Kansas parents protest cuts to Schools for the Deaf, the Blind

From the Kansas City Star:

Gay Jones watched her daughter Danielle become “more and more unhappy” and reclusive while attending public school in Blue Springs, Mo.

Although the school district had a program to help Danielle, who is deaf, it was difficult for her to communicate with her classmates and teachers and to develop intellectually in that learning environment, Jones said.

Jones sold her home and moved to Olathe so Danielle could attend the Kansas School for the Deaf.

“My daughter made a complete turnaround overnight,” Jones said.

Jones was one of several people who testified Monday before the Facilities Closure and Realignment Commission in Topeka.

The committee, established by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, is examining the possible closure or merger of several facilities around the state, including the Kansas School for the Deaf and Kansas School for the Blind in Kansas City, Kan.

Jones is hard of hearing and is learning to sign in American Sign Language.

“We love Olathe and the fact that there are people who can communicate and interact with us when we go somewhere,” she said.

She wants the committee to keep the school open and in Olathe.

Although Commission Chairwoman Rochelle Chronister told the audience the committee was more likely looking at realignment or other improvements rather than closure, those testifying wanted to make sure the committee understood the importance of the School for the Deaf and its cultural ties to Olathe.

“Olathe embraces its large deaf population,” said Ruth Ann Hackler a longtime Olathe residents. “Interpreters sign at public meetings, some church services, most forums as well as school productions.”

Hackler, when she was a state legislator, helped find funding to build Emery Hall, which is for preschool- and elementary-aged children on the school’s campus. She also dealt with educational issues for 22 years as a member of the Olathe school board, she said.

“What a shame it would be to eliminate this beautiful campus overlooking the heart of downtown Olathe,” Hackler said.

Commissioner Nile Dillmore, 92nd District House representative, said the problem is how to justify keeping both schools open on separate campuses when the schools serve a limited number of students in the state and a limited amount of state funding is available.

“The cost of having the facilities is higher than the need,” he said.

Kansas Secretary of Administration Duane Goossen told the commission that the state could balance its budget if revenue forecasts hold true. And that was only possible because Gov. Mark Parkinson recently approved $160 million in budget reductions and allotments and the state received federal stimulus money. Funds from the Federal Recovery Act will disappear, however, in the next three year years, making it more difficult for the state, Goossen said.

The state is looking at a deficit of $220 million to $230 million when federal dollars dry up in 2012, Goossen said.

The loss of federal dollars and a steady decline in state tax revenues has the state looking at every agency and school in the state.

Robert Maile, superintendent of the School for the Deaf, said one can’t view the school just by its numbers. Several of the children who attend have multiple disabilities and other deaf children only can flourish in such an environment.

Although national studies show no academic difference between a student who attends a public school with a program that helps the deaf and a student who attends a deaf school, the difference is seen in leadership abilities, coping skills and other factors a person must possess to become successful, Maile said.

Kansas has 650 children certified as deaf or hard of hearing. The School for the Deaf has 136 students enrolled and serves 385 students statewide through various outreach programs and operates on a budget of $9.698 million for fiscal year 2010.

Madeleine Burkindine, superintendent for Kansas School for the Blind, said the students who attend her school are some of the state’s most severe cases—they are completely blind and need help learning, coping and adjusting to society.

Kansas has 1,000 children who are vision impaired—665 are legally blind and the remaining children have various degrees of visual impairment. The school serves 70 students during the regular term and 50 students during its summer session on a budget of $6.52 million for fiscal year 2010.

During the budget and building facilities portion of the hearing, some commissioners asked questions as too the possibility of combining the two schools and asked about available space on the two campuses.

The School for the Deaf has 17 acres, 12 for educational purposes and five for athletics. About 22,000 square feet is unused and available, Maile said. There also are a couple of smaller buildings, built in the 1920s, that could be razed, he added.

The School for the Blind resides on 9.56 acres in Kansas City, Kan. The school has no available space, Burkindine said.

There is a three-story cottage that the school only uses the first floor, but the second and third stories are structurally unsound, Burkindine said.

The commission is expected to make a recommendation on the two schools by Dec. 1 to Parkinson and the Legislature.