The Hawaii State Board of Education today set in motion plans for a Primary Action Group (or “PIG,” as Chairman Don Horner calls it) to address the school district’s transportation crisis.

Skyrocketing prices on school bus service contracts have invited the scrutiny of lawmakers in recent years, and money woes at the state level threaten to leave the program $17 million short next year.

The Department of Education has said that if that happens, it will have to eliminate school bus routes on Oahu. But Horner is optimistic that the board can find a solution to the possible funding cutback without cutting back on school bus services.