The state Board of Education last night declined to ask for an emergency $12 million for student transportation, which means public schools could run out of money to pay for school bus service by April.

Most of the board's members said they believed the state Legislature would not agree to the emergency request because of more pressing state budget concerns. The state is projecting a $1 billion deficit through June 2011.

Garrett Toguchi, the school board chairman, said the state Department of Education would have to make do with the $56.6 million available this fiscal year for student transportation.

The school board already agreed to raise one-way bus fares from 35 cents to 75 cents in January and the department will require that students from sixth to 12th grade live 1.5 miles away from school to qualify for school bus service, instead of the previous one-mile standard.

The department will also end school bus service in January for high school students on O'ahu who live near select routes where city bus service is available.

An estimated 40,000 students take school buses to school each day.

"The quickest way to stop a fight is to quit," said John Radcliffe, who represents the Hawaii School Bus Association, which is made up of companies that provide school bus service for the state.

Roy Pfund, a vice president at Roberts Hawaii, one of the providers, said a loss or reduction of school bus service could place a burden on parents and lead to safety issues if more students have to walk to school.

Rural and Neighbor Island students who live farther from their schools could be affected most if bus service is reduced, he said.

"We're going to have to, I guess, get the parents and the students involved, and they're going to have to make their needs known to the legislators and the governor," Pfund said.

Toguchi said the department may alter school bus routes further to get through the school year if it looks as if student transportation money will dry up in April.

"What the department can do is look at the routes, prioritize it, and decide which ones are the most important," he said.

Lei Ahu Isa, a school board member and former state lawmaker, said she doubted lawmakers would agree to the emergency $12 million given the budget deficit.

"I think it's a waste of paper," she said, of making such a request.

Mary Cochran, another school board member, said parents should know that school bus service is not an entitlement. She said lawmakers will have to decide whether to provide extra money if parents complain about a loss or reduction in school bus service.

"It is not an entitlement," she said. "It is something the board came up with when times were flush."