West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Story Archives - Page 2 of 3

Schools for Deaf and Blind Names Administrator

The finance director of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind will serve as the school’s administrator until a new superintendent is hired.

Superintendent Lynn Boyer will retire on June 30.

The Charleston Daily Mail reports that Boyer told theWest Virginia Board of Education last week that finance director Mark Gandolfi will assume administrative duties until she is replaced.

The board is reviewing applications for the superintendent’s position.

Boyer has served as superintendent of the institution in Romney since 2011.

Schools for Deaf and Blind Struggling for Funding Solutions after Gubernatorial Vetoes

Lawmakers from the Eastern Panhandle tried two separate times to aid the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind during the 2015 legislative session. The schools are struggling to maintain their buildings, some of which are more than 100 years, and looked to the Legislature this year to begin to help them meet their facilities goals.

Those goals, contained in the schools’ 10 year Comprehensive Education Facilities Plan, including closing and demolishing some buildings on campus to create a “stronger sense of community,” according to Superintendent Dr. Lynn Boyer.

The plan includes updated housing for residential students, increased building security and the installation of fire and sprinkler systems suitable for deaf and hearing impaired and blind and visually impaired students and teachers. The plan, however, comes with a $42 million price tag.

Boyer and lawmakers attempted to jump start the process of obtaining funds with two pieces of legislation. The first, a supplemental appropriation, would have granted the schools one time dollars totaling $1.5 million.

“We had suggested that that amount of money would be useful to begin the consolidation of the secondary and elementary buildings for the deaf,” Boyer said.

The second bill would have made the schools eligible for West Virginia School Building Authority dollars. That does not guarantee any funds, Boyer said, but would at least gives the schools access to the possibility.

Both bill passed both chambers with overwhelming support, but Gov. Tomblin refused to sign them.

“It was not expected that the governor would veto them,” Boyer said. “So, that came as a surprise to all of us because support had been so universal.”

In his veto message for both bills, Tomblin wrote he did not feel the schools had a real plan to become financially viable in the future. Instead, Tomblin called on the West Virginia Board of Education to get an outside assessment of the schools.

Since, the governor’s office, state Department of Education, state Board of Education and Dr. Boyer have begun meeting, working to answer the governor’s questions about viability and looking for answers to their financial needs.

The group is still in the exploratory phases, Boyer said, but she called each meeting a step forward.

“There are not any obvious answers yet, but I think certainly in our conversations we keep getting clarity from each other,” she said.

Possible funding sources include adding the schools to the state school aid formula, a calculation of state dollars granted to each school system on a per pupil basis. Boyer said those funds may also include special lottery revenues.

Boyer said the school also intends to hire a grant writer and is in the process of looking for private donations.

Superintendent of W.Va. Schools for Deaf and Blind to Retire

The superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind is stepping down.

Lynn Boyer notified the West Virginia Board of Education last week that she will retire on June 30.

The board appointed Boyer in 2011 to lead the Romney schools following a 2010 audit that found deficiencies in leadership, curriculum, safety and technology.

During her tenure, Boyer has pushed for funding to renovate the schools’ aging buildings. The schools also implemented a policy requiring all staff to be able to communicate with deaf students through sign language.

Boyer says in a letter to staff that she’s confident the schools are stronger now.

Gov. Tomblin Vetoes 10 Bills, from Home-Schooling to Raw Milk

Saying no to raw milk is just one of a wave of recent vetoes made by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.

The Democrat nixed 10 bills Wednesday, including the proposal that would have let people drink raw milk through herd-sharing agreements.

Another vetoed bill would have let home-schooled students get PROMISE scholarships without a general equivalency degree.

Some vetoes were based on technical errors, including an anti-human trafficking bill.

Another bill would have loosened reporting of instruction plans for home-schooled students, among other requirements.

He disapproved of allowing four fewer in-school instructional days annually. A push to offer four days of early childhood education, instead of the current five, was nixed.

Tomblin also declined to let the state’s schools for the deaf and blind be eligible for School Building Authority money.

Governor Questions Concealed Carry Bill

At the Legislature today, Senators begin to focus in on the state’s four billion dollar budget as they wait for Delegates to approve some major pieces of legislation, like charter schools and campaign finance reform. The West Virginia schools for the deaf and blind will be eligible for funding from the School Building Authority for badly needed improvements under a bill passed by the senate finance committee today.

And, on our last episode of the season, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin joins us to look back on this session on The Legislature Today. He raises questions about the need for a bill to eliminate permits on concealed weapons.

Schools for Deaf and Blind Workers Want Change in New Hiring Policy

The state Board of Education heard from child care workers at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Wednesday morning about an upcoming change in their job requirements. The board decided in March those workers will now be required to obtain an associates degree.

The 35 workers who currently hold positions at the Romney schools have until 2018 to obtain a degree, but there’s no guarantee even then that they will keep their jobs.

Child care workers and parents of children that attend the schools told board members at their Charleston meeting they feel the new requirements are unnecessary.

“I don’t think that I need an education to be a mother,” Susie Fields told the board. She’s been working at the schools for more than 30 years.

“I have proved that I’m a mother and that I am a good mother.”

SusieFields.mp3

Listen to Susie Fields' emotional testimony before the state Board of Education.

Parent Lucy Kimble said the child care workers are there to teach the children life skills, like how to cook and clean for themselves, not guiding their education.

The school’s Superintendent Lynn Boyer said there have been some changes to the new hiring policy after negotiating with the workers and the West Virginia Education Association.

Previous work experience and whether or not a candidate has started taking classes for the degree, she said, will be given strong consideration moving forward.

Boyer added, however, that both she and the WVEA understand the board is trying to improve the quality of the workforce by requiring the degree. She added she has visited similar schools in other states that have even higher standards for these types of positions.