Wintry conditions show why North Yorkshire’s home to school transport plans are ill-conceived
The current wintry conditions are a reminder of why parents in North Yorkshire continue to fight against controversial school transport cuts.
Conservative-run North Yorkshire Council has been accused of being “reckless and short-sighted” with its new school transport policy, amid the blanket of snow and ice covering the region.
Sending children from Swaledale to school in Settle is fraught with danger when the conditions are as they have been in recent days. As is the case for pupils in Arkengarthdale having to go over Stang Top to Barnard Castle.
The plans have been ill-conceived and show that there is a disconnect between the council and those that they make decisions in the name of. Rural communities have too often been an after-thought and the home to school transport policy is indicative of this.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for ice until 11am today, while five to eight centimetres of snow is expected in parts of North Yorkshire.
Six schools - including Filey Academy and the Woodlands Academy along the Scarborough coast - were forced to close yesterday.
This is valuable time that pupils are losing when it comes to their education. Making it more difficult for pupils to get to school by virtue of presenting them with potentially more treacherous commutes in the winter is not acceptable.
At a time when there is a lot of debate about the broken social contract, parents fighting for choice for their children are to be applauded. The council should engage with their concerns and rethink the ill-conceived home to school transport policy, not ignore these families.
What may look good on paper does not always reflect well in reality and that is the case here. The new permanent corporate director of children and young people’s services must address this issue as a matter of priority.