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Deaf, hard of hearing classes not moving - Daily Democrat Online
Parents exchanged hugs and tears Wednesday as they celebrated the news that Plainfield Elementary School's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program will be staying put.
A group of parents later brought pizza, chips and fruit to their students to celebrate.
During the last few months, parents of the children in the program have anxiously waited to see if Yolo County was going to move the program from Woodland to West Sacramento's Westmore Oaks School.
The superintendents from all five Yolo County school districts and the county superintendent voted unanimously to keep the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Plainfield Elementary.
A joint committee looked at moving the program because of the program's 17 students, six students will be in seventh grade next year. Plainfield Elementary's program - which has been in place for more than 20 years - serves students pre-kindergarten to sixth grade.
To accommodate the large portion of students going into middle school, the committee suggested moving all of the students to Westmore Oaks, a kindergarten through eighth grade school.
But another option was presented. Students could stay in Woodland and attend Lee Middle School, which has assisted deaf and hard of hearing students in the past. Lee Principal Garth Lewis Jr. said the school is looking forward to possibly having the program on the campus.
Of the program's 17 students, nine of them live in Woodland with the rest throughout the county, said Debra LaVoi, Woodland district superintendent.
While Jan Jorgens said she would drive her son Teo, a sixth-grader, to West Sacramento if the program had been moved, many other parents would have taken their kids out of the program. The students would be put into classrooms with hearing students and the assistance of an interpreter.
Brenda Chastain, of Davis, said before the vote her daughter Hope, another sixth-grader, did not want to attend school in West Sacramento and Chastain would not send her there.
"Please understand by moving the program to West Sacramento, you'll lose half the program," she said.
Overall, ten families considered not moving.
Chastain also mentioned the effectiveness of the program at Plainfield Elementary. When her daughter took Individualized Education Program tests at 11, she scored at age 13 for sign language.
"This is why I put my child into this program," she said. "This is why I want her to stay."
The parents had the support of Sheri Farinha, CEO of the NorCal Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
"Yolo County should be very proud to have this program," she said through an interpreter.
The program also helps hearing kids understand deaf and hard of hearing kids, said Julie Blacklock, Woodland school board member and parent of a Plainfield kindergartner.
"I'm talking as a parent of a hearing child and I want this program to stay," she said.
Dayton Gilleland, superintendent of West Sacramento's Washington district, said he was moved by what parents had to say.
County superintendent Jorge Ayala was similarly moved.
"I think we took into consideration what is in the best interest for the students," he said after the meeting.
Parents exchanged hugs and tears Wednesday as they celebrated the news that Plainfield Elementary School's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program will be staying put.
A group of parents later brought pizza, chips and fruit to their students to celebrate.
During the last few months, parents of the children in the program have anxiously waited to see if Yolo County was going to move the program from Woodland to West Sacramento's Westmore Oaks School.
The superintendents from all five Yolo County school districts and the county superintendent voted unanimously to keep the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program at Plainfield Elementary.
A joint committee looked at moving the program because of the program's 17 students, six students will be in seventh grade next year. Plainfield Elementary's program - which has been in place for more than 20 years - serves students pre-kindergarten to sixth grade.
To accommodate the large portion of students going into middle school, the committee suggested moving all of the students to Westmore Oaks, a kindergarten through eighth grade school.
But another option was presented. Students could stay in Woodland and attend Lee Middle School, which has assisted deaf and hard of hearing students in the past. Lee Principal Garth Lewis Jr. said the school is looking forward to possibly having the program on the campus.
Of the program's 17 students, nine of them live in Woodland with the rest throughout the county, said Debra LaVoi, Woodland district superintendent.
While Jan Jorgens said she would drive her son Teo, a sixth-grader, to West Sacramento if the program had been moved, many other parents would have taken their kids out of the program. The students would be put into classrooms with hearing students and the assistance of an interpreter.
Brenda Chastain, of Davis, said before the vote her daughter Hope, another sixth-grader, did not want to attend school in West Sacramento and Chastain would not send her there.
"Please understand by moving the program to West Sacramento, you'll lose half the program," she said.
Overall, ten families considered not moving.
Chastain also mentioned the effectiveness of the program at Plainfield Elementary. When her daughter took Individualized Education Program tests at 11, she scored at age 13 for sign language.
"This is why I put my child into this program," she said. "This is why I want her to stay."
The parents had the support of Sheri Farinha, CEO of the NorCal Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
"Yolo County should be very proud to have this program," she said through an interpreter.
The program also helps hearing kids understand deaf and hard of hearing kids, said Julie Blacklock, Woodland school board member and parent of a Plainfield kindergartner.
"I'm talking as a parent of a hearing child and I want this program to stay," she said.
Dayton Gilleland, superintendent of West Sacramento's Washington district, said he was moved by what parents had to say.
County superintendent Jorge Ayala was similarly moved.
"I think we took into consideration what is in the best interest for the students," he said after the meeting.