School transport problem. Any advice? (posted on SEN education but saw post saying might get better response here)

[Cheesefootballs]

Hi,
My son attends a secondary school with a special needs unit (he has aspergers) he has full school inclusion 75% and is in the unit for the rest of the time.

We live rurally and because the unit is so far away he gets taxied in and home.

The taxi won't drop him off at home after school (approx 3.30pm he leaves earlier than the other kids in the main school) without parent or guardian being present. I have telephoned the LEA transport but they insist it must be parent or guardian and they can only drop him off at home address. Not a childminder, that's if I could get one. No-one in this neck of the woods anyway.

I asked them if he could be dropped off alone, but they said no, I had to be there. When I explained I worked they were not sympathetic.

I have had to give up my job to be in when the taxi arrives. I couldn't get to leave earlier or go part-time as there was no flexibility in the hours.

We are now struggling to make ends meet and I don't know what options are available to me. I have tried to get a part-time job, that finishes earlier but there is just nothing about.

Is this the same in all LEA's? At what age can he be dropped off alone?

Is anyone else in this predicament? How did you manage losing a full time wage?

I have a feeling this is to make using transport very unmanageable for parents as it costs quite a lot. I assume your son needs to attend this provision because of his needs which include social difficulties but it is outrageous that they won't drop him at a childminder or after school facility of some sort.

Have you tried calling IPSEA?
www.ipsea.org.uk/What-you-need-to-know, they have a section on transport on their website and they give advice on the phone

Check out this document

www.ace-ed.org.uk/Resources/ACE/advice%20booklets/My%20Child%20Briefing%20School%20Transport4.pdf

look at the case on page 11. This seems to suggest that if you argue this you might get this changed but you need to get specialist advice so ring IPSEA about it.

With reference to your workplace look into discrimination by association, when I was having problems with my ds and school I was told that they couldn't sack me because of the difficulties caused by his SEN, and they actually had to be more flexible.

Have you read the equality act 2010.
You may have a case for constructive dismissal.
Also try your local parent partnership, they may be able to offer advice.

Could a different adult be at the home address? ds1 has a similar arrangement and the taxi drivers have never asked for identification & generally just give a wave. Another idea which I have absolutely no idea is feasible is to ask for direct payments and make the travel arrangements yourself. dh likes reminding all the professionals whenever we have a multi-disciplinary meeting that whilst they are at work he is having to take holiday to attend & I am in a similar situation to you in having had to give up work to cope.

I don't know the answer to this, but I guess it would be down to you proving to the LA that your DS was capable of letting himself in and being safe at home until you get back. It is standard for taxi firms carrying children with Sen to be told they must hand children over to a responsible authorised adult. There have been a number of publicised cases where children have been 'dropped off' without any supervision when it wasn't appropriate, so the taxi firm is just following the LA's standard instructions.

You don't say how old your DS is. I'm assuming you think he would be safe to do this otherwise you wouldn't be considering it. My DS went to a MS Secondary school (no ASD unit) where he had a Statement for 25 hrs 1:1 TA support, but he walked 5 minutes to a pick up point for a mini-bus which takes rural children to the school and was dropped of at the same spot and walked home. I don't think the driver even knew where DS lived. DS only got a space on that bus through the SEN Dept at the LA otherwise he would have to have gone on a public service bus. We actually stressed in our application for the place on the bus that it would develop DS's independence skills to be able to walk to/from the bus pick up by himself and travel to school without the stresses and strains of going on a public bus

I think school transport round here will drop off at a child minders. I think it just has to be one regular place. Having said that we now walk to a bus stop where DS is picked up and dropped off. My username reflects the impact this has had on my life .
I have had to change my job and now work very part time to cope with the additional needs and demands of my DSs.
Hope you are claiming DLA and carers allowance.

I can't see how they could reasonably refuse to drop him off at a childminder, provided they're registered and CRB checked. I assume they're worrying in some way about insurance and conjuring up some scenario in which they might get stuck if the childminder wasn't there, or you might blame them if something happened during the handover. However, in the former case the same thing could happen with a parent, and if anything a childminder would probably be all the more reliable just because it's their job. In the latter, it can't be impossible to devise some sort of indemnity document whereby you authorise them to take ds to the childminder's and sort out when responsibility transfers to them.

There's certainly nothing in the guidance or the law that says this is a requirement. Can you find out whether they impose this on the parents of every child who needs transport? It seems unlikely, and if they only impose it on the parents of disabled children they are bang to rights on discrimination. Even if they don't, there's still an argument about discrimination, because in the nature of things more disabled children will need school transport so this sort of policy will impact on them and their families more than it does on others.

If you can find a childminder, you probably need to make a fresh appiication for transport to their address, and then go through the council's appeal system if/when it's refused. They really need to be challenged for their justification for this rule, particularly whether they claim that the law authorises it and if so where they get that from. If the appeal doesn't work, you need to go to a lawyer who does legal aid because you might be able to take court proceedings in ds' name.

In Hampshire, where I live, we have the same policy. Home address only.

I'm in Sussex. Ds used to get dropped off at Dd's school so I could take them home together and now they drop him off at an after school club at a different school. They will also hand him over at home to whoever happens to open the door, as long as someone is in, so if I can't get back in time my mum can pop round and let him in.
Seems I'm lucky then that they are so flexible.

Who was it you spoke to OP? Was it the transport office or the actual taxi drivers? Generally once you get to know the drivers it's easier to change arrangements slightly as long as they can see they are not going to end up in trouble, for example if you had to ask a friend or neighbour to be at home at drop off time they would be fine as long as you let them know in advance. Always get the taxi driver's mobile number just in case!