Off the news: DOE officials taken to task over bus routes

Deservedly so, state Department of Education officials were called on the carpet by legislators on Thursday and quizzed over DOE suspension of school bus routes in Central Oahu, East Hawaii and on Maui just as the school year began — leaving parents scrambling for transportation with little time to spare.

Superintendent Keith Hayashi, who told legislators that he knew of the issue about a week before the suspension, said, “You can put that on me.” Right.

Deputy Superintendent Randy Moore, charged with finding solutions, said bus contractors had projected they would fill empty driver slots on time, but could not. “If we had thought about it, we would have done it differently,” he said. And right.