Parents and kids to march 10km to school after students left 'stranded' by school bus transport

Angry parents in Kildalkey are preparing to march with their children 10km along a winding country road to Trim on Monday morning in protest at being left high and dry with no school bus transport for their children.

It's understood that up to 12 children starting out in their first year in post-primary school have no means of transport to get their kids to Trim each day.

Speaking to the Meath Chronicle last week, worried mother Una Swords from Moyview said Bus Eireann informed her that there is no room for either of her daughters on the bus in the coming year.

"I received an email telling me that not only will Caoimhe (13) not be able to get the school bus to start post-primary this year but that my 17-year old daughter Aoife, who has been getting the bus for the last four years is no longer eligible either.

"Each year, we have to apply and pay up front €300 per child for a place on the bus and then wait until last minute for approval.  We're told the seats for everyone are concessionary which means the student isn't guaranteed a seat for the full duration of their education.

"This is just madness. My daughter has, in effect, been kicked off the bus for who or why I don't know, after four years and my youngest now can't get a seat to start a new school."

Una said that the Department of Education have informed some of the parents that the catchment school for the area is in Athboy.

"There's only about a mile in the difference and why can't parents have a choice in where their children receive secondary education.  We shouldn't have to go to just one school.  We choose schools for various reasons and the majority of pupils go to secondary school from here to Trim."

Parents have now been left in the lurch with only two weeks to find alternative ways to get their children to school.

"Most parents work and have to leave early so it would mean dropping their child to walk the streets of Trim at 7am.  That's just not on.

"We've also inquired into a private mini-bus but no-one is getting back to us.

 "I've got uniforms and books.  It's a bit late now telling me I can't get my kids to the actual school.  They are stranded.

"Kildalkey is growing in population, with a brand new national school about to open.  This problem is going to get worse as more and more kids each year graduate to post-primary level.

"The Department of Education should review the bus situation and have one that just caters for children in this area, given the numbers that have applied and will in the future

 "They should have been aware from the number of applications involved well in advance of this month and have had plans in place to transport these children.

 "But without forward planning, what are we going to do in the meantime," she asked.

Local Cllr Noel French said: "It's very concerning and needs to be sorted out as soon as possible."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said: "Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

"Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, will be considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated: such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

 "Where the number of applications for school transport on a concessionary basis exceeds the number of spare seats available, tickets are allocated using a random selection process. 

"Under the terms of the scheme, the availability of concessionary transport varies from year to year, based on the space capacity on the buses running on all of the various routes.

Bus Eireann has confirmed that, following the random selection process for concessionary seats, a number of children from the Kildalkey area who are not eligible for school transport to Trim have not been allocated a ticket.

They added: 'The terms of the school transport schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.'

Parents and children affected will meet at the bus stop on the main street in Kildalkey from 7.45am.