Rally seeks to keep deaf, blind schools separated
A bill before the Senate would create a school board for each
RUTH LIAO
Statesman Journal
June 2, 2007
Supporters of the deaf and blind communities were joined by Salem neighborhood residents at the state capitol Friday in making another push for the schools’ independent operations.
They were protesting a recent decision by the Oregon Department of Education to relocate the Oregon School for the Blind, sell its downtown campus and use the proceeds to move blind students to the Oregon School for the Deaf, located in northeast Salem.
The decision, which has been proposed numerous times in the past, was announced by Superintendent of Public Schools Susan Castillo on May 18. Both schools would be independently operated and buildings on the deaf school campus would be retrofitted for the move.
State Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said she will continue to rally for support of Senate Bill 757, a proposal that would create independent school boards for both state special schools. The bill is in the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
“The Legislature has a historic opportunity to pass 757 to further the mission of Oregon special schools,” Walker said.
On Tuesday, House Bill 2263 moved out of the Senate Education Committee, led by Walker. That proposal included an amendment that would direct the superintendent of public instruction to make recommendations to the state assembly regarding changes to the schools’ facilities.
The Oregon School for the Deaf alumni association announced the creation of an annual award and scholarship named in honor of Walker and former school director Jane Mulholland, said spokeswoman Margi Morgan. Last December, Mulholland was fired by state officials, which angered many in the deaf community.
The privately-funded award and scholarship will be granted to a graduating senior beginning with the class of 2008, Morgan said.
State Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, also spoke at Friday’s rally. Clem said he was led to believe by state education officials that the Legislature would ultimately decide the fate of the two schools.
“We have the ability to stall out any other last-minute, back door maneuvers and have a real public process,” Clem said.
Evelyn Riggan of Salem, a retired educator of the visually impaired, said it would be a mistake to have students of both schools on one campus. Riggan, who’s taught at the Oregon School for the Blind, also had experience with the state blind school in Utah.
Riggan said the Utah school used to house both blind students and deaf students, but separated the two schools because of competing tensions about using such facilities as the gymnasium or pool. Riggan said she wouldn’t like to see the same problems plague the Oregon special schools.
About half a dozen Gaiety Hill residents, who live in the area around the Oregon School for the Blind, also showed support Friday.
Carole Mitchell, a Neighborhood Watch block captain, said residents cared for the students at the school, who had become part of their community. Mitchell said residents were also concerned about protecting the neighborhood’s historic value and vicinity to Salem institutions such as the Bush House, Historic Deepwood Estate and Bush’s Pasture Park.
Retired Oregon School for the Blind director Neil Kliewer said each Legislature seems to lose institutional memory from past battles waged over the school, but he urged rally participants to continue fighting for the state schools’ independence.
Kliewer said faculty and students view the Oregon School for the Blind as more than just a location.
“It’s not just a piece of property. It’s a piece of our culture,” he said.
rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941
Statesman-Journal
Legislature
Special schools amendment in House proposal
May 30, 2007
An amendment was included in a house proposal to grant the Oregon Legislature control over the deaf and blind state schools.
House Bill 2263 moved out of the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. The proposal included an amendment that would direct the superintendent of public instruction to make recommendations to the assembly regarding changes to the schools’ facilities.
The Department of Education announced May 18 that the Oregon School for the Deaf campus in downtown Salem would be sold. Programming for the blind students would be relocated to the Oregon School for the Deaf campus in northeast Salem by 2009. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo said the department would use money from the sale of the blind school to upgrade facilities on the deaf school campus.
Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, said the proposed amendment will allow the state legislature to rule on public policy regarding the state schools. Walker, who leads the education committee, said she continues to focus on another pending proposal that would create independent school boards for the two schools.
That proposal, Senate Bill 757, remains in the joint ways and means committee.
– Ruth Liao
statesmanjournal.com
11:53 a.m.
No simple answer for deaf, blind school dilemma
Friday, May 25, 2007
Here’s a draft of Saturday’s editorial. Send comments to Barbara Curtin, the lead writer.
Two things appear inevitable about the fate of the Oregon School for the Blind and the Oregon School for the Deaf:
•The blind school will move to the campus of the deaf school, with the schools operating as two separate institutions under one administration in order to save money;
•Hardly anyone will be happy with the decision.
To be fair, Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo has no easy choices. Oregon has studied this problem for more than three decades without taking action. During that time, enrollment at the two schools has dropped, maintenance has been deferred, and the cost per student has soared.
Many advocates for the deaf and blind would prefer to keep the schools in their present locations. So would current employees, some of whom could lose their jobs if the schools operate more efficiently. So would many Gaiety Hill residents who like having the tranquil blind school as a neighbor.
However, the status quo isn’t an option. Rather than pour money after dwindling enrollments, the state eventually would pull the plug. Then Oregon would have no residential schools to supplement local districts’ services for children with disabilities.
State officials produced a rosy Q&A to market their decision and a timeline to justify how they made it. But they still erred in not involving more vision- and hearing-impaired people in the discussions and decision-making.
They also lost capital in the deaf community by mishandling the firing of Jane Mulholland, head of the deaf school, in late 2006. That makes merging the two campuses — a tough sell in good times — even tougher.
Although the deaf school campus has room for the blind school students, many problems remain. The campus will require extensive renovations and new construction. It is less convenient for mobility training. If a student is hit by a train on the nearby tracks, the decision will look terrible in hindsight.
Still, something must be done to ensure the schools’ survival. The cost per student will necessarily be high, but the state must take reasonable steps to operate the schools efficiently.
Jay Gense, who heads both programs until Patti Togioka starts at the deaf school on Aug. 1, makes a good case that some offerings need not be duplicated. Food service and maintenance are two examples. Teachers can train together, whether they use Braille or sign language with their students.
If Oregon were really forward-thinking and committed to serving these children, the state would sell both properties and develop a new campus. Why isn’t the state exploring that as the best option?
Consider: Even with tens of millions of dollars’ worth of work to remove asbestos, retrofit buildings to withstand an earthquake and make the campus accessible for blind children, the deaf school still won’t be ideal for either group.
The state has plenty of land here, counting the Oregon State Hospital property. Sale of two urban campuses might yield enough money to let the two schools start fresh in a facility designed just for them.
posted by Editorial Board