Anger despite place provided on school bus
MUM’S FRUSTRATION AT LENGTH OF TIME IT TOOK TO FIND SOLUTION
A 16-year-old student from Rathnew has finally been accommodated with school transport to Arklow and back, weeks after the school term started and after initially been told that the bus was full to capacity.
Cameron O’Toole has mild cerebral palsy and attends Gaelcholáiste na Mara. He had received concessionary bus tickets up until the start of this school year. His mother was informed in August that there wouldn’t be a place available for Cameron this year, despite having applied for concessionary tickets back in April.
While his mother’s partner was able to change his work times so he could drop Cameron to school in the mornings, Cameron had to make his own way home, leaving school early so he could catch the Wexford Bus.
‘I had to sign out of school at 3 p.m. and it took me over 20 minutes to get from school to the bus stop. You have to go along lot of hilly areas and I have to carry a big school bag so I found it quite difficult. I have school friends here in Gaelcholáiste na Mara and it is the school I want to attend. I am happy everything is now sorted but it’s horrible that it took so long,’ he said.
His mother is also frustrated that the situation was allowed to continue for so long before some sort of resolution was found.
She said: ‘It was very stressful. I’d say since August there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t been on the phone to someone about it. I feel like I was passed from pillar to post. I have to say that the school have been great and have tried their very best, which we are both very grateful for.
‘Now a 57-seater bus instead of a 55-seater has been provided and can take Cameron. If that’s all it took, why wasn’t this done earlier? I also would have thought that Cameron would have been considered some sort of priority given that he was mild cerebral palsy. Now I just want to make sure we don’t encounter the same sort of problems next year.’
The Department of Education and Skills had yet to respond at the time of going to press.