Am I being unreasonable? Re bus pass.

[Milololo]

Ds is 12, he’s been referred for autism assessment and we’re starting to apply for an EHCP. He struggles massively with anxiety around going to school, who are very proactive and supportive.

Ds takes the bus to school and back, but 2-3 afternoons a week I have to pick him up as he’s too anxious to get on the bus back home.

Before he started school I looked at many schools in the area. The closest school is the one my older children went to, and barely coped with. It is an academy with a dreadful reputation for SEN children, and pastoral care is non existent in practice.

The school we chose is brilliant for autism (I think over 10% of pupils are autistic and they seem to handle things well), it is a similar distance, but because it’s not the designated catchment school I need to pay for the bus (£66 per month, but going up to £99 in September).

There is a system that allows you to appeal for a reduced or fully paid bus pass if there’s a good enough reason to choose a school over the catchment school, but so far I’ve had no joy - even with a supportive (but vague) letter from DS’s paed the LA were clear that the same level of pastoral care was available at the catchment school (which, frankly, is bollocks!).

I’ve emailed the Senco and DS’s key workers to ask if they can help me with this, but I’ve heard nothing in over a week. I followed up the email, but still haven’t heard anything. (I’m autistic and I’m not sure if I have overly high expectations on this - I would expect an email to at least be acknowledged within a day or two, but happy to be told this is unreasonable!)

Did I mess up here asking? It felt like a reasonable request.

Is it worth pursuing a funded bus pass? I’m currently not working and on benefits (from having to HE older son, and needing more flexibility than any employer would accept), and £99 a month will be very difficult to find, and I don’t want to drive ds every day as I feel it would be a big step backwards in terms of independence.

Thank you for any thoughts or advice.

You aren’t unreasonable to expect a reply to emails. Although transport is via the LA rather than the school.

However, at the moment, I think you are unlikely to be able to prove the current school is the nearest suitable school, so even though you are likely to be able to prove DS cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school because of his disability &/or the school is beyond the statutory walking distance you are unlikely to get transport/a funded bus pass on that basis.

Alternatively, is DS eligible for free school meals? And is the school one of the 3 closest schools and between 2 and 6 miles OR the closest religious school chosen because of your religion and is between 2-15 miles?

I was hoping school could write a supporting letter, as the LA ask for evidence.

The catchment school is 4.7 miles away, DS’s school 7.2 miles. There was a large scale appeal several years ago for free transport as so many dc in my village attend the school. Our local MP helped out, and the area then had two or three years of free buses before it went back to paid bus passes.

Ds is on free school meals, but the LA were clear that we chose this school over the catchment one (we chose due to DS’s needs - the academy will not meet his needs).

There are three local schools, the academy, a selective grammar school, and the school ds is at.

A letter from the school is unlikely to be enough to prove it is the nearest suitable school.

Oh bugger, that’s a shame!