Education bosses are monitoring a bus company after several parents complained about it being late picking up children from school.
West Lothian Council said it will be keeping an eye on the number of delays after parents complained that EM Horsburgh were consistently late collecting kids at the end of the school day.
Parents said they had been forced to complain to the bus company
and council over the number of times their youngsters had been left waiting, sometimes half and hour.
One mum said: “My daughter currently uses the school transport bus from Deans Community High School.
“Every single day since the school started back the bus has been up to half an hour late, leaving many children waiting with only one teacher to accompany them.”
Another said: “E&M Horsburgh Ltd who run the school bus contract are failing to turn up
at Deans Community High School on time when the school day is over.
“Parents are getting texts from the school
just shortly before
the children should be collected by the bus operator. This has been happening almost daily since the term started, kids waiting circa 40 minutes at times.”
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said that
a “productive meeting” had been held recently between council
officers and EM Horsburgh to address issues around school buses.
He continued: “We understand the challenges faced nationally by bus operators around recruitment, and appreciate that additional efforts by Horsburgh are ongoing to increase their number of drivers.
“However, our priority is always ensuring that our children and young people have the transport that they need to get to school and back every day.
“Additional short-term measures have been put in place to manage the situation, including temporary time relaxations and an improved notification system for any delays.
“Delays will be monitored on a basis, with further discussions planned for after the school October break.”
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