The recent changes to school bus services have left some parents and Dunedin principals feeling discriminated against. Only pupils who attend Logan Park High School - the closest to the northern services - and integrated schools are eligible for subsidised transport.
At the meeting, which was organised by Dunedin North MP David Clark, both Otago Boys' High School rector Clive Rennie and Otago Girls' High School principal Linda Miller said single-sex schools were being discriminated against.
Mrs Miller said the changes would mean some parents could not afford to send their children to either of the two schools. It cost about $2000 a year for each pupil to travel by bus.
Mr Rennie said the change ''disenfranchised'' parents and pupils from being able to choose which high school was right for them.
He also asked the ministry officials why the change in the way it interpreted eligibility for subsidised transport had been made now, and asked them to look at the ''wider picture''.
Ministry resourcing operations manager Bernadette Doolan who, along with another colleague, travelled from Wellington for the meeting, repeatedly said it was just following the rules which determined whether a pupil was eligible.
The changes were made after a two-yearly survey by the ministry.
The changes were about following the law, rather than saving money, she said.
Dr Clark earlier said the issue was a matter of ''natural justice'' and that the small savings made by the changes were not worth the stress and extra financial burden that had been placed on parents.
