By Callum Ludwig
While more information has been provided, some uncertainty still remains regarding the Warburton Highway landslip, especially with difficulties expected on Old Warburton Road for larger vehicles like school buses.
Despite this, a resolution is getting close to being found with improvement works for Old Warburton Road beginning and a community meeting held on Monday 3 April.
Assistant Principal at UYSC Michael Schultz said 163 of their students will be affected by the eventual closure of the Warburton Highway for repairs.
“The school bus system is critical to our students and families, not only for getting to and from school but the public bus system allows our young people to travel for part-time work and social activities also,” she said.
“Not having the bus system means students relying on a parent or guardians to transport them which comes with its own issues given how early some parents may need to drop their children at school and it can financially very costly for our families to ferry their children to and from school.”
Early discussions for solutions involved the use of a fleet of minibuses, resorting to parent/guardian transport or even a return to remote learning for students who may still be unable to make it to school, which has since been dismissed.
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said repair works are being planned in consultation with the Department of Education and there are no plans for a return to remote learning.
“We are working to minimise disruptions for all vehicles, including school buses and other heavy vehicles, while we repair the Warburton Highway landslip,” they said.
“We’re doing all we can to ensure students who travel by bus can prepare for the works and get safely to and from school.”
The improvement works on Old Warburton Road are expected to be completed by Monday 24 April, where the focus will then shift to repairing the landslip.
Mr Schultz said remote learning showed the school how resilient and adaptable our students are, but this has the potential to affect their learning.
“If students are having to arrive significantly earlier than normal and return home significantly later than normal, this will lengthen their day significantly,” he said.
“Additionally, students who arrive late to school on a regular basis also see their learning impacted. This could all result in it being too difficult for some students to get to school.”
