School transport: Yorkshire parents spending £500 on two uniforms amid uncertainty over school places
Dozens of North Yorkshire families are being left in limbo over whether their child will get funded school transport after the summer holidays, a campaigning group has warned.
North Yorkshire Council’s controversial change to its school transport policy means that from September the majority of families are only eligible for free transport to their child’s nearest school, which can be different from their catchment area school.
The cost-saving policy has attracted ire from families who would prefer to send their child to their catchment school, and according to campaigners over 150 have lodged appeals for free transport to the council.
But the appeals backlog means some families face the start of the academic year without knowing which school their child will attend.
One parent, whose child is on the special educational needs register, told the Yorkshire Post that he had spent £500 on two school uniforms for his son while waiting for his appeal date to be set.
Kodi Sanerivi, from Hornby near Northallerton, wants his son Zak to attend Northallerton School, 8.2 miles away, but has been told the council will only fund transport to Conyers School in Yarm, 6.2 miles away
Zak has recently diagnosed Type 1 diabetes and his headteacher and doctors have all supported the appeal for him to attend Northallerton School where staff have put a plan in place to support him.
Mr Sanerivi, a business manager, said: “I’ve spent £500 on two lots of uniform. If we don’t get Zak’s appeal heard by September 2, we don’t where we’re going to send him to school.
“I’m considering formally homeschooling him for the time it takes to appeal.
“For the whole of Year Six, he’s been with kids who are going to Northallerton School, he does football and hockey there.
“They all understand his needs and his state of mind.
“We want him to go to Northallerton, he has had his transition days there and met the teams.
“We’re a professional family and my wife works away most of the time. Driving him to school every day is just not a possibility.”
Mr Sanerivi has said he will pay for a bus pass - but passes are only allocated if there are still spaces on the bus after free transport places have been allocated.
North Yorkshire Council documents show there are four scheduled meetings of the Appeals Committee over the summer holiday to clear the backlog.
But according to the School Transport Action Group, confidence has been lost by families across the region, with families in Ryedale, Selby, the Dales and Hambleton all affected.
A spokesperson said: “It’s been like a horrible Mexican wave. Trust has broken down between parents and North Yorkshire Council over this policy. All the warnings were there. Instead of the council thinking ‘maybe they’ve got a point,’ they missed the opportunity to react. They’ve got themselves in a hole and they’re still digging.
The group has warned that parents appealing for a free transport pass face an uphill battle. Freedom of Information requests showed just 12 per cent of parents who appealed transport in North Yorkshire in 2024 had it upheld, compared with 54 per cent in York and 46 per cent in Wakefield.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Fielding, said: “We recognise that there has been an increase in appeals being requested this year and we will be reporting on the exact numbers once the process has been completed.
“All requests will be heard within the required timeframes and some additional meetings have been scheduled to ensure this.”