THE headteachers of two schools affected by changes to school transport provision as part of council budget cuts have reassured parents that they will not change their admissions policies as a result.

Pat Howarth, principal of Hummersknott Academy, and Mike Shorten, deputy head of Carmel RC College, both in Darlington, attended a meeting at Heighington Primary School to discuss options for school transport for children from rural parts of the borough.

Darlington Borough Council currently provides free school transport for children who travel more than two miles to school, but has agreed to extend that limit to three miles from next year in an attempt to save £394,110 over five years.

Traditionally, children from Heighington have attended Hummersknott or Carmel but, once the changes come into force, new students will only be eligible for free bus travel to the Darlington School of Maths and Science, formerly Branksome School.

Extra funding has been secured for the 2013/14 school year from the Darlington Schools Forum, which distributes education funding to schools across the borough, but the group has yet to decide whether it can commit funds in the long term.

Mr Howarth told parents that he and other headteachers across the town were keen to ensure that parental choice over secondary schools for children would not be determined by whether they could afford bus fares.

He said: “Our admission policy for year seven students is exactly the same as it always has been. However, the rules for school transport have changed.

“We know this year that new year sevens who attends Hummersknott from Heighington will receive free transport, but from then it will slowly peter out as those children move through the school. We don’t know what is going to happen, we have to honest.

“The Schools Forum has offered funding for one year, but it has not committed beyond that.”

Parents agreed to wait until the Schools Forum has made a decision on future funding for transport, expected in the Autumn, but to start looking at how much it would cost to provide their own transport as a back-up plan.

Councillor Gerald Lee, ward member for Heighington, said: “We are moving forward in the right direction, which is important. Communication between parents and the schools is vital. There has been a lot of uncertainty for parents and I think they will be happy to know the admissions policy has not changed.”