10:10:01 Thursday 21 August 2025

Disgust over exchange student bus ban

My daughter and our exchange student went to get on the school bus, and I was disgusted when the bus driver declined the student to go on as she did not have a pass. She had arrived in the country on Saturday and therefore had not yet attended school to obtain a temporary bus pass.
It was obvious that our Asian exchange student is legitimate and speaks very little English.
I could have possibly, maybe understood if it was just my 16 year old daughter talking to the driver. However, even when I (a responsible parent and adult) explained the situation that she was obviously not trying to wing a free ride to town, and that she will have a pass tomorrow, he still did not allow her on the bus.
Also, I couldn't believe my ears when he said that he could lose his job if he let her on, which is absolutely ludicrous!
I would have even sympathised with the driver and fully understood if there was not enough room for the student, but the bus is nowhere near full when it reaches the schools.
After many phone calls and being shifted from pillar to post, I had been advised that this bus pass ruling had been apparently made by a company who deals with the contracts for the school buses…. it is a simple bus pass, and if a child should happen to forget their pass or in my case, have a legitimate exchange student attending school, then there should be allowances for this.
In the meantime, I have found out that another child on the same day had forgotten her pass but was on a different bus and was still allowed to get on.
So this then begs the question whether it was the bus driver lying and just being plain awkward, or whether the driver would have been fired on making allowances?
Well after careful deliberation, I think that it would be easier to obtain a fire arms licence then it is for a child to get on our school bus without a pass.
Emma Welch, Te Puna.

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