02-16-2006, 12:34 PM
Parents call for supervision on school transport
By: Denis J Croke
Laois Nationalist - Ireland
16th Feb 2006
SAFETY concerns over the transport provided for an 18-year-old youth to and from his home to school in Portlaoise have led to the boy having to stay at home from class.
His parents have had to look on as their autistic son misses classes because he doesn’t have an escort on the taxi taking him from his home to school.
The boy’s father explained that the family lives 25 miles from the school and Michael (not the boy’s real name), who is highly autistic with mild learning disability, travelled to Portlaoise each day to attend St Francis’.
“Michael had only five months left in St Francis’ and is going through an anxious time at present, his uncle died and his mother is ill,” said the father. “While travelling to school one morning recently the taxi was stopped at traffic works. He opened the taxi door and got from it. At that time we put it down to a once-off occurrence.”
But three weeks ago he again opened the taxi door and left it in a “high state of anxiety”.
“Since then we discovered Michael needs an escort with him in the taxi every day. He has been at home ever since then,” said Michael’s father.
Michael’s father is now appealing to the board of management and the Department of Education to come together and organise a supervisor for the taxi that took Michael to and from the school each day. “We have no problem with the taxi driver, he has been great to us. This is a health and safety issue. The board of management of the school won’t sanction an escort but we can’t see why they can’t make an exception just for five months.”
“My son is at home every day getting highly stressed. He loved going to school. He also needs psychiatric assessment but there is no one to carry it out in the health board at moment. We feel very let down by the board of management. Nobody has contacted us from the school since to see if ‘Michael’ was alright. It doesn’t seem to be forward thinking. We have no problem with the staff at the school. It’s the board’s problem,” said the father.
Sheila Barrett, secretary of the parents’ council said the parents’ council had been on to the school to provided super-visors for the buses. “A lot of kids have been taken off buses because of some of the things that have gone on. Kids are being threatened, one was even threatened that he would be set on fire,” said Ms Barrett.
She said there were other safety issues. “The kids are standing up, they won’t use the safety belts. You can’t blame the drivers. They have to concentrate on driving and they don’t want to go near the kids. We fear that a child is going to be seriously hurt.”
Board of Management Chairman Fr Greg Corcoran lays the blame for the lack of supervisors on the Department of Education’s doorstep. “While the department do provide minimal funding for supervisors, they do not provide legal indemnity,” said Fr Corcoran.
He went on to explain a supervisor would receive €30 per day. In the case of ‘Michael’ this would involve a least four hours work each day and Fr Corcoran wondered who would take up the role for this amount.
“The board of management is a voluntary group and to leave ourselves open to something like this is not on. We have continually tried to sort out the problem with the department but they haven’t budged an inch on it,” concluded Fr Corcoran.
ENDS
By: Denis J Croke
Laois Nationalist - Ireland
16th Feb 2006
SAFETY concerns over the transport provided for an 18-year-old youth to and from his home to school in Portlaoise have led to the boy having to stay at home from class.
His parents have had to look on as their autistic son misses classes because he doesn’t have an escort on the taxi taking him from his home to school.
The boy’s father explained that the family lives 25 miles from the school and Michael (not the boy’s real name), who is highly autistic with mild learning disability, travelled to Portlaoise each day to attend St Francis’.
“Michael had only five months left in St Francis’ and is going through an anxious time at present, his uncle died and his mother is ill,” said the father. “While travelling to school one morning recently the taxi was stopped at traffic works. He opened the taxi door and got from it. At that time we put it down to a once-off occurrence.”
But three weeks ago he again opened the taxi door and left it in a “high state of anxiety”.
“Since then we discovered Michael needs an escort with him in the taxi every day. He has been at home ever since then,” said Michael’s father.
Michael’s father is now appealing to the board of management and the Department of Education to come together and organise a supervisor for the taxi that took Michael to and from the school each day. “We have no problem with the taxi driver, he has been great to us. This is a health and safety issue. The board of management of the school won’t sanction an escort but we can’t see why they can’t make an exception just for five months.”
“My son is at home every day getting highly stressed. He loved going to school. He also needs psychiatric assessment but there is no one to carry it out in the health board at moment. We feel very let down by the board of management. Nobody has contacted us from the school since to see if ‘Michael’ was alright. It doesn’t seem to be forward thinking. We have no problem with the staff at the school. It’s the board’s problem,” said the father.
Sheila Barrett, secretary of the parents’ council said the parents’ council had been on to the school to provided super-visors for the buses. “A lot of kids have been taken off buses because of some of the things that have gone on. Kids are being threatened, one was even threatened that he would be set on fire,” said Ms Barrett.
She said there were other safety issues. “The kids are standing up, they won’t use the safety belts. You can’t blame the drivers. They have to concentrate on driving and they don’t want to go near the kids. We fear that a child is going to be seriously hurt.”
Board of Management Chairman Fr Greg Corcoran lays the blame for the lack of supervisors on the Department of Education’s doorstep. “While the department do provide minimal funding for supervisors, they do not provide legal indemnity,” said Fr Corcoran.
He went on to explain a supervisor would receive €30 per day. In the case of ‘Michael’ this would involve a least four hours work each day and Fr Corcoran wondered who would take up the role for this amount.
“The board of management is a voluntary group and to leave ourselves open to something like this is not on. We have continually tried to sort out the problem with the department but they haven’t budged an inch on it,” concluded Fr Corcoran.
ENDS