A primary school has ramped up calls for bus passes to be granted for its service families after seeing its lowest-ever attendance due to children being refused travel.
Parents of pupils at Ringshall Primary School in Stowmarket are at loggerheads with the council over the matter.
Headteacher James Gough has spoken of his concerns after attendance fell to a new low since the pandemic due to children not being able to get the school bus.
He said many of the pupils affected are the children of army personnel based at Wattisham Airfield, which is approximately 1.2 miles from the school.
Suffolk County Council’s guidance states free bus travel will be provided only to children who do not live within walking distance of their nearest suitable school.
For children under eight, this distance is two miles, while for children over eight, this distance is three miles.
However, Mr Gough and many parents say that there is no safe walking route for children to take.
Suffolk County Council has said that it is now reviewing the situation at Ringshall, and that families have the right to appeal if they feel their child is unable to walk to school.
Mr Gough explained that the route the council suggests to families from the airbase takes them over ploughed fields with uneven footpaths, and long stretches of road with no pavement or verges, leaving children vulnerable to oncoming traffic.
“Any reasonable person can see that that this route is not practical, especially for children as young as four years old and for parents with pushchairs,” he said.
He said that on Monday, the bus which usually transports 50 students to school arrived with just four, after each student was asked to show a valid bus pass.
“Yes, they were breaking the rules getting on the bus – but parents felt they had no choice,” Mr Gough continued.
“The unique nature of Wattisham airbase is that it is very isolated. The parents there do not have the benefit of extended families to help with the school run.”
He said that at least one family had withdrawn their child from the school, having no way to transport them there each day.
Mr Gough has circulated a survey amongst parents to find out how the lack of bus passes is affecting them.
One parent said: “I have four kids that attend Ringshall. Two of my older kids have a bus pass but the younger two were denied one. I don’t drive and when my husband is away for a course or training, I have to look for other alternatives for school drop-offs and pickups.
“It’s quite ridiculous if I have to send my older two on the bus and the younger two I have to walk them to school, when the school bus is half empty all the time.”
Another said: “Our second son is only one year old, and it is almost impossible for my wife to drop our child at school with a baby in a buggy as the path to the school from our house is not suitable for a buggy, especially in the field.”
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: “During a routine bus check pass last week, we discovered that more than 20 children were using the bus without a bus pass. This means the children were travelling without insurance and were not eligible to travel.
“We appreciate that being unable to use the bus may have caused problems for some families and we are reviewing the situation. We have clear criteria in place for assessing the eligibility for funded school travel.
“However, if a family feels that they cannot use the public right of way to walk to school, or there are other issues, then they can appeal.”
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