Closing NCSD may not save much money

[Miss-Delectable]

Letter: Closing NCSD may not save much money

In a recession it makes sense for everyone to cut back, but will closing North Carolina School for the Deaf really save money?

Deaf students are spread over a wide area, so this cutback would require many more trained teachers of the deaf and licensed interpreters. Also, it would make necessary new accommodations in public schools while nearby NCSD has two recently renovated buildings already specifically designed for the needs of the deaf.

Long-term costs are important, too. If deaf students are not educated well, they might be a financial drain on society rather than contributing working, self-supporting community members.

Has anyone figured out what the cost of this transition would be, both in money and in classroom quality where teachers already have more than enough challenges? Can public school teachers be spread any thinner?
As for the people most involved, please try to imagine what it would feel like to be in a school where almost no one speaks your language, and you are unable to speak theirs.

 

[deafdyke]

Exactly. The thing is......the only reason why Deaf schools are more expensive then hearing schools, is b/c of the residential componet. It's more comparable to the cost of running a small college.

 

[Dixie]

Yes plus the residential school may have carry an insurance policy due to the extra liability of having minors under there care under a residential facility. That right there costs a lot of money. What they spend now on this liability will be spent on training teachers and hiring interpreters for all these students that are about to be mainstreamed into public schools that may not be prepared for having a deaf student.

 

[deafdyke]

Can public school teachers be spread any thinner?

Exactly. Public school teachers have enough to do without being spread any thinner....Yes, they can use their minimal training that they get with the gifted kids, or the kids that can suceed with minimal accomondations, but most of us need more then minimal accomondations.

 

[shel90]

I would rather see the money to go to a better qyality education where deaf children do not feel disabled than on bare resources in the public schools where the risks for deaf children falling behind are higher.

 

[dreama]

I would rather see the money to go to a better qyality education where deaf children do not feel disabled than on bare resources in the public schools where the risks for deaf children falling behind are higher.

Exactly. I've been noticing a recent trend of closing deaf schools and blind schools. It is really sad.