Parents struggle to pay court battle costs

MOTHER Angela Catchpole's family could be left thousands of pounds in debt after losing a court battle with education officials over her son's schooling.

Mrs Catchpole fears she and her husband Michael could be forced to pay out more than £10,000 in court costs and school fees after Buckinghamshire County Council refused to pay for dyslexic Nicholas's private education.

The family sent 15-year-old Nicholas to special schools in Essex and Surrey after the county council said they would only fund special assistance for him at the Wye Valley School, Bourne End.

Bosses refused to pay to send Nicholas to the special schools even though the Catchpoles claimed it would have cost the same to fund him at Wye Valley.

The family initially took their case to an independent tribunal which ruled against them. The family then took the case to court which also ruled in favour of Buckinghamshire County Council.

Mrs Catchpole, of Wellersley Avenue, Iver, said Nicholas would have suffered if education bosses had forced him to go to Wye Valley.

She added: "He desperately needed the special help that he got at the private schools, without it he would have become just another statistic.

"As it is, he really flourished at the private schools. I just don't know how the county council can say that giving him a tutor sitting in on a few lessons in class would have been just as good.

"There are always things that can be improved with education but we cannot count on the county council's support."

The family will have to pay 75 per cent of Buckinghamshire County Council's court costs as well as the £5,000 per term fees for Stanbridge special school in Romsey, Essex.

They will also have to pay for Nicholas's fees while he was at his previous school in Nanhurst, Surrey.

"There is no justice," said Mrs Catchpole, who is suffering from a stress-related illness brought on by the dispute.

A Buckinghamshire County Council spokesman said: "The tribunal agreed with our stance but then the parents decided to take it to the courts who backed up the tribunal's decision.

"It has gone through all the channels that it can go through. The arguments have been discussed and a decision made."

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