Concerns have been raised in Gisborne, where rural school bus routes have been altered or cut.
Over 100 Gisborne students could be affected by these changes, and parents are calling for a new solution to be found.
Gisborne farmer Toby Williams says parents in these rural areas won't be able to get their kids to school efficiently anymore.
"For me, that'd be a hour journey each way to get them there, it ruins the productivity on my farm to try and get my kids to the education they need."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To the ongoing issue of school buses being cut. A
rural school bus review has some parents facing our long
drives just to get their kiddies to school. In the
Gisbane area. More than one hundred students could be affected.
And one of the parents there is Toby Williams, who's
with us now, Hi, Toby, Hi here? Okay, so what's
going on in your situation?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, So there's been a review going on for about
eighteen months from the Ministry of Education's Transport Division around
the eligibility of kids for going to school and the
Gisman reviews just come through and they've scaled the buses
right back and it's really affecting our rural kids and
we can't get our kids to school now and efficiently
without taking them ourselves. And for me, there'd been our
(00:41):
during the each day, each way, each day to get
them into there. So it rumined the productivity on my
farm to try to get the kids to the education
they need.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So the school bus a your school bus has been
cut or scaled back?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, our school bus has been scaled back, is that man?
So they've shortened the area so used to drive past
our gates, our kids would bike two k's down the
road every morning and catch the bus and the main road.
Now that option isn't there anymore. We've got to put
them in a car and drive them either to the
next bus stop which is close enough to town that
we may or drive the more the way to town
and then and drive home again. And there are other
(01:16):
rural areas have been done same. So they've sort of
turtled the entire bus route in so you're picking up
more urban kids.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But less rural kids. Okay, And so is this basically
is it a supplying demand thing that there weren't that
many kids catching this particular that the bus on this
particular route near your house.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, well there's forty five kids that utilize their bus
that goes past our gate. We've done a survey of
the community from the pick up point. Some parents bring
their kids in, you know, from relatively you know, from
half an hour away to that bus stop to save
them in that you know, an hour and a half
duney to town.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It seems a lot, Toby, how many how many would
it take? How many kids would it take to make
the bus run?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, that's what we're going through with go Bus at
the moment. Our local bus companies. How do we actually
fund this ourselves as a community if the ministry is
now not going to would.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You be prepared?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, we are, that's question. We are the community and
we need to get a price back from the bus company.
But we've got seven weeks to sort this out. We've
been told last week that on the first day of
term two that bus is no longer going to be
there and you have to have you know, your kids
have to find a way to school some other way
or somehow. So we're scramming to try to do this
and to be fair to the ministry, the government's reviewing
(02:25):
this at the moment, but what we're asking for is
them to pause these reviews, pause the rollout of the
review while we're looking at the policy as a whole.
So get the Ministry of Ministry of Education Transport Division
to stop the changes until maybe the end of the
year when we've got a clear picture of what it
looks like and the schools and parents.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
To be fair, I mean, how long do you guys,
how long do you actually really need to make a
decision on this? I mean, surely it's as simple as
you call the bus company, you go how much does
it cost for you to do this thing? And then
you split it between the parents who want to use it.
That doesn't take all year.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
No, it doesn't take all year. But we're working with
the schools on this as well, and there's some leading
time for the parents to understand. And there's people in
our community who can't afford that. The moment's been a
free bus and parts of.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Attribut So Toby, am I right in thinking that actually
you want to pause it so you can lobby against it.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
No, we're not lobbying against it at all, because I've
been when it's the Federated Farmers. We're lobbying for this
review to happen and providing some changes of what looked
like and that was cost sharing with the communities to
make sure we had the excess there. At the moment,
we've got parents now saying that their kids aren't going
to be going to school on some days because it's
not worth them taking them to school.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
How much does it? How much do you reckon it's
going to end up costing each family?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I can't. I don't know that at the moment.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Then how do we know if parents won't be able
to afford it?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, I've surveyed them and asked would affordability of a
bus be a concern for you? And about quarter of
the suve has come back saying yes that it would be.
And it's also the fact that the bus and some
of our days of school has only half a day.
So there's you know, trying to feed it in around
and make sure that you know, we can get the
kids to their and they've got the excess to education
(04:06):
is worked actually there, do.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know what I wonder? I mean, obviously it seems
to me the solution probably does lie on you guys
having to fund it yourselves, unfortunately, but I imagine that
this is actually going to pose a bigger because this
is happening around the country right This has got to
pose a problem for rural communities where it must be
hard to get people working on your farm if they've
got kids and they don't know how they can to
get their kids to school.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, one hundred percent. One of the big drawer cards
of having a farm having a bus go past your
gate is you can say to people, hey, look, high
school bus or primary school bus go is passed by
gate and you don't have to fork out private school
fees to get your children educated. The Act, you know,
was a nineteen eight act. This has been based on
and it's been looking to be modernized and we need
we think there needs to be some consultation around the
(04:48):
modernizing with communities and schools figure out how can we
cost you it, because no one's asking for a guaranteed
free bus that's unrealistic in the climate. But how do
we actually make sure we've got the excess first? And
communities are.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Consulted on this and that's what's not happening. Hey, Toby,
it's good to talk to you mate. Good luck with
sorting this one out. Toby Williams, Gisbane Farmer. For more
from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news Talks
it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
To the ongoing issue of school buses being cut. A
rural school bus review has some parents facing our long
drives just to get their kiddies to school. In the
Gisbane area. More than one hundred students could be affected.
And one of the parents there is Toby Williams, who's
with us now, Hi, Toby, Hi here? Okay, so what's
going on in your situation?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, So there's been a review going on for about
eighteen months from the Ministry of Education's Transport Division around
the eligibility of kids for going to school and the
Gisman reviews just come through and they've scaled the buses
right back and it's really affecting our rural kids and
we can't get our kids to school now and efficiently
without taking them ourselves. And for me, there'd been our
(00:41):
during the each day, each way, each day to get
them into there. So it rumined the productivity on my
farm to try to get the kids to the education
they need.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So the school bus a your school bus has been
cut or scaled back?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, our school bus has been scaled back, is that man?
So they've shortened the area so used to drive past
our gates, our kids would bike two k's down the
road every morning and catch the bus and the main road.
Now that option isn't there anymore. We've got to put
them in a car and drive them either to the
next bus stop which is close enough to town that
we may or drive the more the way to town
and then and drive home again. And there are other
(01:16):
rural areas have been done same. So they've sort of
turtled the entire bus route in so you're picking up
more urban kids.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But less rural kids. Okay, And so is this basically
is it a supplying demand thing that there weren't that
many kids catching this particular that the bus on this
particular route near your house.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, well there's forty five kids that utilize their bus
that goes past our gate. We've done a survey of
the community from the pick up point. Some parents bring
their kids in, you know, from relatively you know, from
half an hour away to that bus stop to save
them in that you know, an hour and a half
duney to town.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It seems a lot, Toby, how many how many would
it take? How many kids would it take to make
the bus run?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, that's what we're going through with go Bus at
the moment. Our local bus companies. How do we actually
fund this ourselves as a community if the ministry is
now not going to would.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
You be prepared?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, we are, that's question. We are the community and
we need to get a price back from the bus company.
But we've got seven weeks to sort this out. We've
been told last week that on the first day of
term two that bus is no longer going to be
there and you have to have you know, your kids
have to find a way to school some other way
or somehow. So we're scramming to try to do this
and to be fair to the ministry, the government's reviewing
(02:25):
this at the moment, but what we're asking for is
them to pause these reviews, pause the rollout of the
review while we're looking at the policy as a whole.
So get the Ministry of Ministry of Education Transport Division
to stop the changes until maybe the end of the
year when we've got a clear picture of what it
looks like and the schools and parents.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
To be fair, I mean, how long do you guys,
how long do you actually really need to make a
decision on this? I mean, surely it's as simple as
you call the bus company, you go how much does
it cost for you to do this thing? And then
you split it between the parents who want to use it.
That doesn't take all year.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
No, it doesn't take all year. But we're working with
the schools on this as well, and there's some leading
time for the parents to understand. And there's people in
our community who can't afford that. The moment's been a
free bus and parts of.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Attribut So Toby, am I right in thinking that actually
you want to pause it so you can lobby against it.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
No, we're not lobbying against it at all, because I've
been when it's the Federated Farmers. We're lobbying for this
review to happen and providing some changes of what looked
like and that was cost sharing with the communities to
make sure we had the excess there. At the moment,
we've got parents now saying that their kids aren't going
to be going to school on some days because it's
not worth them taking them to school.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
How much does it? How much do you reckon it's
going to end up costing each family?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I can't. I don't know that at the moment.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Then how do we know if parents won't be able
to afford it?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, I've surveyed them and asked would affordability of a
bus be a concern for you? And about quarter of
the suve has come back saying yes that it would be.
And it's also the fact that the bus and some
of our days of school has only half a day.
So there's you know, trying to feed it in around
and make sure that you know, we can get the
kids to their and they've got the excess to education
(04:06):
is worked actually there, do.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
You know what I wonder? I mean, obviously it seems
to me the solution probably does lie on you guys
having to fund it yourselves, unfortunately, but I imagine that
this is actually going to pose a bigger because this
is happening around the country right This has got to
pose a problem for rural communities where it must be
hard to get people working on your farm if they've
got kids and they don't know how they can to
get their kids to school.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, one hundred percent. One of the big drawer cards
of having a farm having a bus go past your
gate is you can say to people, hey, look, high
school bus or primary school bus go is passed by
gate and you don't have to fork out private school
fees to get your children educated. The Act, you know,
was a nineteen eight act. This has been based on
and it's been looking to be modernized and we need
we think there needs to be some consultation around the
(04:48):
modernizing with communities and schools figure out how can we
cost you it, because no one's asking for a guaranteed
free bus that's unrealistic in the climate. But how do
we actually make sure we've got the excess first? And
communities are.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Consulted on this and that's what's not happening. Hey, Toby,
it's good to talk to you mate. Good luck with
sorting this one out. Toby Williams, Gisbane Farmer. For more
from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news Talks
it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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