A MOTHER is furious that her daughter has not been offered any of her preferred choices of primary school.
Maria Taylor, has slammed Surrey County Council for allocating The Dawnay School in Bookham to her daughter Lexi, which is four miles from her home in Leatherhead.
Mrs Taylor's complaint came as the authority revealed 90 per cent of parents in the county were allocated one of their three preferences for both infant and junior school places.
The Teazlewood Park resident had put down the Royal Kent CofE School in Oxshott as her first choice, and West Ashtead Primary School and Eastwick Infant School as other choices.
"You would think they would prioritise one of the nine schools that are within a two-mile radius of our house," she said.
"I presume they have dumped me at the bottom of the pile. They have not taken her needs into consideration."
Mrs Taylor works from home operating the taxi company she owns with her husband and does not usually have access to a car during the day.
"If she's taken ill at school, or has a sports day or wants to have a play date after school, I can't go or come and pick her up," she said.
"She's having all that taken away from her. That's an essential part of growing up.
"They have also taken my rights away as a mother to take her to school myself."
Because the Bookham school is more than two miles from Mrs Taylor's home, the county council will provide transport for three-year-old Lexi, which may be a taxi or possibly a minibus if there are other children travelling on the same route.
"I worked out if it's a taxi it will cost between £50 and £60 a day, including paying a chaperone to accompany her," said Mrs Taylor.
"So that's £250 to £300 a week. If she has to go to that school for the next seven years that would add up to £79,000."
Joy Ridley, county council spokeswoman, said: "As parents now accept and decline places, more places will be freed up and these will be offered to applicants according to their position on each school's waiting list.
"This way some parents who were previously disappointed are likely to be offered one of their preferred schools.
"Parents may decide to decline an offer of a place for a number of reasons, including if they have moved since their application, if they have decided to opt for private education or if they are unhappy with the offer made.
"All parents have the right to appeal a decision."
