Pupils in limbo over places
Dozens of Black Country pupils will start the term in limbo because appeals over their choice of school have not yet been heard. Tearful parents in Dudley bombarded councillors with pleas for help.
Hundreds of borough youngsters were denied their first choice of secondary school, with a number of Sandwell children also waiting on appeals. Dudley education bosses say 30 pupils will have to wait until well into September before they know if their appeals have been successful.
Bosses say national policy means they have no idea how many children are awaiting decisions from the borough's eight 'go-it-alone' schools which are out of their control.
The futures of 23 of children transfering from Cradley High School, which closed last term, remain up in the air, with another seven youngsters moving from borough primary schools still waiting to be allocated a place.
Sandwell has six pupils who are still without a confirmed secondary school place due to outstanding appeals.
But Wolverhampton City Council said it had dealt with all of their 176 appeals by the end of June, with the city's most in demand school being St Peter's Collegiate CofE and the least popular, Pendeford Business and Enterprise College.
Staffordshire County Council also say it has managed to get through all its appeals.
Dudley Council spokesman Chris Howes said appeals from parents of pupils transferring from primary to secondary school had not been lodged until late July or early August.
He added that while they waited on their appeals, all these youngsters had been offered either one of their preferred schools or the nearest alternative school with a place available. Parents of children forced to move from Cradley High have also been offered a £75 uniform allowance if they accepted a temporary place.
Education boss Councillor Ian Jones said the outstanding appeals in Sandwell had only been lodged in recent weeks.
