Anger as pupils take a back seat in bus row
No school transport places
Parents of pupils at St Modan’s High have been angered after they were left without school transport.
The row erupted after parents were told that their children would not be offered places on school buses.
Pupils whose parents had specifically requested placements at the school discovered last week that Stirling Council would not be giving them spaces on board school buses for the new term.
Stirling Council provides free school transport to children who live more than the statutory distance from their catchment school.
Once transport has been allocated the council can then offer any surplus spaces to children through its ‘privilege pass’ scheme, which generally caters for children on placing requests.
Two angry parents contacted the Stirling Observer with a number of concerns ahead of the new term.
Sharon Bains and Julie Logan said that they have had no communication from Stirling Council after sending emails.
They added: “We sent our requests for seats on the bus in June [and have] still not heard if we have any seats. Therefore we are guessing by no communication we do not have any.
“The buses are now free. We have been paying over the years and got a seat, but now that they are free we don’t, so therefore this will still have a financial impact on parents as we still need to find a way to get our children to school.
“Anxiety and stress is getting to our children and they are under enough pressure with everything that’s happened in the last five months.”
Another parent, Amanda Hamilton, has also been left in the same predicament and says that she has attempted to price up alternative transport for a group of affected pupils. She obtained a quote for a 16-seater mini bus which would cost £80 per day.
A spokesperson for Stirling Council explained the decision, saying: “Privilege Pass priority is now firstly given to children receiving free school meals and those living furthest away who receive free school meals are given spaces first.
“When this allocation is complete, should there be any spaces left, these will then be allocated to the remaining pupils on the Privilege Pass waiting list.
“All Privilege Pass spaces for St Modan’s High School for 2020/21 have now been allocated on the above criteria and there is unfortunately no space left.
“Any parent or carer has the right to make a request to place their child in a school outwith their catchment area, which they feel best meets the needs of the child.
“However, children who are placed at a school outwith their catchment area are not entitled to free school transport and are not guaranteed access to a Privilege Pass.
“This is stated clearly on the Placing Request form, which parents must sign and acknowledge when submitting their request.
“We acknowledge that this may create a change in circumstances for some parents or families and would ask all guardians of young people attending our schools to make suitable transport provision for their children.”
Anxiety and stress is getting to our children and they are under enough pressure with everything that’s happened recently St Modan’s parents