Parents angry at having to pay for school transport

ANGRY parents in one area of Cardiff say they are being forced to pay for school transport because of boundary changes.

Since Llanedeyrn High School shut in 2011, the “local” school for some pupils who had been living in the catchment area is now Llanishen High. But free transport for children from feeder primaries has now ended.

It means those who live just under the three miles away needed to get free school bus travel for their children will have to fork out £420 – or £400 if they pay up front.

Single mum Alison Hood’s son Joshua, 11, has a heart condition. But he is still not eligible for free bus fares as they live at The Hawthorns, Pentwyn, 2.8 miles from Llanishen High, where he starts next month.

Alison, who works part-time as a carer and has a younger daughter, says she can’t work extra to pay the £400 or she will lose housing benefits worth more.

Instead Joshua, who has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause his heart to beat abnormally fast, will have to miss school trips she will not now be able to afford.

“I am not allowing him to walk so he’ll have to get the bus. He can do normal things but he had an operation at Bristol Children’s Hospital last year and on Tuesday is going in for an ECG fitted for 24 hours. He can walk but the route is up a very steep hill and it is a long way.”

She added: “Cardiff High is actually closer than Llanishen High, our feeder school. He’d walk past Cardiff High to get to school.”

Liberal Democrat councillor for the Pentwyn and Llanedeyrn ward Joe Carter called on the council to restore free transport, saying there were “a lot of angry families” who had been being unfairly penalised because their new local school is now further away.

Cardiff council said the authority was bound by the law set by the Welsh Government that school transport is only paid for children living three or more miles from their catchment school.

Sarah Merry, cabinet member for education, said: “The catchment area for Llanishen High School changed in 2011 to include a number of primary schools that would have previously been in Llanedeyrn High’s catchment prior to its closure.

“At that time, the council made a decision to temporarily provide free transport for all children moving from those primaries into Llanishen High School for five years – up until the completion of their GCSEs.

“The reason continued eligibility was set at five years was to provide a period of transition for those parents who had already sent their children to those primary schools, with the expectation that they would then move on to Llanedeyrn High, a school that was closer to home than Llanishen High.

“It also gave notice to those parents with children about to enter, or in primary school education in the area, enough time to consider all other options in light of the catchment changes.”

She added: “From this September, Llanishen High pupils in years nine, 10 and 11 living in the areas affected by the catchment changes will continue to receive free transport.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said the three-mile rule predates the Welsh Government, and that a twomile rule exists for all primary school children.