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Times-News: Magicvalley.com, Twin Falls, ID
State Board of Education Director Mike Rush expects the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind to remain in the farming town of Gooding for at least three more years.
The board is contemplating whether to keep the school where it is, move it to a bigger city, or _ what has become the least popular option _ close the 40-acre campus and deliver the education through outreach programs at individual school districts.
The state has taught blind and deaf students at the Gooding campus for nearly 100 years.
"I personally don't believe the state would be willing to give up that resource," Rush said. The state is also obligated to follow federal disability laws that require some residential school option, Rush said on Friday as the Board of Education met to discuss the future of blind and deaf education in Idaho.
The proposal to move the school to a more populous city, such as Boise, has been widely discussed, Rush said, but the plan would take several years to implement _ 2011 being the earliest.
"This is not something that's going to happen next fall," Rush said.
The future of the school turned uncertain during the 2006 Legislature.
Some Idaho lawmakers suggested the state could better meet the needs of deaf and blind students by expanding outreach programs at individual school districts instead of boarding them at an expensive campus.
The Gooding school opened in 1910 with 54 students. Nearly a century later, about 70 students attend the school, a small percentage of the total 1,024 blind and deaf students the state provided with services during the 2007-2008 school year.
Most of those students were educated through outreach programs, which account for about 41 percent of the school's total budget. Meanwhile, funding for the residential campus in Gooding has dropped by $620,000 during the last five years.
Deaf and blind students, parents and Gooding leaders have protested the plan to provide education through outreach programs alone, arguing a boarding school is a necessary education component and should stay where it is.
The Board of Education will likely consider proposed action on the issue in October, Rush said.
"I see no scenario where expanding outreach programs isn't part of it," he said, "but I've also had parents say they've tried it and it didn't work."
Students educated through outreach in school districts are forced to rely on teachers certified in blind and deaf education for communication with other students and educators, said Aylee Schaefer, the state's transition coordinator for those students.
In contrast, the Gooding school offers students an environment where they are surrounded by classmates with similar impairments, she said. "Communication occurs spontaneously and naturally, without a third person," Schaefer said.
State Board of Education Director Mike Rush expects the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind to remain in the farming town of Gooding for at least three more years.
The board is contemplating whether to keep the school where it is, move it to a bigger city, or _ what has become the least popular option _ close the 40-acre campus and deliver the education through outreach programs at individual school districts.
The state has taught blind and deaf students at the Gooding campus for nearly 100 years.
"I personally don't believe the state would be willing to give up that resource," Rush said. The state is also obligated to follow federal disability laws that require some residential school option, Rush said on Friday as the Board of Education met to discuss the future of blind and deaf education in Idaho.
The proposal to move the school to a more populous city, such as Boise, has been widely discussed, Rush said, but the plan would take several years to implement _ 2011 being the earliest.
"This is not something that's going to happen next fall," Rush said.
The future of the school turned uncertain during the 2006 Legislature.
Some Idaho lawmakers suggested the state could better meet the needs of deaf and blind students by expanding outreach programs at individual school districts instead of boarding them at an expensive campus.
The Gooding school opened in 1910 with 54 students. Nearly a century later, about 70 students attend the school, a small percentage of the total 1,024 blind and deaf students the state provided with services during the 2007-2008 school year.
Most of those students were educated through outreach programs, which account for about 41 percent of the school's total budget. Meanwhile, funding for the residential campus in Gooding has dropped by $620,000 during the last five years.
Deaf and blind students, parents and Gooding leaders have protested the plan to provide education through outreach programs alone, arguing a boarding school is a necessary education component and should stay where it is.
The Board of Education will likely consider proposed action on the issue in October, Rush said.
"I see no scenario where expanding outreach programs isn't part of it," he said, "but I've also had parents say they've tried it and it didn't work."
Students educated through outreach in school districts are forced to rely on teachers certified in blind and deaf education for communication with other students and educators, said Aylee Schaefer, the state's transition coordinator for those students.
In contrast, the Gooding school offers students an environment where they are surrounded by classmates with similar impairments, she said. "Communication occurs spontaneously and naturally, without a third person," Schaefer said.