A group of secondary pupils in a Mearns village were left stranded on the first day of the new term when the school bus service was scrapped with no advance notice.
Around 30 pupils travel from Johnshaven to attend Mackie Academy in Stonehaven but on Wednesday, the first day back after the summer holidays for schools in Aberdeenshire, there was no bus to collect them.
The school bus, previously supplied through a contract between Stagecoach Bluebird and Aberdeenshire Council, used to arrive at the stop in the village square around 7.50am. When it failed to show parents organised a fleet of cars to take the pupils on the 15-mile journey but they are furious at the sudden withdrawal of the school service.
They are demanding to know why their village is being left out in the cold while school buses continue to run from nearby Gourdon and Inverbervie geographically closer to the school than Johnshaven.
“If it hadn’t been that some of the parents were able to take the pupils to school by car they would have been left utterly stranded,” said graphic designer Tim Griffiths, whose son Dylan (14) attends Mackie Academy.
“We know Aberdeenshire Council has just carried out a review of bus services. I am sure taxpayers will be mightily relieved that one school bus route has been removed from the budget but we want to hear why this pathetic attempt at cost-cutting has been implemented on the folk of Johnshaven.
“We would like to know why we are being used as guinea pigs and why no one, except presumably the bus driver, was told of this decision. A lot of people are very angry about this.”
Mr Griffiths added that Gourdon and Inverbervie not only still had school buses but brand new buses in a new yellow and blue livery.
He said, “The pupils have been told they have now to catch the in-service bus leaving Johnshaven at 7.44am but they haven’t been told when or where they can catch the bus in Stonehaven to get back home again.
“I have no problem about my son travelling on the service bus but you would think we might have been given some forewarning and some explanation why our children are being segregated in this way.”RetenderingA spokesman for Stagecoach Bluebird said, “As a result of retendering by Aberdeenshire Council from August 16 a number of changes have been made to local services, both under contracts and those operated commercially.
“From this date the school journey between Johnshaven and Mackie Academy will be operated by service 101. This allows a modern double-deck vehicle, complete with CCTV and seatbelts, to operate the journey, with this decision approved by Aberdeenshire Council.”
A spokeswoman for Aberdeenshire Council said, “All parents and guardians of pupils entitled to free school transport should have received a letter advising them of the new arrangements.
“As part of the review of school transport provisions we have reduced the distance travelled by our buses by around 20% and have also reduced the number of empty seats on these buses. This is a positive step towards cutting costs and becoming more efficient in this difficult financial climate. This initiative is likely to save the taxpayer around £1 million.
“The roll-out of any new system on such a large scale will involve teething problems and we are currently reviewing all pick-up points and walking routes where parents have raised concerns. We appreciate that changes to services can cause disruption to our customers and we ask for their patience whilst we try to ensure that everyone’s needs are met.”