A Hereford family has been forced to make last-minute travel arrangements for their son after receiving notice that he can no longer take his bus to school two days before term began.
With only a weekend’s warning before the start of term on Monday, father Darren Lilley is angry about Herefordshire Council’s timing.
He and his wife were only informed by letter last Friday that 13-year-old Dominic would not be able to take his usual school bus to St Mary’s High School at Lugwardine.
As a non-Catholic family, Mr Lilley, who lives with his family in Tower Road, said there was a tacit understanding that Dominic’s place on the bus was not guaranteed, but he was dismayed to learn at the eleventh hour that his son would have to find an alternative route to school.
“Why have we had the letter on Friday with only a weekend to make other arrangements?” asked Mr Lilley.
“This has far-reaching implications not just for us – we won’t be the only ones, and I feel the council should inform parents earlier. Even if it’s too late to help us, I strongly believe we can stop this happening to someone else.
“We tried to find out two weeks ago about Dominic’s place on the bus but we were told they were too busy.”
In their response to Mr and Mrs Lilley’s criticisms, the council said they had to wait for parents to apply for bus passes for the forthcoming term, though the couple still believe the last-minute notification was unacceptable.
“I was absolutely gobsmacked to open that letter on the Friday morning before Dominic returns to school on the Monday,” said Mr Lilley.
He believed there was a psychological issue in forcing pupils to change buses to school with little warning.
“My wife and I both work, so it will mean Dominic will have to walk a lot further to catch a bus to school,” he said. “We understand that the council has to wait for bus places to be allocated but surely there should be a deadline?”
Mr and Mrs Lilley were disappointed that the council offered them no details of alternative transport for their son. “The fact is that at the moment we don’t know which bus he will be able to take,” said Mr Lilley.
“I want the council to be mindful of the fact that this is not just about a bus place, it’s actually also about the psychological effects on children.”
Herefordshire Council’s schools’ transport manager Andrew Blackman said: “Although the council stresses the need to get applications for transport to us in good time, they can come in as late as the first week of the new school year and we are duty bound to provide a seat for those who are entitled to one.
“This means unfortunately that any vacant seats on school buses, that might otherwise have been made available to other pupils not entitled to free transport, are taken up by entitled pupils, sometimes at short notice.
“The council has every sympathy with parents hoping to use one of the vacant seats and will continue to re-enforce the message to parents of entitled pupils to get their transport applications to the transport team in good time.”