A parent in North Yorkshire has said that she won't let her children go through the "turmoil" of the county's new home to school transport policy, saying it isn't fit for purpose.
Claire Calvert, who lives in Keld, has been left angered by the policy change by North Yorkshire Council, which she says "impacts the future of our children".
The mum of two is part of a protest group that is trying to call for North Yorkshire Council to reverse their decision to impose new restrictions on free home-to-school transport.
The petition, which has so far been signed by over 2100 people, was created following the council’s controversial decision in July to restrict free school transport to the nearest school only.
According to the group, this removes the choice for families living in villages and means many will be required to send their children to schools outside the county.
In remote areas, such as the Dales, children may have to travel via remote, high-elevation roads into Cumbria and County Durham.
Parent outrage over school transport policy in North Yorkshire:
Claire said: “Concerns raised by parents and teachers and also by councillors from across North Yorkshire have been ignored.
"The fact this decision has been rushed through means that many parents with children applying for school places for September 2025 are suddenly finding out now the impact this change will have on their families and I fear many are still in the dark. It’s a total mess.”
Claire says that, given the location that she lives in the Yorkshire Dales, a lot of the options for secondary school education that have been selected using the new policy are in Cumbria.
Despite Claire's children not getting to an age where secondary school is a problem right now, she worries for the future and says that she is part of the protest group so that children now and in the future won't "suffer".
Those who voted it through stated that their decision was driven by the need to reduce spending given the looming budget deficit. However, opposition councillors have been critical of this reasoning.
Ian Dawson, one of the residents driving the petition said, “While we understand the need to manage budgets, this decision has no guarantee of any financial savings.
"What is guaranteed is that it makes life harder for so many children and families. It pushes costs onto parents and schools and forces more private cars onto our roads.
"We ask again, that North Yorkshire Council urgently rethink this damaging policy and request that the Government take immediate action to investigate the negative impact that this decision will have on the safety and education of children across rural North Yorkshire.”
Alongside the protest and petition at County Hall in Northallerton, the petition was also presented to the Department of Education in Westminster by North Yorkshire Liberal Democrat, Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough on the same day.
In response to the concerns of parents and elected officials, North Yorkshire Council has insisted that the policy and system they have in place using a digital tool to find eligible schools in the region has worked for "thousands of parents" and has issued a statement on the issue.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for inclusion, Amanda Newbold, said: “Our digital mapping tool is used to determine the closest school to a home address. The distance is calculated using roads, footpaths, bridleways and public rights of way. We know that thousands of parents have successfully accessed the system during this year's admissions round.
“The distance measurement is used to determine eligibility for travel assistance after a child has been offered a school place, and where a child is eligible for free home-to-school travel, the council must make suitable travel arrangements.
“In cases where this involves contracting a new transport service, each route is assessed to ensure it is safe for travel.
“We would like to clarify that the routes used by the mapping system are not as the ‘crow flies’ and are unlikely to be the exact journey used to travel to school - this is because the arranged contracts are not necessarily the shortest routes. Instead, journeys need to take account of the home locations of all passengers on the route, local knowledge, vehicle size and time spent travelling.”
The assistant director for inclusion at the council added: “The revised home-to-school transport policy was considered and adopted by councillors in July. It ensures equality and makes sure that free transport is provided for eligible children in line with our statutory duties. Extended support is also available for low-income families.
“We can confirm that a petition with more than 3,000 signatures calling for reconsideration of the decision to change our home-to-school travel policy was handed in at County Hall earlier this morning (Wednesday).
“The petition will be considered by our Richmond Area Committee in the New Year. A date is yet to be scheduled for the meeting.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here