She said when the driver called the school to notify them he was not sure where he was, the students sounded alarmed.
Arohanui School principal Shaki Padayatchi is pushing education officials for answers about transport providers.
“All seven students in this vehicle were bound for our base site, and our staff member could hear significant distress from the students in the background.”
At 9.30am, two hours after the children were picked up, the vehicle had still not arrived.
“The vehicle arrived while we were on the phone [with Ritchies management] meaning these vulnerable students were in transit for over two hours. They arrived highly distressed.”
Ritchies has been approached for comment.
Arohanui Special School pupil 8-year-old Gurshabad Singh, who was on the autism spectrum, died in May after he escaped from a Ritchies van unnoticed and drowned in a neighbouring pool.
Gurshabad Singh died on May 25 after he escaped a school van unnoticed and drowned. Photo / Alyse Wright
Education Minister Erica Stanford told the Herald her thoughts were “with the family of this young man”.
“The Ministry of Education are undertaking a review of Sesta [specialised school transport assistance] and there are a number of investigations underway, as such it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.”
Ritchies is contracted by the ministry to provide specialised transport to schools for children with specific needs under the Sesta scheme.
In the past week, school children have been left locked in vans with drivers returning to their homes unaware they still had passengers on board.
On Friday, an 11-year-old autistic non-verbal boy was left locked in a van for four hours at a North Shore property after the driver failed to drop him off at school that morning.
While on the other side of Auckland, also on Friday, a 17-year-old student was forgotten inside a van for two hours when her driver failed to drop her to a work placement.
Education Minister Erica Stanford says the Ministry of Education is reviewing specialised school transport assistance. Photo / Corey Fleming.
Padayatchi said she had now raised concerns about Ritchies twice to the ministry, which informed her that “because there’s an ongoing investigation, there were currently no plans to pause their service”.
“The length of time our students spent unsupervised on that vehicle is entirely unacceptable,” Padayatchi said. “We are gravely concerned about their safety; anything could have happened during those two hours, and we were left completely uninformed.
“To be honest, the ministry needs to be held accountable here as much as Ritchies. Is a student’s death not enough reason for the ministry to take this matter seriously? Instead, all I have from the ministry is silence.”
The ministry told the Herald it acknowledged Padayatchi had raised a “number of concerns” and said it “understood her frustration”.
“We recognise there is a strong interest in seeing what action is being taken. However, aspects of this work are not always visible or able to be shared in detail while investigations and follow-up actions are underway. This reflects the need to ensure processes are fair, robust, and properly concluded, not a lack of action or engagement.
“Student safety is non-negotiable. We will continue to engage as this work progresses.”
Labour Party education spokeswoman Ginny Andersen told the Herald that she and disability issues spokeswoman Priyanca Radhakrishnan have gone to the ministry with questions on the recent changes.
“I am very concerned at recent reports of children’s safety being compromised when using Sesta transport,” Andersen said. “My thoughts are with the family who lost their beloved child as a result of this and also with the parents whose children have been affected.
“The experiences of families whose children have been impacted must be taken seriously and the ministry is right to conduct an urgent review into the scheme. Families will want to know why there have been changes, like from taxi to minivan, and whether a risk assessment took place before that change.
“It’s vital the ministry, in its review, ensures this transport scheme has the necessary safeguards and measures in place to prevent future harm. There may very well have been more incidents that have gone unreported. Families deserve to have peace of mind that their child is coming home to them safely.”
Labour education spokeswoman Ginny Andersen has raised questions with officials about changes to specialised school transport assistance. Photo / Mark Mitchell
According to the ministry, Sesta providers changed at the start of the current school term after renewed contracts.
Padayatchi said the previous transport provider worked seamlessly alongside staff and whānau, and drivers understood complex needs, but Ritchies had failed to follow in those steps.
“Ritchies relies on its individual drivers to find their own relief cover. We have already had multiple instances where families were contacted late at night by a driver stating they would be away and couldn’t find cover.”
She claimed several students have missed school because of driver absence.
“We were notified by a family this morning that the driver didn’t turn up. Turns out Ritchies didn’t even know he was away.
“As schools, we operate on the trust that the Ministry of Education makes operational decisions with our students’ best interests at heart.
“Unfortunately, the current procurement model appears to prioritise the most cost-effective option over the specialised care and safety these students require.”