Row as kids have to pay for travel to new school

PARENTS of children at a Dundee high school have hit out at the council in a row over transport.

Mums and dads of pupils from Menzieshill, who start attending Harris Academy this summer, say they’ll have to fork out hundreds of pounds for bus passes to get their kids to and from classes.

That’s despite pupils from the same area who were attending Harris previuosly receiving free school transport.

The council insists this was always the plan and it will work to find a solution — but several parents have been left angered.

Pupils living in Menzieshill moved to Harris last year after their local school closed. Stacey Duncan, whose son Nathan, 12, is moving to start the school in the new term, said she was horrified to discover he won’t be receiving a free pass. She said: “I got a letter home from the school telling me that Nathan wouldn’t get a bus pass.

“I’m really upset and angry at this. I feel the council have duped us by letting us believe our children will get passes for buses.”

Stacey said it would cost her about £500 a year to send her son to school, adding: “By the time you add lunch money and other money for things like home economics it adds up to around £1,000. I’ve got a second job to help me meet all the costs.”

Fellow parent Kirsty Kerr said she was going to have to work extra hours to afford the bus fees. She said: “I moved to Menzieshill because of the schools — then they announced the high school was closing.

“I can see it from my house but I’m having to send my children miles away to Harris.

“This is going to cost parents hundreds, if not thousands of pounds.”

The Rev Bob Mallinson, who spearheaded the Save Menzieshill High campaign, added that he was “furious” about the situation.

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The arrangements regarding free bus passes only apply to pupils who were at Menzieshill High School and transferred to Harris Academy for the start of session 2016/17.

“From August 2017, the new S1 intake and any other new pupils to the school will be covered by the council’s guidelines which use a distance of three miles as a measure.

“We are looking at finding a sensible solution regarding Menzieshill pupils.”