its Oahu drivers were helping out on Maui.
The driver shortage prompted the DOE at the start of the new school year to temporarily suspend bus routes serving grades 9 to 12 for Lahainaluna High and Baldwin High, and grades 6 to 8 for Iao Intermediate. A total of 383 students were initially affected. It also consolidated some routes, resulting in longer wait times for some students.
The changes caused some students to be late to school and triggered traffic jams in some areas as parents had to drive their kids to school in the morning. The department planned to issue bus passes on the Maui Bus system, but county officials said its fleet could not accommodate the influx of students.
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