Advocates for the deaf came out in force last night to ask the Portsmouth School Board to keep their program for deaf and hard of hearing students… But Portsmouth schools are facing drastic budget cuts and layoffs. NHPR’s Raquel Maria Dillon reports.
Portsmouth Superintendent Dr. Lyonel Tracy earmarked the deaf program at Little Harbour School for gradual phasing out. The reason: of the 14 deaf students in the program – none are from Portsmouth.
School Board Chair Kent LaPage says he’s impressed with testimonies from parents, students, and educators. But right now every program in the district is under scrutiny.
LaPage :10 they plead their case well. But we have to take a look at the full picture. we have never in this city made a decision just because of the dollars.
Representatives from the deaf community say the program is unique. They want to the fight for Little Harbour School to lend some weight to their argument for state-funded, regional deaf programs.
State Senator Iris Easterbrook told the school board that if they can hold out just a little longer, the Legislature will continue to work towards regional schools…
EASTERBROOK :14 here we have an exemplary program that we should keep open so we can build on it as we go about process. There is a deaf culture and there is a deaf community and it’s important that we provide that for our deaf and hard of hearing children.
Portsmouth is a donor town – required to send 3.7 million dollars to help other school districts. And city officials want the schools to cut a million and a half dollars from their budget.
LaPAGE :23 the reality of it is with a donor community there is only so much funding that is out there. We cannot go back to the taxpayers of Portsmouth with an unreasonable amount of increase. We will have program reorganizations that may result in individuals that we may not be able to offer a contract to.
“Program reorganizations” means layoffs for more than 20 employees – teachers, administrators and other staff.
LaPAGE :08 it has hit home. Whether the state will wake up and realize that this is a major concern…? This is not a fire drill.
But dissolving the deaf program at Little Harbour School may mean laying off sign-language interpreters, speech pathologists and other paraprofessionals.
If so, says New Hampshire teachers’ union attorney, Jim Almandinger, Portsmouth may run into some labor issues.
ALMANDINGER :15 if the program is ended in part or in whole there will probably be layoffs, we’re concerned as the union of these school employees, that the layoffs be done intelligent and informed matter.
If the program gets the ax, three of the elementary school students would have to attend their local schools where there are no other deaf children.
Jackie Adams is the Special Education director for Dover schools. She says her district is prepared to serve deaf students in Dover’s regular classrooms, according to federal disabilities education laws… but she can’t provide deaf peers.
ADAMS :25 the state has a responsibility to forming a committee to take a look a this. The state has a commitment to forming many committees, but until the state has a commitment to funding these things for all of us. I have students I’m transporting to Massachusetts daily because this state doesn’t support regional programs for many low incidence children, not just for deaf children.
Adams says other towns are looking into setting up deaf programs and might be willing to take students from other districts. But Mary Ford, of the state Bureau of Special Education, suggests another solution: raising the tuition that sending districts pay.
FORD :17 We want to support regional programs. And this is a program that reflects the recommendation that have been put out by the NH Commission on the education of the Deaf and hard of hearing. The tuition paid by the sending districts, needs to reflect the costs of the student’s programming.
Little Harbour alumni, parents, and students want to save the school until the state can act on regional programs, but Ford says regional schools for the deaf are far in the future.
For NHPR News, I’m RMD.
