JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ashton Ambrose needs help getting her five-year-old son, Bryce, to his kindergarten class.
The Jacksonville veteran has lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and peripheral neuropathy. Ambrose said she's in pain every day.
"People don't understand it's a luxury to be able to walk outside and play with your kid and take him to school," Ambrose emotionally said.
Due to her disability, she is unable to take her son to and from school.
She's currently relying on her elderly parents to drop off and pick up her son from Hickory Creek Elementary. Tamara Ambrose, Ashton's mother, said it's starting to take a toll on her husband.
"My husband has rheumatoid arthritis and a lot of pain," Tamara added.
Ambrose expressed how it would be helpful if the St. John's County School District provided bus transportation for Bryce. Frankly, the school district told First Coast News it can't be of assistance because of Florida's two-mile rule and Gabby's Law.
The district said Bryce is not eligible for transportation services.
"Florida's two-mile rule determines who is responsible for getting a student to/from school, the parent/guardian or the school district. The two-mile rule does not dictate the means for the student to get to school," the school district wrote in an e-mail to First Coast News.
Ambrose believes there is an exception to the rule. Whereas the school district's provisional transportation waiver program showed "extreme hardships" can be taken into consideration.
Ambrose said she's not looking for a handout, but she needs help "to get something done that I meet the criteria for."
First Coast News reached out Alfred A. Pantano, Director of Transportation, but he was not in the office for comment. He would need an endorsement from the school principal to make an exception for provisional transportation.