No school bus in sight for Kildare secondary school

NO school bus is planned for the upcoming academic year for the Curragh Community College, which has prompted frustration amongst parents, teachers and students.

The situation received attention through a parliamentary question given by Kildare South TD Mark Wall.

In response, Minister of Education Helen McEntee, confirmed that no school bus will be provided for these students.

She stated that Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes, and that Bus Éireann will not be providing a school bus service for students living in Kildare Town and who are attending the Curragh Community Collegel.

The Parents’ Association at Curragh Community College have been left extremely disappointed with Bus Éireann’s response.

One parent on the council, Virginia Kinsella, has a child attending the school in second year and struggles to get her child into school each day from their home in Kildare Town.

Virginia explained that even though the school has enough children in need of a bus to school to meet quotas, because they don’t attend a school closer to them in their locality, they are not entitled to a school bus service. “The criterion is that you have to go to the school that’s closest to you, but that should be taken out – it should be an exceptional circumstance.”

“The reason she (Virginia’s daughter) is in the Curragh is because KTCS (Kildare Town Community School) is over-subscribed, so they’re saying that because she’s not going to her closest school, they’re not entitled to the bus, which is ridiculous.”

Virginia added: “They (the students) are kind of being discriminated against when you think about it.”

The frustration felt by the school community over this decision has been bubbling for a while as they still await the construction of a new school that was promised eight years ago.

Virginia said: “The school on the Curragh Camp is falling down around them. They’re freezing in the winter, roasting in the summer, and bits of ceiling are falling off.” Families have attempted to tackle the issue of transportation by organising carpools from Kildare Town to the school.

However, Virginia explained that due to unforeseen circumstances such as school absences or car troubles, children have been in situations where they had to take time off from school.

She said: “There are days where we try to carpool but because someone might be sick, there’s no way in. There have been children who haven’t gone to school because they had no way of getting there.”

Deputy Mark Wall said: “This is another blow to working families and students who live in Kildare town.”

“These families have already faced a number of delays to the new school building located at Magee Barracks in Kildare Town, which has only just been approved for planning. Failure to accommodate these students with school transport is essentially blaming them and their parents for planning issues on opening the new school building.”

He concluded: “This will result in parents being out of pocket for longer, who are already struggling as it is to put fuel in their cars getting to the school in the Curragh.”

The Minister’s response prompted Deputy Wall to issue a letter to the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan TD asking for the decision to be appealed.

He wrote: “I have been in touch with the Parents Association, and they’ve informed me that over 20 students need a school bus. Clearly, there is demand for a school bus route.

“Given the exceptional circumstances, I am asking that you intervene here and overturn Bus Éireann’s decision.”

The school community waits in hope for a positive response from the Minister and some movement on the situation to occur before the start of the new academic year.