Outram School pupils (from left) Jack Frampton, 6, Tessa Davidson, 7, Pippa Davidson, 6, Clyde Luke, 8, Olive Luke, 11, Louie Hayes, 5, and Hemi Frampton, 8, are unhappy their school bus route has been axed. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY Four Dunedin families are going be adding an extra 70km per week to their school run after their bus route was axed. Friday is the last day the Henley to Outram school bus route will run, leaving seven pupils and their families to drive to Momona to catch the bus. The Ministry of Education has chosen to defund the route, saying many of the children using it are not attending their nearest primary school, and to address rising fuel costs. Parent Keryn Luke has two children taking the bus, and said the extra distance will add about 70km of driving per week for each of the four families who use the route. ‘‘It’s already really challenging to live rurally and have no public transport, but to make it even more difficult to get to school just seems silly.’’ The issue had arisen partly due to zoning. While the families each live in-zone for Outram School, many live closer to Waihola District School — however they are out of zone for that school. ‘‘We are 200m closer to Waihola District School than Outram School, so the ministry has deemed that I’m not attending my local school — so they will not provide transport to my children.’’ For the ministry to provide a school bus, three criteria must be met: pupils must be attending their closest state or state-integrated school, they must live at least 3.2km away from their nearest school, and there must be a lack of suitable public transport. Mrs Luke said the rules for providing a bus did not work when applied to rural communities. She was especially frustrated because she remembered in 2004 when primary schools in Henley and Momona were closed and pupils were sent to Outram School. She recalled being advised at the time ‘‘if we attended the school we were told to attend, the transport would always be provided’’. Now, she has been told she could instead move her children to Waihola District School. ‘‘So I’ve contacted Waihola, and they have no bus system to me because they don’t collect children from this area. ‘‘Even if I wanted to, I actually have to get permission from my local school, which is Outram, because that’s the one I’m in the enrolment zone for. ‘‘The ministry’s telling me I’m not at the right school, but the right school provides zero transport for me.’’ She had been emailing the ministry protesting the change, but has given up after months of getting nowhere. ‘‘I’ve just decided we just have to drive to Momona. ‘‘But the problem is once you lose a bus stop, it’s really hard to reinstate it.’’ Ministry of Education general manager of school transport James Meffan said the bus stop had never been a formal ministry-approved bus stop, and instead had been operated at the discretion of the bus driver. Bus drivers were able to enter into a private arrangement with caregivers to extend a bus route before the start of a ministry’s bus route and after the ministry’s bus route has been completed — in this case the bus driver has said they would no longer be doing so. laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
