More than 100 students with disabilities across the state are still without transport - a week after school returned - and many have missed classes because of a Government dispute with bus operators.
It has been a difficult and distressing week for parents whose disabled children have been left stranded.
Alicia Scott's son, Christopher, has learning difficulties and behavioural problems. He was due to start year six this week but has been unable to attend.
"He's tending to lock himself in his room. He doesn't want to interact with anybody because he feels like he's missing out. He just wants them to get themselves organised because he wants to go back to school," Ms Scott said.
The disorganisation is essentially about a pay dispute.
Christopher, and many other disabled children are driven to school by contracted drivers. Last year, the State Government decided to change the way drivers were paid.
"We knew about this roughly the middle of last year when our driver told us the contracts were changing and it was really going to make it hard for her to continue financially," another parent, Jonathan Flynn said.
'Government at fault'
Mr Flynn's disabled son, Henry, is another child who would normally use the service.
"We managed to get him a place at the Alice Betteridge School in North Rocks, which was really looking like it's going to provide great services for him, but it's a long way away and we really depended on getting transport," Mr Flynn said.
"We put the application in and we thought it was going to be fine. But last week we didn't hear from them, as we'd expect to. So on Monday I rang up and we heard, 'oh there's been this enormous stuff-up'."
Mr Flynn has had to take leave this week to take his son to school.
The drivers are upset at a change to the contract that means they would be paid per kilometre, rather than for each child they drove.
Some of the drivers are not prepared to accept the conditions of the new contracts and that is why children like Christopher and Henry have been left stranded.
"And I'm just really angry that they've left it until now to do something about it," Ms Scott said.
Ms Scott says the State Government has had eight months to solve this dispute.
"I have spoken to the contractor that employed the driver that drove my son last year and he said that they've been having problems with them since July last year because they're changing contracts and everything and nobody's been offered a contract for this year as far as he knows," she said.
Priority issue
Opposition education minister Carmel Tebbutt says transporting disabled children must be one of the Education Department's top priorities.
"Is the transport system that conveys some of the most vulnerable children in the state running effectively, particularly when they knew they were moving people to new contracts?"
"I mean that is a big endeavour. That is a big operation."
State education minister Adrian Piccoli has told 702 Mornings he cannot be held to blame for his department's failings.
"Myself and my office, we went back and had a look at everything that we'd received since the election last year about this issue and asked the question, 'should we have known?'," he said.
"And the answer is 'no'."
After appearing on the ABC this morning, Mr Flynn got a call from the Education Department. Now Henry's bus route has a driver and he will be going to school on Monday.
But Ms Scott and her son Christopher are still waiting.
"I still don't know when he'll be going to school. He's already missed a week; a week in year six which is an important year for him and he's quite angry that he can't go to school," she said.
Source: ABC
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