Whitehawk parents left angry after Longhill School letter over buses

Parents of pupils at Longhill School in Brighton were sent a letter telling them a “minority of students” have tried to travel on Brighton and Hove buses without buying a ticket.

The letter sparked anger among Whitehawk parents, who contacted campaign group Class Divide, who have taken up the issue and are working with the school to address concerns.

Pupils attending Longhill from Whitehawk are allowed to travel from Whitehawk to the school and back home again after the school day on the 72 school bus for free, as it is the catchment area school and is three miles away, and should have a pass.

Curtis James, spokesman from Class Divide, said the letter concerned parents in the suburb who feared their children might be left stranded if they lost their pass or could not get a ticket.

“When parents received this letter some of them were very concerned that there were some changes to the policy,” he said.

“To send this letter out to parents at Whitehawk suggesting their children might be dodging fares, when none of them have to pay the fare anyway.

“To them, and to us, it felt very unsupportive and more punitive in its attitude.

“Maybe this letter was really destined for other pupils and primarily not for Whitehawk pupils.Longhill School wrote to parents (Image: The Argus)

“All kids from Whitehawk should be entitled to free bus travel to school if they’ve got their school uniform on and they’re traveling on a specific school bus.

“We think the school have not communicated this in the right way, but we want to work with the school.

“As a campaign we want to support the school so they can give the best education to our community.”

Class Divide wrote to the school’s headteacher, who said that the issue of fare dodging was a “citywide” issue and that all schools had been notified.

Longhill’s letter to parents said: “It has been reported that a small minority of students have been travelling without paying for a ticket, sometimes on multiple occasions, commenting to the driver that they have to carry them, regardless of whether or not they pay.

“Brighton and Hove Bus Company would like to confirm this is not the case and if this continues children may be refused travel.

“The company have a ‘get me home’ policy and in exceptional circumstances will allow a student to board a bus if they cannot pay, however it is not something that we expect of our students unless in rare circumstances.

“If a student has no money to pay for their ticket, they should find their Head of Year where in exceptional circumstances, an emergency ticket can be given. We as a school will keep a log of who requests these emergency tickets.”

A spokesman for Longhill School said: “We wrote to parents recently at the request of Brighton and Hove Bus Company to highlight some issues the company wanted to make parents aware of relating to travelling without a ticket.

“Any queries relating to ticketing on the buses are a matter for the bus company, not the school.

“We are acutely conscious of the financial pressures many of our families are experiencing.

“Our letter makes clear that if a student has no money to pay for their ticket, then the school can give them an emergency ticket.

“We will continue to work with families to support them either in their application for a free student bus pass or provide bus tickets for families that need support.”

Nick Hill, commercial director of Brighton and Hove Bus Company, said: “We are committed to ensuring that young people are not left stranded if unable to pay for a journey in exceptional circumstances. Recently some students have been claiming this status for regular daily travel which is not what it is intended for.

“We are working with schools to ensure that this special provision is only used by students in one off situations and when really needed to ensure fairness for everyone paying for their travel.”