'Help us find Max a school place'

A 12-year-old Culmullen boy is having sleepless nights because he has no school to go to next year.

Max O’Farrell, who has physical disabilities, has ambitions to go to university, but is devastated at the prospect of not even getting a place in secondary school next September.
The O’Farrell family have found themselves in a situation where Max is falling through the cracks, because their home is outside the catchment area of any secondary school, and he didn’t attend a feeder school, as he has been finishing his primary education in Castleknock, from where the family moved a few years ago. 

Despite his parents reassurances, he is very anxious. “He is extremely stressed out at the moment. He is losing sleep. He was always easy going, but now he is panicking,” says his mother, Edel.
Edel and Andrew O’Farrell live in Culmullen with their four boys, and while most of the parish is within the catchment area of

Dunshaughlin Community College, the area where they live is not.
In fact it isn’t in the catchment area for any school and so Edel has started a petition calling for the catchment areas for all schools to border the catchment area of another school, so that nobody is left in a position similar to Max’s.

The O’Farrell family moved to Culmullen in 2016. Max has three younger brothers and two have been enrolled in Culmullen NS for September, while the other is still too young. Edel has been working in Castleknock until now, so she left the boys at school there, particularly because Max needs a lot of help with his cerebral palsy and had a good system in place in the school he attended in Castleknock.

However this has contributed to his problems, because if he had attended Culmullen NS like his brothers will, he would have got a place in Dunshaughlin Community College and Culmullen NS is a ‘feeder school’ for Dunshaughlin.
“We are three miles from the school, but one mile outside the catchment area. Our neighbour’s house is only 15 feet away from ours, but their children go to Dunshaughlin because they went to Culmullen.
“I have no issue with Dunshaughlin Community College, they have done nothing wrong and are just abiding by their enrolment policy.

“We appealed the situation to the LMETB, but they ruled against us and Max still hasn’t a place.
“I called seven other schools, but all of them said that Max would not meet their enrolment criteria.
“I have contacted the Department of Education, LMETB, education welfare officers, special needs education officers and Minister Joe McHugh, but to no avail.

“We don’t know what is going to happen. Max is very afraid that they will try to send him to school for children with intellectual disabilities, but he doesn’t have an intellectual disability - his difficulties are purely physical.
“I have two other children that I have to drive to school, so if they find a place for Max a long distance away, I don’t know how we will manage, getting them to school and then Max to wherever he needs to go.

“One of the options that was put to us was home schooling, but that is not an option. He doesn’t want to come out of main stream school. He wants to do his Leaving Cert and go to College.
“Just because he cannot walk, doesn’t mean he should be denied those opportunities.
“He is very stressed out. He used to love to go to school and see his friends, but now he just asks what the point.
“We are trying to reassure him, but he is very, very anxious.”

Edel has now decided to make a stand which she hopes will help other children like Max, by setting up a petition calling on the government to make it so all catchment areas must be bordered on all sides by the catchment area of the next school. This is currently not the case and leads to gaps. The petition can be accessed here.

Cllr Nick Killian, a member of the LMETB said that Max’s story confirms the need for another second level school for Dunshaughlin and he called for its urgent provision. 
“I am very unhappy with the current catchment area for Dunshaughlin Community college,” he said, pointing out that there are black spots around the county that don’t fit into any schools catchment area.