The state Department of Education had been pushing to open its $180 million Kulanihako‘i High School in Kihei to an inaugural ninth-grade class this year. But DOE’s decade-long disregard for a 2013 Land Use Commission directive for a “grade-separated pedestrian crossing” — an overpass or underpass, for student safety — put the school opening in limbo, prompting an unusual mea culpa by schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi and Deputy Superintendent of Operations Curt Otaguro on Feb. 9.

On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Green’s office announced a stop-gap fix: DOE transports all students by bus; the state indemnifies Maui for student safety; and the LUC temporarily issues a certificate of occupancy, allowing the school to — fingers crossed — open in August.