Dear Fellow-Parents,
The planning of the new bus network to Laeken is slowly coming to an end. This is an exercise that is done by parents for parents together with the Transport Office. In the end, the network and the enrolment data including the transport database will be handed over to the Transport Office which will then again handle the daily operation and maintenance. The move of the school forced to develop an entirely new network. As many of you know, the first preliminary network was based on a survey in October. However, the actual enrolments have risen by 70% to approximately 1200 students. Therefore, the survey data while helpful only gave an indication and the work had to be redone entirely.
As much as possible suggestions and comments are taken into account. Every enrolled child will be assigned to a bus stop. Where the request was unclear (e.g. no stop code mentioned in the enrolment) we assigned the stop closest to the enrolment address. You will receive the confirmation about the stop towards the end of August.
The results that are now being published step by step are considered to be final. For organizational reasons and to keep control on the start-up of the transport service no changes to lines or stops will be made before October / November until this new network is stabilized.
This year there are some particularities that we would like all parents to be aware of:
Timings are in many cases still to be established. As there is no experience, with every finalized line the parents on the first three stops are being contacted to help establish the timings. Everybody willing to contribute can still register here.
Any change request to move a stop or change a line will be registered, evaluated and decided at a later date without exception. An online form to ask for a change is available on the website. Be aware that a change of a stop is not a simple exercise. From changing the databases, the publishing of the change to informing driver, moniteur and parents a whole range of activities needs to be performed that requires careful planning. We urge you to NOT send an email requesting a move of a stop or a new stop to the Transport Office but use the above link.
Especially during the first two weeks we expect that there will be delays and unforeseeable events until everybody (drivers, moniteurs, children and parents) will get used to the new situation. We also ask for your patience and understanding in case of unforeseen events during this period.
We emphasize that you are required to be present on time at the stop assigned to your child, especially in the afternoon. It is not possible for the moniteurs to control the identity of a child and matching it with the receiving person.
It is obligatory to prepare the transport badge for your child. The badge is especially important during those first two weeks. Staff must at all times be in the position to identify your child and contact you if necessary! Therefore, no child will be allowed on the bus without the badge during the first two weeks.
We are looking for possibilities to send the badge to you together with the confirmation of the stop. You will have to print it and attach a photograph of the child. If it cannot be send individually, a blank form to be downloaded will be made available on the web site.
You may change to a stop on the same line assigned to you. Please, inform the Transport Office in this case.
You cannot change to another line until end of September. After, we will try to find solutions for individual cases subject to available capacity on the busses.
We were informed by the accounting department that approximately 200 parents have not yet paid the APEEE membership fee for last year. This alone represents a gap of 10.000 Euro in the budget of the association. This is now cross checked against the children enrolled. Not having paid the membership fee will result in the enrolment not being processed (see transport regulations). The same goes for not paid amounts for any of the services (cantine, periscolaire or transport).
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