A young boy from South Belfast almost missed his first day of primary school due to a transport issue with the Education Authority.
Thomas Currie was ready and excited for his first day of P1 at Brookfield Special School in Moira when the taxi bus, organised through the EA, didn't arrive despite assurances it would be there to drop him to school and bring him home.
After a similar issue last year that took three weeks to resolve, Thomas' parents are worried they may have to miss time at work and pay extra fuel costs to bring him on the 40 minute-each-way trip. The reason Thomas goes to a school so far away, they said, was due to not being able to get space at a special school near their Belfast home.
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Thomas' needs mean his transport to school includes a taxi minibus with the same driver each day, and a carer provided by the Education Authority who ensures he gets to and from school safely.
However, on his first day of school on Thursday, September 1, Thomas almost didn't make it due to his transport not arriving. Instead, his dad, David, had to take time off work to bring him to school.
Speaking to Belfast Live, David said they had minimal contact from the Education Authority. He said: "We heard nothing from them [the EA] throughout summer until about a month ago.
"They contacted us to get more details about what Thomas needs this year, so we explained that everything still needs to stay the same, he still needs a taxi bus, he still needs the carer there with him. We didn't hear anything until maybe two weeks ago when we had to contact them.
"We called them up to see what was happening, and they informed us they had a new company running the transport called Loughview Transport."
Not hearing anything after this, David and his wife Lucy contacted the Education Authority again and were told to contact the external transport company. Two weeks before Thomas' first day at school, Lucy called and was reassured they had Thomas' information.
They were informed they would be setting up a meeting between Thomas and the driver, and that they would be in touch a week before his start date to get everything arranged.
However, after not hearing anything from this, they tried to contact them multiple times but couldn't get through. On Thursday morning, Thomas was excited for his first day at school.
"We got him ready assuming under the promises we had been given that everything was arranged, that he would be getting picked up," Lucy explained.
"He was really excited, but he can get really overwhelmed when he's excited so he just wanted to go. When the time came for him to usually have been picked up, and there was no sign of anybody, we phoned again.
"My husband spoke to the guy who runs it and he gave the number of the driver, so David called him. He said he was on his way to a different special school in Lisburn, and he said Thomas wasn't on his list."
After a back and forth with the transport company, the family were left with no choice but to take Thomas to school themselves, with dad David taking time off work.
Lucy said: "It's just not feasible for the long term, it comes with a cost for us with the petrol. The only reason he goes to a school so far away is because there were no placements in South Belfast for him, so this was the closest option for us, and it's a 40 minute drive each way.
"My husband had to take time out of work - we don't get that time back, we don't get paid for that. We can't afford to keep doing this for as long as it takes for them to sort this out. Taking the time off work as well to do it, you run the risk of losing your job if you're not able to meet your work expectations.
"The only thing I can compare to is our experience last year where it was three weeks without transport and me chasing them [the EA] every day - I don't have the time or flexibility at work to do that. They have a legal obligation to be providing a service that they're not."
Lucy said the main issue they have come up against is a lack of communication from the Education Authority. She said they're unsure how long the transport issue will continue for.
"We're no further forward, we have no idea what's happening. It's a shambles every year," she added. "It seems to be affecting so many different parents. We're sick of our children suffering because they can't get this stuff sorted.
"There is never communication from the Education Authority, at no point has anyone contacted us, we've always had to chase it.
"We don't even get a letter saying this is the name of the company and the driver, we get nothing. It's just wondering if someone will arrive or not, there's just no communication, that's the biggest issue I have.
"It's just not acceptable when you're dealing with children who require structure, to see children really distressed, upset and having a meltdown because they don't think they're getting to school is awful and it's not fair.
"Our concern is wondering if this is going to happen every week, if we'll be waiting at the door with nobody showing up. Do they have the capacity within their organisation to fill the needs of the contract or not? We have no information, all we know is we have a little boy who was crying his eyes out not knowing if he was going to school or not. It's not very fair."
A spokesperson for the Education Authority (EA) said: "We are aware of this transport issue and sincerely apologise for the disruption caused to this family. We appreciate how important a child’s first day at school is and our transport team have been working hard to put suitable arrangements in place for each and every child ahead of the start of term.
“We can confirm that this matter has now been resolved and the family has been updated.
“As pupils start back to school we ask for parents’ continued patience while pupils and operators alike settle into their new timetables and routes. Parents with any queries or concerns relating to home to school transport can contact our helpline from Monday – Friday between 9.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 4.30pm, please call 028 95 98 59 59.”
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