Wicklow Parents Worried About Back To School Buses.

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore has spoken out about the back-to school bus chaos faced by many Wicklow parents again this year.

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore has spoken out about the back-to school bus chaos faced by many Wicklow parents again this year.

 “I’ve been contacted by a large number of worried parents who again find themselves being let down by the school transport scheme with very little notice being given of certain school buses not operating this week. Yet again, we are seeing a repeat of previous years’ back-to-school bus chaos in Wicklow, which is unacceptable,” commented Deputy Whitmore, who is the Social Democrats spokesperson for Children.

 Deputy Whitmore’s statement comes in response to some parents receiving emails from Bus Éireann Thursday informing them that their children’s bus routes would not be in operation when schools return this week. This is a repeat of the situation last year which saw many of the same school bus routes not in operation till mid-December, and in one case Easter. “These school bus routes not operating has a huge impact on the affected families. Parents are again having to juggle work, commuting and school timetables while children are worrying about how they are going to get to and from school instead of looking forward to their new school year.  This is an especially difficult and challenging situation for families living in our more rural parts of the county, which have significantly fewer transport alternatives,” explained Ms Whitmore.“We are aware of at least 11 school bus routes in Wicklow which parents received emails about last week.