You guys sound like a bunch of Daily Mail readers to me. By the way, as she appears not to be married, she is obviously undeserving of sympathy
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You of course know that the shorter route that you found would be convenient for her, although Wikipedia says " It is often claimed that the village is the second largest in England (in terms of area)" so maybe it isn't that close to her home.
It is noticable that she lives close to the local government boundary, and schools in nearby Castleford are probably not available. There may be more convenient schools closer to Leeds, but further in miles, that would be easier to get to.
I guess the council officials (in Leeds proper) gave no thought to the travelling issues for public transport users on the periphery, and she has used the media to get them to think again. Good luck to her.