A Coventry school whose youngest pupils will miss out on council-issued bus passes next year is stepping in to cover the cost.
Woodlands Academy has pledged to buy passes for pupils who won’t get them in September next year because of Coventry City Council cuts. The passes cost on average £250 each.
The all-boys school in Broad Lane, Eastern Green, is one of six affected by the cuts – including girls’ school Tile Hill Wood, Blue Coat Church of England School and the city’s three Catholic secondaries, Bishop Ullathorne, Cardinal Newman and Cardinal Wiseman.
At the moment pupils who live more than three miles from these schools are entitled to a free bus pass, paid for by the council regardless of family income.
Council bosses originally decided to pay for the passes so that parents who wanted their children to go to a single sex or religious school didn’t get left out of pocket.
But from September next year there will be a change of policy following a decision by the council in July.
Children applying for a bus pass for the first time will only get one if they come from a low income family or couldn’t get a place at a school less than three miles from their home. The cuts are set to save the council up to £240,000 a year.
The cuts are of concern to the affected schools because a falling birthrate 11 years ago means they are already competing for a smaller number of pupils.
They fear the bus pass cut will put off parents sending their children to these schools. There won’t be any change to the provision of bus passes for pupils at other Coventry schools.
Woodlands Academy transition and communications manager, Julie Curtis, said the school would use the existing policy at the council to determine which children are entitled to a free pass and will pay for their annual fare. “Whatever the current council policy is we will carry that on,” she said.
It means 11-year-olds starting at the school next September will be treated the same way as those who have started this year.
Four of the other affected schools are believed to be considering a similar move.
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:15 pm