A class administrative complaint has been filed with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) against the De Soto School District on behalf of two children with special needs, alleging violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.
The complaint was submitted to DESE’s Office of Special Education-Compliance on Oct. 8 by Hopey Fink, an attorney with the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s Health and Education Justice Initiative, on behalf of two students identified as B.B. and L.S., as well as “all similarly situated special-education students and students in need of special-education evaluations.”
The attorney anticipated more families would be added to the complaint, which asks DESE to immediately investigate the school district to ensure the district is following special-education laws.
The complaint also asks the school district to immediately revisit certain current policies and practices associated with special education and IEP (individualized education program) to ensure all staff understand their obligations particularly those related to identification and assessment of students with emotional disturbances and these students being served in the least restrictive environments.
Superintendent Ron Farrow said the district did not have a comment on the complaint.
The three alleged violations are failure to appropriately identify and serve students in need of educational identification of emotional disturbance; failure to educate students with disabilities within their least restrictive environment; and failure to conduct adequate and appropriate functional behavioral assessments that lead to effective behavior intervention plans.
The complaint alleges the violations have pushed families to withdraw and seek educational access elsewhere.
B.B.
The complaint identifies B.B. as a 9-year-old third grader. He currently is homeschooled and receives occupational and speech therapy from providers outside the district.
The complaint alleges B.B. was frequently secluded and restrained as a kindergartener and first grader at De Soto. His mother requested applied behavior analysis services, which he began receiving in early 2025 and allowed him to make progress without seclusion or restraint. The complaint alleges the district abruptly discontinued the therapy in May 2025. The district then agreed to provide the therapy upon request, but “a delay in getting this therapy implemented resulted in additional restraint and out-of-school suspension in the fall of 2025.”
In October of 2025, the behaviors escalated within the classroom and “instead of implementing B.B.’s behavior intervention plan, the district involved an SRO” (school resource officer) who referred him to juvenile court for an alleged assault. The parent removed him from the district when the district discussed moving him to the Dragon Annex for students with severe special needs.
As a remedy, the complaint requests the district: reenroll B.B. with the consideration of a more therapeutic placement along the continuum of alternate placements; facilitate an independent educational evaluation and an appropriate functional behavioral assessment; provide appropriate services while he is homebound and being reevaluated; revise his behavior intervention plan; provide compensatory education, focusing on his academic areas of greatest need; and revisit the continuum of placements, including a separate private placement.
L.S.
The complaint identifies L.S. as a 12-year-old sixth grade student who withdrew over the summer to attend the Missouri Connections Academy through the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program.
During the first two months of kindergarten, he served 48 days of out-of-school suspension for behaviors such as threatening to kill administrators, pushing other students, disrupting the classroom, yelling and throwing supplies. By second grade, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, anxiety and sensory processing disorder.
It alleges he did not receive any of the social or emotional supports he needed until third grade when his IEP was developed, and a functional behavioral assessment wasn’t conducted until he was in sixth grade.
The complaint further states L.S. was found ineligible in fourth grade for any special-education services because consistently had passing grades for over two IEP periods. In fifth grade, at a parent’s request, L.S. was again found eligible for IEP but not before he was suspended several more times for aggressive behaviors toward students. The behaviors and suspensions continued in sixth grade, which were directly connected to alleged unaddressed bullying by students.
When a psychiatrist confirmed the school environment and lack of adequate support were contributing to mental health distress, his parents asked for an independent educational evaluation but instead his IEP placed him half of the day at the Dragon Annex, the complaint states. He was removed from the band program in March, and in May, he began experiencing suicidal ideation allegedly related to his experiences at school.
As a remedy, the complaint requests the district provide compensatory education in the amount of 625 hours, focusing on his greatest academic needs.
“The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has an Office of Special Education that will review this complaint, investigate and issue a decision letter from the commissioner of education or their designee with findings and possible remedies,” Fink said.