Education bosses have been accused of ‘forcing’ a visually impaired boy into accepting a place at a school his family says is not right for him.
Kaeden Booth, who is registered blind, hopes to attend Honley High School next year.
He was born with a rare condition called Peters anomaly. As a result the 10-year-old has been through 40 operations including one to remove his left eye.
Kaeden has very limited vision in his right eye and has an assistant and a specialised laptop when he’s at school.
But according to his mum, Nadia Turki, Kirklees Council has said there isn’t enough money for an assistant or equipment to accommodate Kaeden at the high-achieving school.
Instead, Nadia says her son is being pushed into accepting a place at Moor End Academy, in Crosland Moor.
Nadia says the school, which has a service for visually impaired children, is unsuitable for her son.
Pupils readying for high school are allowed to pick the schools they would like to attend.
But Nadia said the decision has already been made for Kaeden after she received a copy of a letter from the council to Moor End Academy.
Nadia said the letter from Kirklees Council’s special educational needs team said Kaeden had chosen the Crosland Moor school.
The 36-year-old from Berry Brow said: “We’re supposed to have a choice and we don’t.
“It feels they are trying to force us into an ‘option’ and there’s no option apart from Moor End.”
She added: “It feels like discrimination. Any child without a disability gets a choice; Kaeden doesn’t because he’s disabled.”
Nadia has launched a Facebook group ‘Rights for Disabled Young People to Access Education’ for children struggling to access disability services at school.
A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that at this stage that no decision has been made about the school place that is on offer to Kaeden.
“We are in the process of creating an EHC (education, health and care) plan for Kaeden and as part of the process it is important to explore all the local options for his education.
“This means consulting with the families preferred school, Honley High School, and any school which has been identified as being able to provide an appropriate educational placement, in this case Moor End Academy.
“We do this at the same time to prevent any delays in the process.
“If Honley High School respond to say they are able to meet Kaeden’s needs, then we will enter Honley High School on Section I of the EHC final plan.
“Ms Turki has been provided with the draft EHC plan which highlights the information provided above.“
