School bus funding cut to force farming families to drive children up to 120km daily

South Australian families on the Eyre Peninsula’s far west coast may be forced to drive up to 120 kilometres a day when a school bus service is proposed to end next year.  

Chinta’s school bus to Ceduna Area School’s primary and secondary campus has 15 students that commute from farming areas north of Ceduna.

South Australia’s Department of Education has decided that there is not enough uptake on the bus run next year, even with the number of students fluctuating each year.

Farmer Mario Nicholls said local families raised their concerns about the remote bus route’s cancellation. 

“We had a meeting around three weeks ago with the school and interested parents,” Mr Nicholls said.

But weeks later he was informed by a letter from the Education Department that the Chinta bus run would soon be cancelled. 

In a statement, the Education Department said the decision was made after community consultation.

It further added that a travel allowance would be offered to families on the Chinta route, and the Koonipa route will remain unchanged at this time. 

Ceduna Area School’s website says 27 per cent of students travel by school bus.

Mr Nicholls said most parents were farmers and under extreme stress, especially during the busy harvest period. 

“We are all forced by economies of scale to grow our farms bigger, so we are working harder and longer to make ends meet,” he said.

“Then the Education Department makes this without much thought about it.

He is working with other parents to try find a better solution and said it could force some families to move from the area.

“We have one neighbour here that has one kid starting school next year and she has three kids under five.

“It puts her [the parent] in a pretty precarious position.

“It’s not fair, I’m not happy with it and we will have to take it further.”