9 May 2017
School Bus Transport
Make Health & Safety your first priority
Golden Bay Coachlines Ltd – Notice to Schools / Parents / Guardians / Caregivers of pupil’s ineligible for school bus transport on Ministry of Education contracted services.
Many children have been identified as being ineligible for transport on Ministry of Education funded school bus services. The Ministry of Education criteria for funded transport is as follows:
Eligible students
To be eligible for assistance, students need to meet these criteria:
1. Type of school
For students to be eligible, the school they are attendingmust bethe closest school that the student can enrol at and is one of the following:
· a mainstream state school
· a state-integrated school
· a Māori-medium school
· a partnership school.
2. Distance between home and school
Students must live more than a certain distance fromthe school they are attending.The distance is over the shortest public road or pedestrian route from the student’s home roadside gate to their school’s front gate:
· students from Years 1–8 must live at least 3.2km from their school
· students from Year 9 or over must live at least 4.8km from their school.
Students not attending their closest appropriate School
The Ministry does not provide funding for students who do not attend the closest school that they can enrol at.
If a student is not attending their closest school, but would otherwise be eligible for School Transport Assistance (refer Year level – distance criteria above) they may make their own way, at their own cost, to a bus stop and access a Ministry-funded bus. These students must only access the bus when they are in the “zone” of their attended school.
Carriage of Ineligible Students on Ministry Buses
Where a student is deemed ineligible for Ministry funded assistance they may be permitted to use the bus at the discretion of the Operator (Golden Bay Coachlines) so long as the following criteria are met:
· there is capacity on the service
· no eligible students are disadvantaged (either by not being able to have a seat, or having their journey unduly delayed
· the ineligible student pays a fare
· there is written permission of all schools affected by the route to carry ineligible students
Schools affected by the route include the school(s) serviced by the route, and the closer school(s) that the student has chosen not to attend.
Golden Bay Coachlines have provided all Golden Bay Schools with a list of students who do not meet the eligibility criteria. We have asked schools to make contact with all Parents / Caregivers of these students shortly.
If a student does not meet the criteria for Ministry of Education funded school bus transport and they are currently using the service, the following will apply:
· You will receive a letter from your child / children’s school explaining the reasons
· You will be given notice, that the changes will commence on the 1 January 2018
Parents / Caregivers of these students will be required to do one of the following from 1 January 2018:
· Make their own arrangements for school transport
· Form a private contractual arrangement with Golden Bay Coachlines and pay a fare
All new enrolments and / or students changing address from the 9 May 2017 will be subject to the Ministry of Education criteria.
Students wishing to use the service for one off travel to after school activities, going to Nanas etc will be required to comply with the criteria, immediately. This means, contacting Golden Bay Coachlines and making prior arrangements if there is capacity on the service, and paying a fare.
The Ministry of Education has not changed its policy in relation to the travel of ineligible student. It is important that all School Bus operators through-out the country are complying with the rules, so this is nation-wide not just our community being affected by these changes.
We would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Education for allowing us a very fair and reasonable timeframe for implementing the criteria, so that our schools, families and community can manage the impact this will have on some families.
Yours sincerely
School Bus Management
Golden Bay Coachlines