KEY POINTS:
A 13-year-old boy with multiple disabilities and who, at 140kg, is morbidly obese has been told he is no longer allowed on the school bus because he smells bad.
Kawerau College student Eruera Simmonds said he felt "sad and upset and mad" after the bus driver closed the door in his face in front of all of his friends one day in August. He had only been back to school twice since.
His outraged family said the decision to bar their son, who has cerebral palsy and a serious bowel condition, from the only safe way he could get to school amounted to a serious breach of human rights. They have made a formal complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
"He has lost all his trust in people... he just keeps talking about the 'bad man,' [from the bus company] and how mean everyone is to him," said Eruera's mother Anne Simmonds.
"Yes, my son has disabilities, there's no getting away from it. But he has been stripped of his self-esteem and dignity. Kawerau Coaches made him feel worthless ... there was no respect shown. We feel my son was discriminated against on the grounds of his disabilities. And it's just not on."
Eruera's father, Noel, who has spinal bifida and is waiting for a hip replacement, said Eruera had ridden the school bus an hour to Whakatane and back every day for two years while at intermediate school - "no problems". That bus company had even written the family a letter of support, which would be presented to a mediation meeting scheduled for this Thursday.
The meeting was to involve the family, Kawerau College staff, Group Special Education, Multiserve (contracted by the Ministry of Education to administer school transport), the Human Rights Commission and family advocate Melody Wharerimu.
Wharerimu toldthe Herald on Sunday the family wanted an apology and a safe way for Eruera to access education. "He has got a right to education."
She said Eruera had been reluctant to return to school since the incident, and had spent seven weeks in two hospitals receiving specialist care. He was now on new medication that had reduced the smell omitted from his skin and was in line for a stomach stapling operation, she said.
"He is morbidly obese. But it is not because he is eating lots, it is due to his condition."
The way the family was informed of the ban was almost as bad as the ban itself, Eruera's mother said. Eruera and his older sister Jessie, 16, who also has cerebral palsy, were waiting outside their house for the school bus.
"Both children were happy, and as usual Jessie was first outside to wait for the bus. As Eruera and I are coming out of the house, I happen to look up, there's a man standing outside the gate. He says he wants to talk to me by the gate.
"He tells me he's from Kawerau Coaches and my son cannot get on the bus. I ask him why not and he says we should have got a letter from Multiserve explaining why.
"I have never ever got a letter, or a phone call ... the man says he cannot tell me anything... he tells the driver to shut the door. Eruera is crying."
She said the man told her Jessica could get on the bus, but not Eruera. "I say no way, why take one and not the other?"
It wasn't until a later visit to the school that she found a staff member had been advised of the plan. "She told us it was because Kawerau Coaches said Eruera smells. This really upset me.
"Eru is receiving counselling now, for what they did to him."
The family still has not received any correspondence from the bus company.
The Herald on Sunday visited Kawerau Coaches on Friday but was told there was no comment. "There is nothing to be said before the meeting next Thursday. It's premature to discuss the matter prior to that meeting," a spokeswoman said.
The principal of Kawerau College did not return calls.
