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

[Wao nahele wahine]

I feel like I've been eavesdropping reading these last few posts, but I've enjoyed the stories.

[Obie]

"There was another Stephen also involved in the tree house's construction. "

This Stephen was a "trust fund baby"

How about you MyManoa ?

Just curious, You fit the mold.

[MyManao]

...

I love the feeling
Trade wind breeze wafting through trees 
Has on my psyche

And, btw, Obie, Stephen’s only connection to trust is his word. And yeah, I know you know him well. How he was the one that drove that old Trooper of his dragging that box to cut down the vibrational waves that would form on the old gravel topped road into Vacationland. And the fun part is his land partner on his mango orchard in the farm lots was the teacher I hired to get certification for my school in Waipio. He would come into the valley everyday from his place on the Oldfather land above Kaawalii stream. And yes, kalianna, it’s a very small island!

[ironyak]

Popping up out of the valley for a moment -

leilanidude - Schools should be creative and charge $1 for each vehicle that drops off/picks up kids, each day.
While some cities have this sort of congestion pricing, you need to have a cheaper and better alternative available also. Families already pay ~$300 per student per year for bus service, which also takes far longer than driving the kid in themselves, which might be done anyways as part of their commute to work. Maybe drop the bus fee, and subsidize quicker and expanded bus service with higher single-car drop-off fees? Need some carrots to motivate better choices, can't all be sticks!

achutch3 - 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
Thanks for the info - guess we'll see how Pahoa traffic is on Monday - hopefully they can get it all sorted out soon. Perhaps in the meantime, people who live in the Keaau complex area with time on their hands, say like retired folk, and who have reliable transportation, maybe even an electric vehicle, could offer to shuttle kids in from their neighborhood. No CDL required, only some concern and care for their community to apply resources they have readily available. Imagine the possibilities!

(an unfair retort to the recently departed? Perhaps, but Wao nahele wahine is the well respected one, take it up with her ;)

[Wao nahele wahine]

Popping up out of the valley for a moment -


achutch3 - 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
Thanks for the info - hopefully they can get it sorted out soon. Perhaps in the meantime, people who live in the complex area with time on their hands, say like retired folk, and reliable transportation, maybe even an electric vehicle, could offer to shuttle kids in from their neighborhood. No CDL required, only some concern and care for their community to apply resources they have readily available. Imagine the possibilities!

(an unfair retort to the recently departed? Perhaps, but Wao nahele wahine is the well respected one, take it up with her

Hey Ironyak....are you throwing me under the (school) bus?  ?

[Punatang]

Hopefully good transportation solutions will be found for those sending their keiki off for proper institutionalization and indoctrination in our Hawaii public schools.  

Back to the valley:  Was anyone else around the time Mr. T rented the D-9 (AKA 1000 Hawaiians) and got it stuck in the river as it was coming up?  That was exciting.  How about one of the many times a wild horse wandered into one of his lo'i and wandered out over The Rainbow Bridge?  These are things he would laugh about and I'm sure he and Linda  are greatly enjoying this thread together in a perfect Kalo lo'i somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge.

[leilanidude]

Families already pay ~$300 per student per year for bus service...
---------
Only partly true. Any student who qualifies for free lunch, also qualifies for free bus service, which, in Puna, means a large portion of the students.

[Punatang]

Looks like some of the paying customers will be getting a refund and a free week.

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...s-blasted/     


“We notified parents (on Thursday) that we are implementing a streamlined refund process, so that families don’t have to do anything on their part. Families utilizing the restored routes will be issued a refund from the time their service was suspended — along with an added week for the inconvenience this has caused.”
Galdeira said she, and most parents she knows, don’t want the refund.
“We want the school bus system restored,” she said. “Use that compensation money to get the drivers you guys need, create programs that can create more CDL drivers so that the bus routes can be served.”

[ironyak]

Wao nahele wahine - Hey Ironyak....are you throwing me under the (school) bus?  ?
Well, trying to, but there doesn't seem to be many around currently, just a long line of cars, moving very slowly. Rain check?

leilanidude - Any student who qualifies for free lunch, also qualifies for free bus service, which, in Puna, means a large portion of the students.
Fair enough - that portion in Pahoa/Keaau is about 65%. Drop the bus rates for the other 1/3 of students and charge for car drop offs? Toll roads? Levy a new bus tax on all owners of multiple properties? Make smaller neighborhood schools? So many options, but unlikely much will change until the system seriously breaks down.

punatang - Hopefully good transportation solutions will be found for those sending their keiki off for proper institutionalization and indoctrination in our Hawaii public schools.
I'll bite. While not my bread and butter, I have educators in my family, and a couple kids who've participated in local public schools, so I'm pretty familiar with the school routines and K-12 curriculum. What "institutionalization and indoctrination" is going on that we should be aware of?

[ktm]

Did anyone else's bus not come this morning? Route SR26B did not come. They said it broke down. I don't think it left the yard.

Each kid is $73.56 per quarter, $294.24/yr. I didn't see any refund for the week they missed either.