Crossgar boy off school because of no transport

Crossgar boy off school because of no transport

18 September 2024

A CROSSGAR mother is appealing to education officials to provide school transport for her son.

For three weeks, Marie Hodgen has been waiting for the Education Authority (EA) to arrange transport for her 11 year-old son, Anthony, to Blackwater Integrated College in Downpatrick.

Marie and her family were delighted when Anthony was accepted by the school, but he has now missed 24 days of classes.

Anthony, who is from the Killyleagh Road, suffers from autism and ADHD. According to his family, he cannot use public transport.

“It’s been an exhausting process,” Mrs Hodgen explained.

“I don’t drive, so I first contacted the EA on August 28 about arranging transport for Anthony, but they have not given me any clear indication about when this will be sorted, or if he is entitled to it.

“My husband drives, but he is only able to leave Anthony to school on certain days because of the nature of his work.

“I’ve been at the EA for weeks and they’ve told me that I haven’t been in touch with them or that they weren’t aware about my requests, which is simply not true.

“They haven’t given me any reason why Anthony wouldn’t be entitled to receive the transport to get him to school.”

Mrs Hodgen said that the ordeal has affected Anthony’s mental health.

“He feels isolated in that he is the only one of his classmates who is not able to get to school,” she continued.

“He’s found it really upsetting. There was an awards ceremony during one of the school assemblies and Anthony was not able to go and collect his award.

“He keeps asking me why he can’t go to school or why he’s not in school – it’s been very hard on him because he’s not getting the opportunity to get to know his teachers, his classmates and make new friends.

“The school has been very understanding and has contacted the EA about the issue.

“It’s so frustrating because he loves school. He really enjoys technology and science and is very anxious that he’s missing out on subjects he is interested in.”

Mrs Hodgen said the EA contacted her about organising a taxi to take Anthony to school with the promise to reimburse her.

However, she said that when she spoke to a person from the EA, they could not guarantee when she would receive the money.

“It would cost us far too much to do that and would leave us vulnerable if the EA were not able to subsidise it,” Mrs Hodgen said.

“I wouldn’t put Anthony on a bus because he’d be too anxious and there would be too much going on for him to handle with his ADHD.

“We just really want this to be sorted. It’s gone on for too long and needs to be sorted. Anthony has a right to get to school safely.” 

A spokesperson said for the EA said that they were unable to comment on the specific details of individual children and families, but offered their “sincere apologies” for any anxiety or upset the delay in finalising transport arrangements may have caused.

“The EA’s transport service works to prioritise individual arrangements as quickly as possible. However, this process can take up to 20 days due to our statutory requirement to follow public procurement regulations 

for private transport solutions such as taxis,” the spokesperson said.

“We would like to reassure the family that we are continuing to make every effort to set the service up as promptly as possible.

“We are exhausting all efforts to provide transport assistance as quickly as possible, including offering an interim solution, in the form of a parental payment.”