ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Bianca Williams’ 6-year-old son was turned away from school last Monday.

“He kinda broke down. He said, ‘Mom, I want to go to school,’” she said.

It doesn’t sound possible, but she showed us a text from one of the teachers after being turned away on the 4th consecutive day. It read, “The rooms are full, and we have to meet with our director to find out what is going to happen. We have run out of space.”

“They did offer us homebound services, but that would only equal one hour per day missed, so it’s like, for last week, he would have only gotten five hours of homebound,” Williams added.

Williams son has special needs and an IEP, an Individualized Education Plan.

“They need education too, so what is the hold up?” Williams asked.

She lives in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, but in St. Louis County, students with special needs go through what’s called the “Special School District.”

Also called SSD, it’s an entity that disability advocate Larry Opinsky has dealt with.

“It’s a confusing process and there’s thousands of employees and compliance is a continuing issue when you have an organization that size,” he said.

Opinsky learned about the system while helping his child. Now, he advocates for others through his consulting business called StL Advocate.

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“If you’re not just middle of the road and you need extra services, both on the special needs side and the high-achieving side, you’ve got to speak up,” Opinsky noted.

Williams did, she says, “…literally everyday. You know I’d wake up; I’d go down to the administration building…I called you guys, you know, because it’s just weird. Something is not right.”

FOX 2 called the Special School District late Monday afternoon and received an immediate response from a representative who agreed Williams son should not have been denied school. The District declined to discuss it on camera but solved this issue within one hour of our call.

“When I contacted you guys, I have the time stamps on my phone; I think it was like 32 minutes later when I got that call, and she told me he could start,” Williams said. “I deeply appreciate you helping me out here.”

Opinsky added, “It should serve as inspiration to other parents in her community and around the St. Louis area to speak up. In your gut, things should be a different way and go about the process to do it.”

To find Opinsky online, click here .

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