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Iowa School for the Deaf avoids budget fights - chicagotribune.com
The three public universities overseen by the Iowa Board of Regents must frequently fight to stave off budget cuts, but the regent's small School for the Deaf has managed to largely avoid reductions thanks to strong support from lawmakers and the community.
Backing for the 141-year-old school on the outskirts of Council Bluffs comes despite a big per-student cost -- an average of $97,609 per child in the fiscal year ending in June.
Legislators appear to agree with students and others, who argue the school is worth the price.
"They helped me prepare for the real world," said Meredith Sulentic, who graduated from the school two years ago and is now attending college in Council Bluffs. "I went to the deaf school, but I live in the hearing world."
Although children as young as toddler can be enrolled in the school, it is overseen by the state's Board of Regents, which also has authority over Iowa's three public universities.
In the last fiscal year, 109 students attended the school. An official enrollment wasn't yet available for this year, but Superintendent Jeanne Prickett said 104 attend the school last week, plus another 30 who are being served off campus.
That's up from 95 students who lived on the sprawling campus last year, plus 14 nonresident students. The school is open to students from 18 months to 21 years old who have hearing disabilities severe enough to prevent them from getting an education at a traditional school.
Officials said 47 states have specialty schools dealing with deaf or blind children, with the schools combined in some cases. Iowa has separate systems for children with hearing and sight impairments.
The Legislature approved $8.7 million for the school in the current fiscal year, which makes up most of its $9.2 million budget. The federal government also contributes a small amount.
The state also spent $583,987 on construction projects last year, largely for maintenance on a campus that dates back to the 19th century.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, acknowledged the School for the Deaf has been largely sheltered from budget cuts that have hit most aspects of state government. In part, he said, that's because the school has few options for meeting its expenses other than state funding.
Whereas the state's public universities can raise tuition and K-12 school districts can increase property taxes, the School for the Deaf is reliant on state funding. The state doesn't charge room and board at the School for the Deaf.
"They don't have another mechanism to make up for it," Gronstal said.
He added, "It's an expensive program, but there's pretty good support for the institution."
Prickett, the school's superintendent, said at least one-fourth of students have disabilities beyond their hearing impairment, which also drives up costs.
Although there has been intense pressure to reduce state spending, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Dvorsky said few have called for cutting the School for the Deaf's budget.
Dvorsky, a Democrat from Coralville, said he's visited the school and supports their work.
He noted that his wife is a teacher and referred a student to the School for the Deaf after he transferred to her school from Chicago.
"He couldn't hear and they never diagnosed it in the Chicago school system," said Dvorsky. "He's in his second or third year at the School for the Deaf now and he's doing fine. I am very impressed with what they do."
Sulentic, the student who graduated two years ago, said the school helped her gain confidence and prepared her for college. She said it's worth the expense.
"The school also helped me develop my social skills by having friends and not feeling like I was lonely," Sulentic said. "Having friends that communicated in the same language as I use allowed me to be more independent and not rely on a hearing person to interpret for me."
The three public universities overseen by the Iowa Board of Regents must frequently fight to stave off budget cuts, but the regent's small School for the Deaf has managed to largely avoid reductions thanks to strong support from lawmakers and the community.
Backing for the 141-year-old school on the outskirts of Council Bluffs comes despite a big per-student cost -- an average of $97,609 per child in the fiscal year ending in June.
Legislators appear to agree with students and others, who argue the school is worth the price.
"They helped me prepare for the real world," said Meredith Sulentic, who graduated from the school two years ago and is now attending college in Council Bluffs. "I went to the deaf school, but I live in the hearing world."
Although children as young as toddler can be enrolled in the school, it is overseen by the state's Board of Regents, which also has authority over Iowa's three public universities.
In the last fiscal year, 109 students attended the school. An official enrollment wasn't yet available for this year, but Superintendent Jeanne Prickett said 104 attend the school last week, plus another 30 who are being served off campus.
That's up from 95 students who lived on the sprawling campus last year, plus 14 nonresident students. The school is open to students from 18 months to 21 years old who have hearing disabilities severe enough to prevent them from getting an education at a traditional school.
Officials said 47 states have specialty schools dealing with deaf or blind children, with the schools combined in some cases. Iowa has separate systems for children with hearing and sight impairments.
The Legislature approved $8.7 million for the school in the current fiscal year, which makes up most of its $9.2 million budget. The federal government also contributes a small amount.
The state also spent $583,987 on construction projects last year, largely for maintenance on a campus that dates back to the 19th century.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, acknowledged the School for the Deaf has been largely sheltered from budget cuts that have hit most aspects of state government. In part, he said, that's because the school has few options for meeting its expenses other than state funding.
Whereas the state's public universities can raise tuition and K-12 school districts can increase property taxes, the School for the Deaf is reliant on state funding. The state doesn't charge room and board at the School for the Deaf.
"They don't have another mechanism to make up for it," Gronstal said.
He added, "It's an expensive program, but there's pretty good support for the institution."
Prickett, the school's superintendent, said at least one-fourth of students have disabilities beyond their hearing impairment, which also drives up costs.
Although there has been intense pressure to reduce state spending, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Dvorsky said few have called for cutting the School for the Deaf's budget.
Dvorsky, a Democrat from Coralville, said he's visited the school and supports their work.
He noted that his wife is a teacher and referred a student to the School for the Deaf after he transferred to her school from Chicago.
"He couldn't hear and they never diagnosed it in the Chicago school system," said Dvorsky. "He's in his second or third year at the School for the Deaf now and he's doing fine. I am very impressed with what they do."
Sulentic, the student who graduated two years ago, said the school helped her gain confidence and prepared her for college. She said it's worth the expense.
"The school also helped me develop my social skills by having friends and not feeling like I was lonely," Sulentic said. "Having friends that communicated in the same language as I use allowed me to be more independent and not rely on a hearing person to interpret for me."