Deadline passes over Catholic schools and transport

East Sussex County Council is currently looking to slash the 585,000 it spends on transporting pupils to denomination schools and is consulting with parents and schools.

Among those who could be worst hit are the Catholic schools, which make up 80 per cent of denomination schools in the county.

A lengthy consultation process has been underway with parents of children who could be affected being invited to give their views and today the consultation period ends.

Concerned parties have been lobbying their county councillors, borough councillors and MPs.

Already the heads of schools in the area have said the plans are unacceptable.

And this week Eastbourne's MP Nigel Waterson said he had a number of letters in his mailbag from concerned parents and said he could sympathise.

Mr Waterson, himself a Catholic, added, "It would be wrong to stop this subsidised transport although I do appreciate the county council is between a rock and a hard place because of the pressures being placed on it by central government."

Parents, church leaders and headteachers have been unanimous in their opposition to the plans, saying many parents will not be able to afford the cost of train and bus fares each week.

Tony Campbell, the head of St Richard's Catholic College in Bexhill, said any cuts would have a devastating effect on families whose children attend St Richard's and St Thomas a Becket infant and junior schools '” and would undermine some of the county's best performing schools.

He added, "Government figures show that Catholic schools are high performing schools. St Richard's has had an outstanding academic record in recent years.

"Some 70 per cent of our students live more than three miles from the school, many of these from Eastbourne and surrounding areas.

"It would be a disaster for the area if so many were deprived of access to the school because of this issue.

"The cuts are poor value for money and would hit poorer families.

"Poorer parents could not afford to pay for travel and would have to seek places at local schools.

"The council admits the savings made could be dwarfed by the cost of providing additional places for these Catholic children.

"The pattern of school places across the county would be destabilised. So it is highly questionable whether any savings can be made by transport cuts. Instead, the overall cost to taxpayers would increase.

"Catholic schools have always been very good value for money. We are not asking for favours. Most of our schools were built at a time when the Catholic community had to provide 50 per cent of the cost.

"Even today, Catholics provide 10 per cent of building costs and meet part of the school maintenance costs.

"It has yet to be shown that Catholic schools receive their fair share of the annual education budget."

In addition, parent Desmond Boksan-Cullen, of Homewood Close, Eastbourne, said, "The deliberate targeting of Catholic schools in East Sussex is an infringement of human rights. We have enjoyed freedom as Catholics to educate our children and to worship openly since the Catholic Emancipation Acts in the 1820s, and the tolerance of others.

"If the 900 pupils who attend St Richard's are prevented from doing so, will East Sussex build more schools in Eastbourne and Hastings to accommodate the misplaced numbers?

"Or perhaps they wish to encourage more car use, and have congested roads with parents dropping off their children each day?

"With global warming we should be encouraging the use of public transport not the opposite."