Planned changes to school bus routes by the Ministry of Education will impact the Mt Somers Springburn School community, principal Morgan Platt says.
It will mean a reduction in runs and more stress for families.
A public meeting to discuss those changes will take place at the school on Tuesday at 7pm.
A ministry representative from the transport delivery team will be present and Platt encouraged those in the school community to attend.
He said initial conversations with the ministry had been held to talk about some of the changes which come into effect in 2026.
Currently, it stated there was a need for a minimum of four children to be at the last pickup/drop off point on route and that a 10-year-old could be expected to walk 2.3km to catch a bus.
There was also wording in the document open to interpretation.
‘‘Ideally a child shouldn’t be on a bus for more than an hour. Yet with the changes we will have a six-year-old on a bus for an hour and 20 minutes,’’ he said.
The meeting would give people a chance to listen, share information and ask questions.
Platt hoped there could be changes with current plans and had received support from organisations outside the school gate.
This was not just an issue for Mt Somers Springburn School, others in the district had faced similar issues, he said.
He said about 50 families attending the school used the bus service, and 16 were impacted by the changes, as well as zoning issues.
‘‘We have families who attend our school but may be in a different transport entitlement zone and vice versa,’’ Platt said.
‘‘It would be helpful if they both aligned because at present it’s a messy system.’’
He said families were considering what the changes will mean for their children’s education; in some cases, it may mean parents drive a round trip of 40km twice-a-day to get to the nearest bus stop.
The changes could impact families looking for work especially on farms.
They want to know they can get their children to school via the bus system especially if there are no alternative, he said.
‘‘We have workers on farms where the dad works and the mum can’t drive so the changes would mean the child couldn’t get to school,‘‘ Platt said
‘‘The government talk about supporting rural communities but the changes impact not just the pupils and their families, but also the wider community and not in a supportive way.’’
■ Public meeting to discuss bus route changes will be held at Mt Somers Springburn School on Tuesday, October 28 at 7pm. Ministry of Education representatives will be in attendance to talk about the changes.
