An East Islip mother is fighting to ensure her sick son gets the education he deserves.

Debra O?Connor says her 12-year-old son, Matthew, was diagnosed with Epstein Barr, a virus that causes extreme fatigue and other medical problems. Doctors said the seventh-grader could not go to school and needed to be home-schooled. Debra says she has been fighting with the East Islip School District for nearly six months to ensure that Matthew does not fall too far behind on his schoolwork.

In the end, Matthew did receive three two-hour home instruction sessions and passed three of his four finals. However, Debra says that?s not enough and is fighting for homebound instruction over the summer until Matthew is caught up. A district spokesman says the allegations that appropriate home-based instruction was not provided are without merit.