Pukehou School Principal Chris Birch is trying to raise funds for their own bus. He hopes to have a bus service for 70 children on his school roll from part way through next year.
The Pukehou School community has been left in a tail spin after the Ministry of Education removed the buses that transport 70 pupils to and from the rural Hawke's Bay school.
The route, which will be terminated at the start of next year, currently takes one viable pupil, but the school "piggybacks" three runs on to the Ministry's provided service.
Now it needs to raise $120,000 for a new bus, driver and other associated costs to enable about three quarters of its pupils to get to class.
Principal Chris Birch said the Pukehou Board of Trustee's has "at all times acknowledged this fact and has not challenged that the eligible, viable pupils are below the Ministry's threshold".
"The Ministry has known that the buses that service the Pukehou community have for many years transported students from the Otane, Waipawa and Waipukurau communities to Pukehou at a parent paid extension (a private contract with the provider)."
Pukehou School is between Otane and Te Hauke in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Warren Buckland
The MOE provided service, which goes to Te Aute Trust Rd, picks up pupils from Otane on the way to perform its designated run in the morning. In the afternoon it carries out its Te Aute Trust Rd run before returning to school to complete the Otane leg.
The remaining 34 pupils from the Waipawa and Waipukurau communities use the CHB College and Te Aute College bus run, which does an extra run for Pukehou School.
Birch said the Ministry was not allowing them to continue this service either.
He said they were told in July of the changes and asked for a one term extension to raise the funds, which has since been denied.
And while Birch says alternative options had been looked into, they were cost prohibitive at an ongoing rate.
"Our primary concern is that we are given time to ensure our students who travel to Pukehou are given a fair opportunity to coordinate an alternative arrangement for our pupils who choose to travel to Pukehou."
A community group, called the Pukehou Bus Group, has been set up to purchase the vehicle.
For several months, they have been fundraising through stalls at the Otane markets, a community auction for goods donated by local businesses, which closed on Sunday and raised $7840, as well as a Givealittle page currently sitting at just over $6000.
Principal Chris Birch says students should not be forced to change schools because of a lack of transport. Photo / Warren Buckland
Birch said a benefactor had also contributed a large amount towards their goal, meaning they needed about $30,000 for the initial startup and then an expected $20,000 to $25,000 for the fuel, maintenance and driving costs.
Ministry of Education head of education infrastructure service Kim Shannon said the current contracted bus route north of Pukehou school, is "simply not viable to run a bus for one student".
"We appreciate that this will be disappointing to that family, so will be providing a conveyance allowance to assist with the costs of getting their child to school."
She said to be eligible for assistance, a student needs to be attending their closest school, have no public transport available, and for primary aged pupils, live at least 3.2km away from that school.
"Some parents to the south of the Pukehou School have chosen to bypass their closest schools to go to Pukehou School."
But Birch and the school community asks the Ministry that their "tamariki are put first with any decision made".
"We are after all here to provide the best outcome for our children and we firmly believe that forcing them to change schools is not in their best interest."
