Prepare for traffic increases - No school busses - with bonus Waipio lore

[MyManao]

Homeschooling rules!

Actually, yes, but only to a point.

I started a school in Waipio Valley in the late '70s. The trip out of the valley with high water often making crossing streams impossible etc, so we applied to the state for a permit to home school, and then realized it was a problem for all the families in the valley so we started a school for all the kids instead. But yeah, quaint, very good for the kids, and life was cool.. until..

We used to have ‘family meetings’ pretty regular.. talk.. work out stuff.. it seemed like a pretty good way to go. And one day my daughters sat there and said they wanted to go to a ‘real’ school. And it didn’t take long to realize what they meant was they wanted more boys. Yeah, they were becoming self aware.. 

So, we moved out of the valley and put them, initially, in public school. That didn’t last long because they were so far ahead of their classmates, and besides the other kids were brutal. Paauilo school in the ‘80s was just a babysitting service for the cane worker’s kids. And my girls… who both were the only white kids in their class.. yeah I am sure you can imagine.

As it worked out what I didn’t realized at first, but became apparent over time, is that in that beautiful setting in the valley with all the kids, there were maybe 12 of them, wasn’t enough to prepare mine for the real world. Something all the social nonsense in a school setting is better able to do than what we can ourselves in our own homes. It’s the pits, but kids need to learn how to deal with the negatives as well as the positives, if they are going to be able to navigate through it all..

[Wao nahele wahine]

Good news!

34 previously suspended school bus routes will be restored by Monday August 12th.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/08/09...by-monday/

[ironyak]

Only 113 (!?) to go... I'll skip the long rant about the shortcomings of car-centric infrastructure, but situations like this would hopefully motivate integrating smaller schools into, or at least near, the neighborhoods instead of giant centralized complexes to which everyone needs to travel. Many of the kids spend more than an hour in the morning and late afternoon each on their bus commutes, often having to catch the bus in the dark in the rainy season mornings.

Hopefully those 20 acre parcels set aside in HPP can be developed, and other close-to-home solutions sorted out, so that everyone involved doesn't have to be stuck in the traffic they help create, which is the same regardless of the fuel type. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance and all that.

[leilanidude]

There are many parents who drive their kids to school even though the bus is available. These are generally folks who have income over the "free bus pass" limit, despite the very simple fact that driving the kids to school in what is generally a lifted truck around here, costs way more than simply paying for the bus.

Schools should be creative and charge $1 for each vehicle that drops off/picks up kids, each day. Maybe an annual charge with a "sticker" for the windshield? Someone here should be able to figure out a way to reduce all that unneeded traffic? That money could go towards some worthwhile school program.

[Punaperson]

Not sure if this is a parallel or tangental track to the school bus driver shortage:

Several weeks ago I asked one of the workers at the Pahoa transfer station about the chances of getting more days open for green waste disposal. I was told that the problem was not enough drivers with a CDL license, in large part because of not being able to pass the drug tests. He said he heard things were changing as construction jobs were drying up, and another day might be added by the end of the year. Maybe there will be an increase in the number of school bus drivers available ?

[ironyak]

As a follow-on to the above, the related Star-Advertiser story notes that "The governor’s emergency proclamation allows drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and a “P” endorsement – permitting them to transport passengers – to operate school buses temporarily, in lieu of the “S” endorsement specifically required for school bus drivers." This emergency change in qualifications would potentially open up the positions at least temporarily to more individuals with other CDL+P backgrounds, until more CDL+S candidates are available.

Anyone know if all the Big Island routes are now covered or if some are part of the 113 outstanding?

[Punatang]

I started a school in Waipio Valley in the late '70s.

I'm wondering how well you got along with Linda Beech. 

[achutch3]

As a follow-on to the above, the related Star-Advertiser story notes that "The governor’s emergency proclamation allows drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and a “P” endorsement – permitting them to transport passengers – to operate school buses temporarily, in lieu of the “S” endorsement specifically required for school bus drivers." This emergency change in qualifications would potentially open up the positions at least temporarily to more individuals with other CDL+P backgrounds, until more CDL+S candidates are available.

Anyone know if all the Big Island routes are now covered or if some are part of the 113 outstanding?

From what I read all the schools in Puna previously affected are now covered week to week except for Kea’au intermediate and high schools.

[MyManao]

I'm wondering how well you got along with Linda Beech. 

Linda was great. What a life she lived, one of the eccentric people of the valley, for sure. She had a great place, and was able to appreciate it for years. She also had a neighbor that couldn’t help himself but inject drama into everything his attention fell upon. But hey, that’s the nature of the place. Really, Waipio’s wild. Linda, early on, had a treehouse built (by someone that went on to spend most of the intervening years in Vacationland) that was an iconic structure in the valley. Back in the day.. '70s and such, there was a whole group of pretty cool folks that tried to figure out how to build a life down there. Linda was one of the very few that hung on to that vision throughout her entire life.

[Punatang]

She also had a neighbor 

He resented her being there, owning that spot, and having a say in what happened with the water upstream of his lo'i. 

She was a hoot and fully capable of creating plenty of drama, all by herself, without any help at all LOL.  In fact, she was a famous actress in Japan.  In later years she had a hydro-electric rig set up.  It was  4" pipe that ran 183 feet up the waterfall in her back "yard".  In a shed, the pipe was separated into 4 jets that spun a truck alternator which charged a huge bank of golf cart batteries.  She powered several vacation rentals with it and never wanted for electricity.  Most in the valley were lucky to have a few solar panels.  She was a force of nature for sure.  Eric Johnson and Steven Oldfather built the famous tree-house.  She also had the only phone in the valley for the longest time.  Wild indeed.

There were no school busses in Waipio then and I think it's the same now.  (keeping the thread on topic LOL)