Proposals to provide free transport for children in Whitehawk who attend Longhill High School, in Rottingdean, are due to go before the council’s cabinet next month.
The proposals follow two years of lobbying by the campaign group Class Divide which said that not all youngsters in east Brighton qualify for free transport to and from secondary school.
Three years ago, in July 2021, more than 550 people signed a petition calling for free school transport to Longhill and a direct service to the Brighton Alridge Community Academy (BACA).
Most children of secondary school age in Whitehawk, Manor Farm and the Bristol Estate attend one of the two schools.
Brighton and Hove City Council has also been urged to fund a bus service that would cater for pupils wanting to attend after-school activities.
Class Divide said that hundreds of the poorest families in Brighton spend about £400 a year on bus fares per child.
Curtis James, of Class Divide, said:
“We hope Brighton and Hove City Council is going to offer free school transport to all children in Whitehawk attending Longhill School when the cabinet meets in July.
“If so, this is a significant victory for our campaign and for the local parents who have long fought for affordable travel options.
“While we have not yet seen all the details of this proposed change, it appears to be a positive step forward in addressing the high costs of bus travel for low-income families.”
There remain unresolved issues for the campaigners such as the inconvenient early bus times that lengthen the school day for students.
There have also been criticisms about the lack of a direct bus route from Whitehawk to BACA.
Whitehawk lost its secondary school in Wilson Avenue when the East Brighton College of Media Arts – known as Comart – closed in 2005.
It was known as Marina High from 1997-99 and, when it opened in 1972, it was originally named Stanley Deason High School after a former mayor of Brighton and long-serving councillor.
As most pupils travel to school without their parents, they do not benefit from the “kids go free” scheme through the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), administered by the council but funded by the government.
Children must travel with an adult to benefit from the scheme which is until the end of March next year.
Another national scheme – the £2 flat fare for a single journey – lasts until the end of December and is funded exclusively by the government.
Full details of the council’s plans are due to be released five working days before the cabinet meeting on Thursday 18 July.
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