Mother’s frustration over school bus bar

Ballina mother-of-two is becoming increasingly frustrated with the cost and inconvenience of transporting her daughter to Roscrea five days a week, despite the fact that public transport is available for other local children attending a special school.

Annagh Minchin cannot understand why the Department of Education will not allow her daughter, Aife, travel on the mini-bus with five other children to St Anne’s Special School in Roscrea, which passes her front door in Ballina every morning and evening.
She told The Clare Champion that a special education needs officer stated that because Aife is not attending the nearest school that could accommodate her, St Vincent’s in Lisnagry, Limerick, she wouldn’t be entitled to take the bus to St Anne’s.
Aife, who suffers from a number of health difficulties including autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, fluid in her spine, limited speech and three holes in her heart, had been attending the autism unit in Boher Primary School near their home, but all the teachers, an early intervention team and a private psychologist recommended St Anne’s and not St Vincent’s as the best facility to meet her special needs.
The marine biologist has to raise her two daughters on her own as their father lives abroad. From Monday to Friday, she has to drop her eldest daughter, Siban to a friend at 8am, gets back from Roscrea at around 10am and drops her to Boher National School. She leaves Ballina at around 1.30am and gets back at 3.30pm later that day.
She is unable to return to work due to the demands of transporting Aife to and from Roscrea.
In addition to spending about €140 a week on petrol travelling 1,150km on school trips.
She stressed that including her child on the bus wouldn’t cost the Government anything extra it already passes her front door and has space for her daughter.
Having spent the past two years studying an Accounting Technicians Ireland course at Limerick Senior College, Annagh passed her final exams last May but still requires work experience necessary to fully qualify.
The Education Act states it will ensure that support services and a level of quality education appropriate to meeting the needs and abilities of that person and that one of these support
Having exhausted all avenues, including the appeal process, Ms Minchin admits that going public about her plight is the last resort, apart from legal action.
“She has improved a great deal in St Anne’s. Before she would only have said one word now she tries to speak coherently in full sentences. The school is also providing toilet training,” she added.
“She is a natural leader; she is great at organising her friends but not herself and this is illustrated by the fact that she hates cleaning up her own room.
“She is generally a very happy child and you can often hear her laughter echoing around the house. I wouldn’t change a day with my daughter, she is my special girl. She has made me experience the world in a whole new light and appreciate the smaller things in life that can often be taken for granted.
Aife enjoys swimming, horse riding, Irish dancing and tae kwon do, but most of all loves spending time with her friends and family.
“She has a fantastic big sister who makes sure that she is never left out of anything and loves her very much,” Annagh added.
If Annagh moves Aife to St Vincent’s, she would also be required to transfer to the Limerick early intervention team, where it is expected she would be put on a waiting list for services.
The case is being dealt with in the normal manner in School Transport Section under the terms of the transport scheme for children with special needs.
The purpose of the School Transport Scheme for children with special needs is to provide a reasonable level of transport service for children with a diagnosed disability or special educational need, who, because of the nature of their disability, may not be in a position to avail of a school bus service which would be time-tabled to pick up other children along the route of service.
Under the scheme, a pupil with special needs is eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school, special class/special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet the child’s special educational needs under Department of Education and Science criteria.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education and Skills said it couldn’t comment on individual cases.