Ray L’Heureux, the Hawaii Department of Education’s assistant superintendent for school facilities and support services, is leaving the DOE this September.

Department spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz confirmed L’Heureux’s resignation today but declined to elaborate on his reasons other than that, after two years on the job, he’s “decided to move on.” L’Heureux made $120,000 under an at-will contract.

L’Heureux has agreed to stay on the job until September 15 to ensure a smooth transition, Dela Cruz said. Dela Cruz didn’t have details as to what the transition plan will entail.

“It’s not that this was an all-of-a-sudden decision — it just happened,” Dela Cruz said.

Ray L’Heureux addresses the Board of Education in February 2013.

Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat

The retired marine joined the department’s facilities office in July 2012 — a time when the transportation branch was facing intense scrutiny from lawmakers and a scathing state audit investigation into its finances and operations.

That audit, which was published a month or so after L’Heureux came on board, found that “haphazard oversight of school bus contracts,” a lack of competition among the bus companies and shoddy accountability within the DOE caused student transportation costs to nearly triple to $72.4 million between 2006 and 2012.

The report reiterated findings first uncovered by Civil Beat in its investigative series “Taken for a Ride,” which launched in October 2011. Civil Beat continues to report on the topic.

L’Heureux has been candid in his criticism of the department’s transportation branch since he assumed his role at the DOE, describing its operations as antiquated and inefficient. L’Heureux was determined to rebuild the program from the ground up.

“Prior to (this) we were shooting in the dark,” he told Civil Beat last April. “The way that we’ve been contracting services for the last — well, quite frankly, forever — is the wrong way to do it.”

L’Heureux spearheaded a large-scale initiative to overhaul the DOE’s school bus program and bring down costs. The innovative plan — the “Get on Board” initiative — was first piloted at schools in the central Oahu area during the 2013-14 school year. It involves a complete revamping of school bus operations, from procurement procedures to new technology.

In its first year, the initiative served 4,000 or so general education students on 48 buses and saved about $413,000, L’Heureux told Civil Beat last month. The new system is being expanded to include all of Oahu this school year and the entire state the year after.

Other highlights of L’Heureux’s time at the DOE include his work on a statewide “facilities master plan” and an initiative to cut energy costs.

All of L’Heureux’s initiatives will continue as planned, Dela Cruz said.

“All of the changes (he instituted) are within the DOE’s Strategic Plan; those didn’t just happen overnight,” she said. “The staff are still in place … we just have to make sure we get leadership in there as soon as possible.”

L’Heureux succeeded Randy Moore, a former business executive and middle school teacher who now serves as chairman of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

L’Heureux served in the military for 30 years before joining the DOE.