Parents in Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, have said they are protesting against a decision to get rid of a dedicated school bus service and to replace it with a public bus service.
Meanwhile, parents in other parts of the country say that their children have been left without bus tickets.
The removal of the dedicated service in Sixmilebridge is part of a pilot project, which parents claim is putting up to 344 children "in danger", and they are demanding that Minister for Education Norma Foley reverse the move.
The Department of Education said that the pilot project will assess "the benefits of integrating school and public transport for post-primary students".
Aoife Keogh said that she and other parents had been notified of the changes by email last Friday, just a week before children return to school.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said that the pick up and drop off point is changing.
It appears that all 282 pupils going to Saint Patrick's Comprehensive and St Killian's in Shannon would now be getting the bus at the same location, McGregor's pub in the middle of the village, Ms Keogh said.
"It's just in a car park with a through road going through it, and that road has a hugely dangerous junction in the R470," she added.
The department has "engaged with parental representatives, school principals and political representatives in the pilot area to discuss issues of concern and explore solutions to them," according to a statement.
"We all paid for our door-to-door service that we have had traditionally for the last 40 years," Ms Keogh said.
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Children are not guaranteed a seat, "despite having paid in full for their bus tickets in April", and their "safety is compromised by using undesignated bus stops in rural locations, no pedestrian crossings, no bus shelters to protect from the elements, poor street lighting, especially during winter".
Ms Keogh noted that no updated health and safety risk assessment or road safety audit was completed prior to this pilot scheme being launched.
Bus Éireann and Department of Education "said it wasn't actually necessary because it was an existing route," she added.
"And they're adding 440 vulnerable road users onto that service, so this is not acceptable. This is putting our children's lives in danger."
'A bigger bus is the answer...quite simple'
Ciara Donohoe, who lives in Cavan, received an email on 1 August stating there were no concessionary tickets for her children as, Bus Éireann said, "the bus is operating at capacity".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Ms Donohoe said that her children - and 20 others - lost their tickets because they do not attend their nearest school.
As she and her husband work, there "is nobody there available to bring children - carpool is not even a solution".
"We wouldn't be finished our work before school finished, the same with all the other 20 kids. Every single family member is working."
Parents are meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the matter, and are considering walking their children to school as a form of protest.
"We’re getting nowhere, you know, so the idea is we meet, we make a plan, we decide do we have to walk our kids to school, you know, obviously we’re going to take a day off work to do this too."
"They need a bigger bus is the answer, and I think that is quite simple."
Bernie Codd from Wexford has two boys who are without bus tickets.
She paid the €75 fee per child in April and was told her application was pending, but two days ago, she received an email telling her that there were no seats available for her children.
"At the moment, I haven’t got a solution. I’m just shocked. I really am shocked."
