Public school parents will pay more for their kids to ride the school bus come next year after the state Board of Education last night voted 8-2 to raise one-way fares from 35 cents to 75 cents.

The move reversed a decision two months ago, when a similar proposal to more than double fees died after members were deadlocked in a tie vote. The state Department of Education's dwindling budget, and the estimated $12 million deficit of the bus transportation system, appeared to have swayed members to support increasing fees.

The annual pass to ride the school bus will increase from $119.60 to $225. The new fees go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Voting no last night were Karen Knudsen and John Penebacker.

The fare increase comes at a time when the state Department of Education agreed to 17 days of furloughs for public school teachers to address some $227 million in budget cuts.

ELIMINATING SERVICE

Two board members said last night that the board should consider phasing out bus transportation for public schools completely. State law does not require the school system to provide bus service, although some special education students are entitled to transportation under their "Individual Education Plans."

Breene Harimoto, Honolulu board member, said bus service is not part of the school system's core functions and costs too much. The DOE covers more than 90 percent of the cost to operate the school bus system.

"All of these services are great. We need to take a hard look at our costs," Harimoto said. "I will propose we seriously consider eliminating bus transportation entirely."

Donna Ikeda, at-large board member, proposed that the school system begin to phase out the bus system beginning July 1, 2010.

Education officials have argued that the state can no longer afford to subsidize bus transportation at the level it has for years.

The DOE covers more than 90 percent of the cost of operating the school bus system, which serves roughly 40,000 pupils, or about one-fourth of public school students. Of the approximately $48 million it takes to run school buses throughout the state, the DOE only collects about $3 million in revenues.

$3M EXTRA REVENUES

Increasing bus fares should result in an additional $3 million a year. Several board members said the increase still does not raise enough money to offset the amount of money the state spends to subsidize transportation for students.

"It makes no sense to go part-way. If we need $12 million, let's raise $12 million," Ikeda said. "I think it's poor policy and poor planning. It's the reason we're in this situation now."

Meanwhile, the DOE is also seeking support from board members to increase the "walk distance" from a mile to 1 1/2 miles for middle and high school students. By doing so, it would limit bus service to students who live 1 1/2 miles or farther from school.

DOE officials also say there are plans to discontinue certain bus routes for middle school and high school students on O'ahu who have access to the city's bus service.