State education officials would be allowed to raise school bus fares to make up for budget cuts, under a proposal that received initial consideration yesterday by a Board of Education committee.

If approved, students could pay up to $300 per year to ride the yellow school buses, up from the current price of $119.60.

Education officials are proposing to change an administrative rule to give the state Department of Education the authority to increase school bus fares.

Officials say that under the current system, it would take a monthslong process, including public hearings and the governor's signature to increase school bus fares.

"Instead of having to go through a complicated rule-making procedure, which takes a long time and costs money, we're proposing that the DOE would do it administratively," said Randy Moore, DOE assistant superintendent for school facilities and support services.

About 25 percent of Hawai'i public school students, or 40,000 students, ride a school bus each day. Some board members say they are worried that higher bus fares could strain some families' budgets, while others say the DOE may have no other way to deal with recent cuts to the department's $2.34 billion budget.

While the board committee voted 5-0 yesterday to send the proposal for full board consideration, some members expressed reservations.

Board member Breene Harimoto said he wanted to be sure that the Board of Education had the authority to give final approval of any bus fare increase.

"The bus price is such a public issue that the board should have the ultimate approval," Harimoto said.

If the DOE's administrative rules are amended to give the department flexibility in setting bus fares, the earliest a fare increase could take effect would be the 2009-2010 school year, Moore said.

The proposal to give the DOE authority to change the fare would need to go through board approval and public hearings, he said.

A dollar amount for any bus fare increase was not considered yesterday. Instead, the proposal would change the rule to allow the DOE to raise bus fares as it sees fit. Fares could be increased to up to 50 percent of the actual cost of providing the service.

Currently, students pay $119.60 a year. But it costs the state about $600 per rider to operate the DOE school bus system, Moore said, meaning that fares could be raised to up to $300 if the rule is changed.

Officials last month said bus fares might have to increase after the Legislature trimmed about $7.7 million from the DOE budget. Lawmakers trimmed from the portion of the budget that covers student support — student transportation, lunches, school maintenance, the A-Plus after-school program and adult education.

As part of the bus-fare proposal, the board is also considering increasing the distance a student lives from school to be eligible to ride a school bus, Moore said.

Currently, students living within a mile of their school cannot ride the bus, because they are considered within walking distance. But Moore said the DOE is proposing increasing the walking distance to a mile-and-a-half for students in grades 6 to 12.

"One of the ways to reduce your total cost is to not have as many buses," Moore said. "It cost less to run a system if you don't carry as many passengers," he said.

Board member Maggie Cox of Kaua'i said she was concerned that changing the walking distance could adversely affect Neighbor Island students.

"Do you realize that many roads have no sidewalks?" Cox said. "They'd be walking on roads. ... We need to think about the safety provisions."