MP joins primary principal in calling for reinstatement of 'yellow bus' service to rural Causeway Coast school
A Causeway Coast primary school principal has issued a ‘call for action’ to restore ‘yellow bus’ services which were cut just six days before her pupils were due to start the new term.
Mrs Leanne Smyth, principal of Dunseverick Primary School, took to social media to appeal for support to lobby the Education Authority to restore the bus service.
Posting on the school’s Facebook page, she wrote: “On 25th August (six days before children were due to return to school) I was informed by the Education Authority (EA) that the EA Yellow Bus service to and from Dunseverick Primary School would no longer be provided, reportedly due to a decline in the number of pupils using the service.
"This decision has left many families in our community facing genuine uncertainty about how their children will travel safely to and from school each day.
"While the EA has confirmed that a private 8-seater taxi will be available for pupils who were eligible for transport last year, this arrangement does not appear to accommodate new families who have recently applied for school transport for children beginning their education with us this year,” the principal added.
"As Principal of Dunseverick Primary School, I am deeply concerned about the impact this decision will have on our pupils, families and the wider school community. Access to education should never be determined by a family's ability to arrange transport, particularly in rural areas where alternative options are limited.
"This issue extends beyond our school. It raises important questions about equality of access, rural provision and the ability of families to choose the school that best meets the needs of their children. Every child entitled to transport should have reliable and sustainable access to it.”
Mrs Smyth then appealed to local politicians ‘regardless of party affiliation, to stand alongside our families and support our efforts to have the Yellow Bus service reinstated’.
"We need a united voice advocating for rural families and ensuring that our children are not disadvantaged by decisions that place additional barriers between them and their education.”
A public meeting will be held at Dunseverick PS on Tuesday, September 8 at 7pm.
"Parents, local representatives and members of the wider community are encouraged to attend and show their support for the restoration of this vital service.
"Our families deserve certainty. Our children deserve fair access to education.
"Together, we call upon the Education Authority and our elected representatives to work with us to secure the return of the Yellow Bus service and ensure that no child is left behind,” said Mrs Smyth.
Meanwhile north Antrim MP Jim Allister has demanded the reinstatement of the service saying: “Rural schools are often treated as the poor relations in education”.
Mr Allister continued: “The arbitrary and sudden decision of the EA to withdraw the yellow school bus service from Dunseverick Primary School is a case in point.
“With less than a week’s notice the school and parents have been left in the lurch with the provision of a mere eight seater taxi taking no account of the transport needs of new pupils and those who held a concession place on the previous school bus.
“I am therefore making strenuous representations to the Education Authority to reverse this decision and to undertake a reasoned consultation with the school and conduct a proper audit of need.
“Getting children to school safely is an imperative. Removing their school bus is ridiculous.”