A PENOLA school principal has called on the newly elected Liberal State Government to follow through on its student transport promise.
Her comments come in the wake of families throughout the region speaking out about being cut from school bus services.
Mary MacKillop Memorial School principal Maureen Hanrahan has urged the newly elected Liberal State Government to follow through with its promise to ensure non-government school students have fair access to school buses in regional areas.
Her comments come in the wake of families speaking out about being cut from services to take children from outlying towns to non-public schools in Penola, Mount Gambier and Millicent.
“They have said they will conduct a review of bus services based on the principle that regional students in non-government schools should have reasonable access to transport as they do in Adelaide,” the Penola principal said.
“It would be preferred to transfer the responsibility of school buses to the Department of Transport – where it is in other states.
“The issue would then become about the logistics of moving students to school rather than which sector they attended.
“This is really stressful for our families and we hope it will be resolved quickly so that all students, no matter which school they attend, can get to school safely.”
Receiving a letter in week two of the new school year informing her of the rules outlined by the Department for Education and Child Development, Nangwarry mother Rachel Manninen was left frustrated with the decision resulting in her sons Jimmy (5) and Josh (7) having no way to reach Mary MacKillop Memorial School in Penola.
While previously able to catch the bus – that leaves from their driveway – the children have been found ineligible for transport as they are not government school students and live within 5km of the Nangwarry Primary School.
Building a strong connection to the Catholic primary school over the past few years, Ms Manninen said her children would be devastated if they had to change schools because of a school bus issue.
“We chose Mary MacKillop Memorial School carefully and have made sacrifices to send our children there because it supports their education in an environment consistent with our faith and values,” she said.
“We are Catholic and have been involved with this parish for decades.
“I went to school there, mum taught there for a long time and my dad’s great grandmother was one of the very first students.
“If that school was not Catholic and was not so important to our family we would happily send them to a government school.
“But I feel it is unfair that we do not have a choice because of where we live.”
Currently having to drive her children the 30km to and from Penola each day on top of part-time work and study, Ms Manninen said she was pinning all her hopes on the Liberal Government.
“If this does not change we may have to change to Penola Primary, it is a great school, but it is not our first choice and it seems unfair that is the reason we have to take them out of school,” she said.
“We just want some security in our school choice.”
