Annual school bus fiasco

AS another school year is set to begin this week, there are students in Cavan and Monaghan without bus transport.

Parents in the Denn-Crosskeys and Mountnugent areas are among those to have contacted The Anglo-Celt to express their frustrations.

Some schools were set to open yesterday (Wednesday) but, at the time of writing, 12 students living on the Cavan-Crosskeys Road at Banaho in Denn were without bus seats. Of those, nine were returning secondary school students and three were new first years. Eight families in all are affected.

Some only found out their children had no place on the school bus, which has been picking up pupils at Banaho for more than 40 years, when they checked the Bus Éireann portal themselves.

TURNAROUND

The school bus literally turns at the entrance to Claire Cullivan’s house at Banaho but, this year, her son, a pupil at St Patrick’s College in Cavan Town, has no seat although he had a concessionary ticket last year. At least two children at the Tank stop are also understood to be affected.

“It seems like they have just cut the end of the route off as the bus is full,” Ms Cullivan said.

The concessionary ticket system means that children may not receive a seat on the public school bus as they do not attend the school closest to them geographically.

The children in Denn have concessionary status because St Clare’s in Ballyjamesduff is technically their nearest post-primary school, although parents say it is only around 0.5km closer. Families further point out they would also have to travel several kilometres to access a bus serving St Clare’s, while the Cavan bus passes their homes.

Ms Cullivan has contacted TDs and councillors who have all been very helpful but so far have been unable to deliver the seats needed.

New year, same problems - Bennett

In Monaghan, Sinn Féin TD Cathy Bennett says she has received calls from parents in Ballybay, Clones, Emyvale, Monaghan, Corcaghan “and every other town and village in between” who have paid, or who have medical cards, who have no school bus seats as of yet.

“Every single year brings the same problems for parents, who are often left to the goodwill of their employers, or assistance from family members,” Deputy Bennett told the Celt. “For government, every year just brings new excuses.”

The Cavan Monaghan TD said it was government’s responsibility to ensure that transport is available for every child in rural communities like Cavan and Monaghan.

“School transport isn’t a luxury; it’s a vital service for tens of thousands of families who rely on it each year to ensure their children can access education,” Deputy Bennett told the Celt.

“The school transport scheme is yet one more example of the fiction that education in Ireland is free,” she added.

MORE AFFECTED

Lisa McCusker said her son, who is entering fifth year, has also been left without a ticket despite using the service for three years. She said the ticket was applied for and paid for on time.

Her son lives approximately 2.7km from the school, below the 3.2km eligibility threshold for primary pupils.

Ms McCusker questioned how the distance requirement works for rural families.

“I fail to understand the rationalisation of the distance,” she said. “Do the Government expect a primary school child to walk 3.2km to get to and from school?”

Her situation has been complicated by changes to local childcare. The community crèche that previously provided breakfast and after-school care announced in April that it would no longer take children over 10 years from September because of capacity constraints.

Ms McCusker, a nurse at the local hospital, said she cannot simply leave work to collect her child.

“What are parents supposed to do?” she asked. “I pay my taxes and put myself on the line every day I go to work and this is how the Government support me.”

She has contacted Bus Éireann, local government politicians, and the private operator, but has yet to find a solution.

And in Mountnugent, one mother is concerned about her son who is starting first year at his nearest secondary school 9.5kms away in Oldcastle, Co Meath.

Cayley Boshoff says the transition to post-primary school is “daunting enough” without the added stress of no school transport.

Cayley has written to Bus Éireann who told her to lodge a complaint with the Department of Education, which has not yet responded to her correspondence.

She has also checked out public bus services to Oldcastle and found the only available public transport will either get her son to the town two hours before school starts or two hours too late. “I am obviously not stressing him about all this because first year is such a huge leap and massive change for kids that age anyway,” Cayley told the Celt, “I just pray something comes up soon.”

POLITICAL RESPONSE

Cavan-Monaghan TD Brendan Smith is one of the local reps who has been working with the families in Denn-Crosskeys.

He said he has passed parents’ concerns to the Minister for Transport, Department of Education and Bus Éireann and outlined the particular difficulties in these areas of his constituency.

“I’ve also stated very clearly to the department parents’ concerns about how this affects students at this time of year,” Deputy Smith said.

Local Aontú rep, Senator Sarah O’Reilly, said she has been contacted by families whose children are attending schools in Kingscourt, Bailieborough and Cavan.

“Families should not be facing this level of stress at the end of August, when the Department has had months to get school transport arrangements in place,” Sen O’Reilly said.

She pointed to how the closing date for applications is May 8, which she feels should be “more than enough time” for Bus Éireann and the Department of Education to identify where there are gaps and get the necessary routes and operators in place.

Sen O’Reilly said that while this time of year is exceptionally difficult for working parents, private bus operators and school staff are also left in limbo.

“There are operators who still do not know if they have received approval for certain routes,” she continued, “They’re told at the last minute they’ve gotten the contract and they’re expected to organise a driver and bus at the drop of a hat.”

Principals and teachers are “left in the dark” with no information days before school is set to come back, the senator continued and said the “chaos” for the first few weeks of every school year “doesn’t settle till October”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin Senator Pauline Tully pointed to how the Government commissioned “the most comprehensive review of the school transport scheme in decades”.

“Government cannot keep pretending this is unexpected when it has become an annual feature of the school year,” she said.

“There is a better way,” Sen Tully added, saying her party has repeatedly called for an end to the “school bus lottery”.

The Government needs to invest in extra capacity, proper provision for children with additional needs and a system that is planned around the needs of families,” the Sinn Féin rep said.

SCHOOL TRANSPORT SCHEME

Under the current scheme, primary pupils are generally eligible where they attend their nearest primary school and live at least 3.2km away. The post-primary threshold is 4.8km, provided pupils attend their nearest school, having regard to ethos and language.

At least 10 eligible children living in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, are required before consideration c an be given to establishing or retaining a service.

The Department says more than 181,000 children are now transported daily, a 50% increase since 2019. Government funding has risen from €220M to more than €537M.