W.Va. Schools for Deaf and Blind Students Protest New Worker Policy

Some students at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind are protesting a new policy that requires child care workers at the school to have an associate degree.

Ten students conducted a protest against the change Monday morning outside the school in Romney

Fifteen-year-old Brooklyn Phares says the workers are like parents to the students.

The employees work during non-instructional hours with students who live in the school’s dorms. Beginning July 1, 2015, the jobs will be changed to residential care specialist positions, with higher salaries.

Workers who don’t have degrees must obtain them within three years.

The school’s superintendent, Lynn Boyer, says some parts of the process haven’t yet been decided.

Boyer says school officials anticipate many current workers will apply for the new positions.