School bus times changed without warning

[MockneyReject]

For 2 years, the school bus has arrived at 08:00.
I see DS on, and then rush to work, for 08:15ish. I'm meant to start at 08:00, so spend the morning catching up (home care visits).

As of 2 weeks ago, the regular company have stopped trading. So, the Local Authority have issued a temporary contract. The new providers have been late, every day, both morning and afternoon. Parents received a text, usually once the bus was half an hour late. So, middle school children (9-13) are waiting around for between 30 and 60 minutes.
They used to arrive home at around 3:50. Lately, it has been 4:30 ish. Again, no communication.

Today, parents have received an update, in response to all the complaints. From now until possibly the end of this school year, the bus will pick up at 9ish and collect the children from school at 4.
So, they will arrive 45 minutes late for the school day, and will return home 45 minutes to an hour late.
Apparently, the new firm is struggling, due to broken down buses and lack of drivers. The buses that are turning up are quite random - old with no seatbelts.

I phoned the LA today, explaining that I am unwilling to leave my child home alone, every morning, to get himself to school.
More importantly, he won't be home before I leave for my evening shift, so will have to let himself in, cook his own dinner and put himself to bed, 2-3 times a week. I get home at about 8:30.
Usually, he comes with me, and has dinner with a friend, close to my work, if I'm doing a split shift.

Their response was that I have a choice.
Either, tell my employer that I'm simply not coming in to work (I already had to phone in at the last minute, this evening, as I was frantically looking out for the bus) which cost me £35 earnings. My manager is already annoyed with me.
OR advertise on SM for a stranger to take him and collect him, as I don't know any other parents.

They refused to allow me to apply for a Personal Travel Budget, to cover taxis.

They stated that seatbelts are preferable, but not a duty.

So, tomorrow, he will have to come to work with me, instead of going to school. He will likely have to come with me all next week, and sit in the car, while I do care visits - usually 30-60 minutes each.

AIBU to think they are failing to meet their obligation?
And to be worried sick, as my options are:
Give up work and be unable to pay the rent/bills/food.
Keep DS off school, risking court/fines.

How old is he and how far is the journey?

Is it a school bus where you pay towards it, either each day or by a season ticket? Or one provided because the journey to school is over whatever the minimum distance is (3 miles?)?

The local authority has obligations if it is free home to school transport. Contact your councillors and MP as well as going back to the local authority. From what you describe, this does not seem a change for say a few days, but at least until the end of term.

A better short term option would in your instance of the bus coming early and your child missing the last lesson, if it cannot be in two places at once.

People who work evening shifts are incidentally more likely I'd expect to be lone parents and those from certain ethnic minorities. So if you want to be awkward ask them whether any assessment of the impact on families has been done.

Is there breakfast club at school? If so could you drop him in before work?

Wouldn't solve the 4pm bus back but might help with the mornings.

It's 4 miles along a rural A-road, no pavement, so is free.

He's 12, but quite young for his age.

I appreciate that the bus can't be in 2 places at once. It seems to be down to numbers. Other villages have more children, so ours is the second run, as it means fewer are affected.

None of which alters the fact that if I can't get to work, I can't pay the rent!

Could you drop DC to school yourself, using the breakfast and after school clubs if necessary? A PITA, but better than either missing school or losing all your wages. You could press for a refund for the bus for what is left of the term as they can no longer provide the service promised.
I would leave DC to wait for the bus without you in the morning, provided they have a phone to contact you if there's a problem, but the evening is too much. At a pinch you could eat a quick dinner together once you're home (omelette, slow cooker etc), my 9yo often has dinner at a similar time due to extra curriculars so there's no need for him to cook, but being home alone for so long would be very lonely and potentially scary and unsafe, depending on the DC.

The 9am collection won't be on time if there is a wet day I'd think, and probably less reliable on certain days of the week when more people travel to a place of work.

A bus that arrived half an hour or more, or several taxis, in the morning, would be a better option and the school could probably have children on the premises somehow.

Can’t you take him to school then go to work?

FE colleges finish this week or next, and so I wonder if a bus used for them could instead be used for your school? Might not solve next week, but help for the other three weeks of term.

I'd be looking at this from the other side, from the pov that you don't have any choice over the times changing for the bus and leaving your son is not an option, those are non negotiable really, you can't change them, you have tried.
So the only other alternative is that work changes, either by you giving up all together or by changing your hours so that you can care for your son.
Care companies appear to be struggling, would they be willing to negotiate new hours to fit in with the current situation rather than lose you all together?

I have been in a similar situation and I had to leave the job I was in to get something more suitable, it's not fair and it's hard but sometimes you have to do what you have to do unfortunately.

I hope it works out for you 💐 it's a horrible situation to be in.

There is no breakfast club.

Can you take him to school pick him up? Or drop into one of the villages that has an earlier pick-up and he go from there.

Tbh I think that at 12 unless he has additional needs, he should be fully able to be at home for an hour in the morning. The evening is slightly trickier, but he's not a baby.

Are you in rural Northern Ireland?

There's no-one on school premises until 8, and it's 10-15 minutes in the opposite direction.

The busiest time for carers is 7:30-9:30 - getting people up, dressed and breakfasted. I'm already pushing it by arriving at 8:15, instead of 8. Childless colleagues tend to start at 7:30.

He is NT, but hates being home alone. I already have to leave him EOW. I tend to keep him up late, when it's my 'weekend on' so that he sleeps for the first couple of hours of being on his own. I start at 7:30, and he sleeps until 10ish, and I'm home by 2ish.
Getting up and out is different.

Could you move to a new caring agency nearer the school? Or at least in the same direction? People must need care all over.

he may not like it but if it is the case between waiting himself or you Losing your job, then it might need to happen.

can he not go to a cafe etc if you drop him off in the morning?

plenty of 12 year olds are home along for an hour - usually just sit on their phones!

I'm not in rural Ireland. Rural SW. England.
We relocated, with support from Women's Aid, so are 'incomers' to the village, no family and very lucky to have landed a (minimum wage care worker job) that provides a car. If I leave this job, I'm stuck in a village, hundreds of miles from 'home' with a 2 hourly bus to the nearest small town.
My employer is decent, and appreciates me, mostly because I am very reliable (albeit 20 minutes late every day!) but I can't take the p*.

At 12 and NT, even if he doesn't want to get up and out to school alone, surely he understands that he needs to so you can keep working?

Or could you take him in the car, start at 730 like the others, then drop him to school between visits?

I don’t think the morning is an issue, at 12 he is up and ready. Equally in the may be getting home a little later, but you would then be leaving him home alone anyway?

Can you leave your ds to get himself there and pick him up in the afternoon?

You need to get your local counsellor on the case. The LA has a statutory responsibility to provide suitable transport to school. Arriving an hour late means it is not suitable. They are failing in their legal duty and need reminding of that. Get the school on the case as well - they won't want their students all turning up an hour late.

It wouldn't be an hour - I'd be out until 8:30-9pm, without seeing him. He'd get himself to school, then finish at 3:15, hang around for the bus until 4, get home at 4:45ish, do his homework, cook his own dinner and get himself to bed. I'd get home at 8:45-9ish, at night. Then, I'd see him for an hour in the morning, before leaving him to get himself to school, the next day.

He doesn't have a phone, and I can't even buy him one until payday, at the end of the month.
There are no cafes - several villages share a Spar.

It's of no help OP but it's happening in many rural areas, I'm afraid. Similar thing happened to us last year. Rural village.

The only thing that helped us was the Headteacher made a MASSIVE fuss about it- can the parents lobby the Head to make more of a fuss? The Head had local Councillor on site visits, local paper- everything he could to make himself heard. Parents complained as well. A temporary solution was found in the the school mini-buses were employed to get those who were really struggling and eventually the Local Authority put another bus in it's place.

Could you pick him up from school if you are doing a split shift? (No idea if the timings)