Remote school bus axed leaving students and families stranded

Gulf school bus axed leaving remote students unable to get to class In short: A remote school bus service ferrying students across the state's Gulf region has been axed, leaving families facing difficult choices over their children's education. Parents say the service provided better outcomes than remote learning and are calling for long-term investment in schooling. What's next? Parents are pushing for the re-establishment of a school at Gregory to cater for the region's growing population. Hailed as a remote success story, Queensland's longest school bus service has been axed, leaving six primary students stranded from their school. For the last six years up to 18 students in the remote towns of Bidunggu and Gregory, about 300 kilometres north of Mount Isa, have made the three-hour daily return trip to Burketown State School to learn alongside peers in the classroom. But during the last school holidays, Bidunggu resident and parent Natalie King said families were told the bus service would not resume in term three, leaving boarding school or School of the Air as the only educational options. The next nearest primary school from Gregory is 165km away at Doomadgee, but there is no school bus. "This bus gave them a chance to be with teachers in person … for students to have that kind of normal school experience," Ms King said. "These kids need an education." The wheels are coming off The bus service was established in 2021 after Burketown State School approached the community to create a regular bus service and boost enrolments, which, according to the Department of Education, currently sit around 27 students. Ms King said the 240km round trip each day was not ideal but resulted in far better outcomes than remote schooling. "I sent my young fellow away to boarding school in Cairns after he graduated from Burketown. The teachers down there couldn't believe how well educated he was," she said. "That's the sort of education we were getting." The service was funded by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and was operated by Burketown State School until last term. Burketown State School declined to comment. A Queensland Department of Education spokesperson said the state school had worked hard to try and find a replacement operator. "The Department of Education is working closely with the principal to identify any eligible drivers within the school community; however, the very limited availability of suitably qualified drivers and staff absences have impacted the continuity of the bus service," the spokesperson said. "The Mount Isa School of the Air is liaising with the three families and six students to engage in further education. "We will continue to liaise with TMR, who are investigating if there are any options for the bus to be run by the council or other community-based groups." A TMR spokesperson confirmed funding was available for the service, but no replacement had been found so far. Calls for a school Gregory resident Monique Mckerrell moved to the region with her two children after being amazed by the area's natural beauty. "We were planning on travelling Australia … we found Gregory and fell in love," she said. "The spring that runs all year round to swim in, fish in, there's lots of hunting that we enjoy doing too, it was just prime." But the bus service's closure has raised questions about what future is possible in a town without access to face-to-face schooling. "Going to school is an important life experience, learning how to be part of the world, communicating, listening, thinking, and trying new things, and then gaining that confidence away from home,"she said. "If you had a school [in Gregory], it would bring more people in the community … in the long run I would prefer a physical school in town." Gregory previously had a primary school — a campus of Doomadgee State School — between 2003 and 2012, which closed after enrolments dwindled to four students. But the community has grown. According to the most recent census data, Gregory has a population of 122 people, about 60 per cent more than the 2016 census. Meanwhile, Burketown, where the region's only school remains, recorded a population of 204 people in 2021, down 34 residents from 2016 Ms King agreed a school at Gregory was needed as raising children without access to face-to-face learning was "too hard". "It's just so sad because a lot of families, they want to come home, they want to come back … but now that we've got no school it's too hard." A Department of Education spokesperson said little evidence supported the construction of a new school in the Gregory area. "When planning for new schools, the department considers a broad range of factors to establish a service need to provide a new school," the spokesperson said. "For most new schools in Queensland, the service need is underpinned by an analysis of the local school network and its ability to meet projected population growth."