With students returning to public school campuses Monday after summer break, the state Department of Education reported Friday that it is continuing to work with school bus contractors to help recruit and retain drivers and restore suspended routes as quickly as possible.

Because of an ongoing bus driver shortage, DOE suspended school bus routes for nine Oahu high schools and four schools on Kauai. Students at those schools are being transitioned to their respective county public bus system through the EXPRESS program that provides free bus passes to high school students.

DOE said 3,600 students have so far signed up for the program.

In the meantime, still lacking more than 200 drivers to fully staff school bus routes statewide, bus service contractors are offering and expanding hiring bonuses, pay incentives and increased benefits to attract potential bus drivers.

Also, with the support of Gov. Josh Green, DOE and the state Department of Transportation have been exploring a possible exemption to federal requirements to expand the pool of qualified drivers with commercial driver’s licenses.

“We encourage our high school families to activate their county bus passes on all islands if bus transportation to and from school is needed,” DOE Assistant Superintendent Randall Tanaka said in a news release. “As the school year starts, we will monitor bus ridership data in real time to see where routes may be adjusted or restored. We ask for our families’ patience as we continue to work to minimize disruptions.”

Oahu high school students riding the TheBus will have a one-week grace period through Friday to ride for free while their new HOLO student ID is activated. The cards must be activated online with parental consent.

Students with IDs that have not yet been activated can show the ID to bus drivers, and those without can show a school-issued picture ID from the last school year. Activated IDs should be scanned to ride TheBus or Skyline.

The routes at four Kauai schools — Kapaa Elementary, Middle and High schools and Hanalei Elementary — have been suspended. DOE is offering passes for the Kauai County bus system to high school students and families with younger students.

DOE said school bus routes on Maui and Hawaii island have been modified to prioritize special education and younger students. Schools should have contacted families about bus service options.

Maui County bus passes will be distributed to high schools as soon as possible, DOE said. School bus routes on Molokai and Lanai are not affected. Hawaii County’s Hele-On bus service is currently free to the general public.

Find information about the EXPRESS program at bit.ly/HIDOE-EXPRESS-FAQ.