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Argus Leader Media - News
The South Dakota School for the Deaf laid off four teachers this year amid falling enrollment on the Sioux Falls campus, an official said.
Included in the layoffs are the teacher whose duties included teaching American Sign Language and an algebra teacher whose exit means students must pick up a math credit from another school in order to satisfy state graduation requirements.
The four laid-off teachers were offered three other spots that better suit current needs, said Maureen Schloss, who is departing this summer after three years as superintendent.
"They all declined one or more of the positions they were offered," Schloss said.
The four layoffs, plus the resignation of a fifth educator, dropped the faculty from 20 to 15 teachers.
That 25 percent drop is almost identical to the decline in on-campus enrollment, which totaled 51 students last year and is projected at 38 this fall for preschool and grades K-12.
Enrollment is half what it was in the 1990s and the lowest since 1891. The school's off-campus work, meanwhile, has increased to assist 221 children enrolled in local classrooms around the state.
The algebra teacher, Julie Beckette, objected to an earlier reference in an Argus Leader article July 29 that she had resigned.
"I did not quit my job," she said. "That isn't why algebra isn't there."
She's been trying to explain to parents that her job was eliminated. "I don't want them to think I would quit on them. I never would have done that," she said.
Beckette, a teacher for 18 years, the last three at the deaf school, could have stayed by switching to elementary math or becoming an outreach consultant, each requiring more college.
Or, she could have become a full-time substitute.
"Technically, she was laid off, but she was given options and declined those options," Schloss said. "I can understand a person objecting to the word 'resigned.' "
The school has no ASL instruction but hopes to teach it again.
"We have approached a faculty member to do that," Schloss said.
She would not comment on the other layoffs.
The school offers two platforms in its curriculum. One is bilingual with English and ASL. Some parents favoring bilingual instruction suspect a move to eliminate ASL in order to favor the second platform - auditory-oral, which is English with no signing to help deaf children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.
Schloss, who is leaving to teach at Northern State University, said falling enrollment drives the change, as with any high school.
Those issues will greet the new superintendent, Terry Gregersen of Riverside, Calif., when he arrives this fall.
Schloss wouldn't say how much money the layoffs are saving, but the school hopes to expand its outreach.
About 1,000 South Dakota newborns fail hearing tests each year.
Of them, about 400 do not receive follow-up testing, with 25 of those likely to have hearing loss needing prompt attention, she said.
The South Dakota School for the Deaf laid off four teachers this year amid falling enrollment on the Sioux Falls campus, an official said.
Included in the layoffs are the teacher whose duties included teaching American Sign Language and an algebra teacher whose exit means students must pick up a math credit from another school in order to satisfy state graduation requirements.
The four laid-off teachers were offered three other spots that better suit current needs, said Maureen Schloss, who is departing this summer after three years as superintendent.
"They all declined one or more of the positions they were offered," Schloss said.
The four layoffs, plus the resignation of a fifth educator, dropped the faculty from 20 to 15 teachers.
That 25 percent drop is almost identical to the decline in on-campus enrollment, which totaled 51 students last year and is projected at 38 this fall for preschool and grades K-12.
Enrollment is half what it was in the 1990s and the lowest since 1891. The school's off-campus work, meanwhile, has increased to assist 221 children enrolled in local classrooms around the state.
The algebra teacher, Julie Beckette, objected to an earlier reference in an Argus Leader article July 29 that she had resigned.
"I did not quit my job," she said. "That isn't why algebra isn't there."
She's been trying to explain to parents that her job was eliminated. "I don't want them to think I would quit on them. I never would have done that," she said.
Beckette, a teacher for 18 years, the last three at the deaf school, could have stayed by switching to elementary math or becoming an outreach consultant, each requiring more college.
Or, she could have become a full-time substitute.
"Technically, she was laid off, but she was given options and declined those options," Schloss said. "I can understand a person objecting to the word 'resigned.' "
The school has no ASL instruction but hopes to teach it again.
"We have approached a faculty member to do that," Schloss said.
She would not comment on the other layoffs.
The school offers two platforms in its curriculum. One is bilingual with English and ASL. Some parents favoring bilingual instruction suspect a move to eliminate ASL in order to favor the second platform - auditory-oral, which is English with no signing to help deaf children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.
Schloss, who is leaving to teach at Northern State University, said falling enrollment drives the change, as with any high school.
Those issues will greet the new superintendent, Terry Gregersen of Riverside, Calif., when he arrives this fall.
Schloss wouldn't say how much money the layoffs are saving, but the school hopes to expand its outreach.
About 1,000 South Dakota newborns fail hearing tests each year.
Of them, about 400 do not receive follow-up testing, with 25 of those likely to have hearing loss needing prompt attention, she said.
