No bus for ASD children
A group of Athboy parents has expressed anger and frustration at being unable to get their children to school.
A number of children with autism from Athboy, who are enrolled in the ASD class in Gilson National School in Oldcastle, have been left stranded without school transport.
One Athboy mother has told how it breaks her heart that her son, who has autism, cannot go to school due to Bus Eireann being unable to source a bus to provide transport.
Shannon Tenanty's son MJ (6) is enrolled in Gilson NS in Oldcastle, the closest school she could find with an autism class that had space for him but he has only been able to attend a handful of times as they don't have transport.
Although children attending autism classes are entitled to bus transport to and from school, Bus Eireann has so far been unable to source a bus.
MJ is not the only child affected and Shannon said there are four other children from Athboy who are also affected.
MJ had attended an early intervention class in Dunderry NS for two years and was very happy to go to school but because the school doesn’t have autism classes for older children, his parents had try to find another school for him this year. With a lot of demand for autism places, and no school with autism classes in their home town of Athboy, Gilson NS in Oldcastle was the nearest school they could find for their son.
“There is no autism class in Athboy. When we were told he had a place in Oldcastle, the first thing we wondered was how were we going to get him. And then we were told they would get a bus with an escort so all that was fine until about a week before they started school. We got an email from Bus Eireann that there was no bus available and they would be in touch down the line. Then last week we got the same email again that still no bus had been found and they would be in contact another two weeks,” explained Shannon.
Shannon has only managed to get MJ to school about seven or eight times during September by organising lifts and she said the lack of routine has been impacting him and he can’t understand why he can’t go to school like his older siblings.
“It is so hard on him. Some mornings he would get up looking forward to going to school and you had no way of getting him there, then he could get to go one day, and then miss the rest of the week. He didn’t know whether he was coming or going. He is more agitated because he has no routine.”
She said it was “extremely disppointing” that there are no autism classes in Athboy and that even if they manage to get a bus to Oldcastle, it is a journey of 40 minutes over and 40 minutes back each day for MJ.
She said if she was able to get him a place in Trim or Navan at least there would be public transport but she Oldcastle was the only school with a space. She is also concerned that Oldcastle is so far away if he injured himself or anything happened as he is high asd.
Another parent Daiva Rudiene has told how her six-year-old son Darijus who was also due to start school in Oldcastle has not been able to go to school because they don’t have transport.
“I don’t have a car and I don’t drive. We have been waiting for there to be a bus but still nothing,” she said.
Daiva said her son had attended Dunderry NS for two years and had bus transport to school, but they do not have an older class for children with autism.
“He really likes school, he was always happy to go. It really upsets me that he is not able to go.”
Brigid McDonagh says her son, Anthony’s behaviour has deteriorated badly because he isn’t going to school. He too was due to start school in Oldcastle.
“Anthony needs routine and without it his behaviour suffers. I need eyes in the back of my head when he is at home,” she said.
Anthony had been attending the early intervention class in Dunderry, but now needs to move on to the classes for slightly older children.
“When he was in school, it was great. He had a routine, he made great progress, We couldn’t believe the difference in him. He used to come home from school and sleep for an hour.”
Brigid says she doesn’t drive, so Anthony hasn’t been able to get to school.
“Even if I did drive, it would mean a 60 mile round trip every day to Oldcastle,” she said.
Mark Carey, principal of Gilson National School said it was unfortunate that the children have been unable to get to school.
“It is a difficult situation and I hope there will soon be a resolution.
“The provision of transport is the responsbility of Bus Eireann.”
When contacted by the Meath Chronicle for comment, Bus Eireann issued the following statement.
Bus Éireann statement:
"Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The purpose of the scheme is to provide transport for children living remotely from their nearest school. For the academic year 2024/25 a record number of over 173,000 pupils are transported to school each day across 10,500 routes including transport for over 22,000 children with Special Educational needs.
"Unfortunately, a small minority of pupils are still waiting on a school transport service to commence. Bus Éireann sincerely apologises to the families affected for the inconvenience caused by the delay in operating this service and appreciate their patience and understanding.
"As soon as a vehicle and driver has been sourced, and vehicle and driver compliance checks completed the families will be contacted directly on the matter. Please note that the service is not cancelled. Where a service is not in place for the start of a new school year, an interim grant is available. Families do not need to make an application; the Department of Education and Youth will be contacting families directly.
"The Bus Éireann School Transport team is working tirelessly to secure transport for the routes in question. For parents/guardians seeking to get in touch with their individual queries, there is a dedicated call centre which can be reached at LoCall 0818 919 910. Alternatively, we can be reached via the webform on our website – buseireann.ie/contact-us"