School bus is off limits

By Melissa Meehan
A HODDLE’S Creek boy must walk home from school along a “steep, unsafe road without a footpath” as his parents have to now pay $340 a year for a service which was previously free.
Bradley Cole-Sinclair, 10, was able to ride the bus home from Hoddles Creek Primary school along with his older sibling until the Education Department’s bus entitlements audit in March ruled out free travel for the primary kids living nearby.
Bradley’s father Bernard Cole-Sinclar said that the decision was “discriminatory, inequitable, prejudiced, biased and inconsistent, not to mention unfair.”
“Both myself and my wife Carolyn work full time and it is not always possible to pick Bradley up from school on time,” Mr Cole said.
“It’s not fair that Bradley is now forced to walk home, while his older sister, who attends high school can catch the same bus and wave at him as it goes by.”
He said the education department’s audit sent his family a letter asking for $340 a year for Bradley to travel on the bus from school 1.8 kilometers down the road. Those primary school kids living a fair distance are still entitled to travel free.
“It is basically $340 a year to travel up a hill,” Mr Cole-Sinclair said.
“The price they are charging us doesn’t correspond with the distance travelled.”
Mr and Mrs Cole-Sinclair sent a letter to Minister for Public Transport Lynne Kosky demanding that the decision to start charging their son be reversed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said there was no change to the eligibility of free-school bus travel.
“A student who lives at least 4.8 kilometers from their local government school qualifies for free bus travel.”
Upper Yarra Secondary College is responsible for managing school buses in the area.
Assistant principal Debbie Morrish said a new bus coordinator had found that Bradley was riding the bus to and from school while she was working through a backlog of documents.
“It was a big job to get the records up to date, so once we found the mistake we contacted the parents,” Ms Morrish said.
“We gave them a whole term’s notice before the policy was put in place.”
Ms Morrish said it was not the school’s decision to refuse free bus travel to Bradley, but legislation enforced by the Government.
“We are trying to be fair to everyone under the existing regulations and have even made presentations to the Education Department for special cases,” Ms Morrish said.
“But we cannot change Government legislation. We have to work within the rules.”