Auckland mother worries Ministry’s school transport program bursts Covid bubbles

An Auckland mother is concerned that a government-run school transport service will not support Covid-19 prevention measures like keeping bubbles for students with special needs.

Tracey Elder’s daughter with Down syndrome uses the Department of Education’s Specialized School Transportation Assistance Program (SESTA) to get to and back from Sommerville Special School, based at the school Pakuranga intermediary.

When school recently resumed, Elder saw that his daughter had been brought home in a taxi with another passenger – a child who attends another school.

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She said she was worried about her child’s bubble bursting and his unnecessary exposure to the risk of Covid-19.

While her daughter received both doses of the Covid vaccine, she is still at risk, her mother said. She has a heart defect that required surgery when she was five months old.

“If she were to contract Covid it would be more serious for her,” Elder said.

As a teacher, she said she knew how hard schools work to maintain bubbles and groups among students, like staggered meal times and designated play areas.

She said the policy should extend to transportation services, and said the school had sent an email saying they were also not happy with the system.

“It seems ridiculous that it’s okay to put two kids of two different bubbles in a taxi with no windows down,” she said.

“I just thought there would have been an additional consideration, especially when we are talking about children who attend special education. “

Elder withdrew his child from the program and succeeded in obtaining a transportation allowance to cover his school fees. But she is worried about those who cannot benefit from the allowance.

“If there are families who are not able to use their own private means of transport to bring the children to school, then the children will not go to school, or they are placed in a situation which is not safe for them “, she declared. .

In a statement, Department of Education spokesman Scott Evans said that while schools should reduce mixing among students by grouping them together, it does “not extend beyond the doors of the school”.

“This means there is no requirement for physical distancing or group retention on school transportation services, including SESTA services,” he said.

Evans, who is the deputy secretary (hautū) for infrastructure and digital at the ministry, said the ministry sent an email to Auckland schools about the SESTA program on November 25 to confirm that the routes would not change, so to allow the maintenance of school groups or bubbles.

“Schools know who is on school transport services and have good systems in place to identify potential close contacts,” he said.

“We understand that some caregivers may be concerned about SESTA service arrangements and may prefer to make their own arrangements for transporting their children. In these situations, caregivers can apply for transportation allowance.

Evans stated that obtaining the transportation allowance does not prevent the child from using SESTA in the future.

While the ministry asks SESTA providers to ensure that the same drivers and students use a given route, there is no obligation to prevent children from different schools from using the same service, he said. declared.