Miss-Delectable
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Leonard Hall commentary: Maile was good for KSD - KansasCity.com
After serving as KSD superintendent since 2000 and Instructional Services director since 1989, Maile will be finishing a 47-year career as a teacher and administrator in deaf education.
Maile’s main accomplishment at KSD has been the improvement of the Olathe school as a center for American Sign Language-English bilingual instruction, making it a model for other deaf schools across the country.
KSD has used both ASL as the primary and English as a second language. Deaf students using ASL and English are acquiring and developing written English skills and are becoming more fluent in both languages.
According to one recent study, 62 percent of deaf and hard-of-hearing students who have been shifted from oral programs to the ASL-English bilingual program have done well in both languages.
Maile’s most public accomplishment has been to effectively bridge the hearing and deaf communities. Nearly every leader in the community, in non-profit organizations and the deaf community know Maile.
Behind the scenes, he’s known for his quiet legislative skills. Maile has done an outstanding job in working with area legislators and state Board of Education staff in increasing teachers’ salaries to where they are approaching the levels of comparable public school peers.
Maile had planned to retire earlier. However, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ordered the state Facilities Closure and Realignment Commission to consider options for KSD, the Kansas School for the Blind and other facilities.
The commission had a series of meetings, which involved the deaf community, parents, KSD staff and area legislators. Members of the commission found that both schools were well run and that they provided outstanding education for deaf and blind students.
Based upon the commission’s recommendations, several state facilities were ordered closed by the governor’s office, but the schools for the deaf and blind were recommended to remain open and separate.
The governor and state Board of Education, however, decided to merge the superintendent positions at KSD and KSB into one superintendent when Maile retires.
Unfortunately, the merger of those positions was not a good decision politically or financially. It’s worth noting that State Board of Education member John Bacon of Olathe voted against merging the positions.
Although KSD staff and the deaf community have been understanding of the budget situation, it still will be interesting to see how the new superintendent, Madeleine Burkindine of the school for the blind, will do in her new role at KSD.
Since state law was amended in 1945 to require the hiring of the best qualified person to be superintendent of KSD, the school has had three outstanding superintendents—Stanley Roth, Gerald Johnson and Maile.
The hearing and deaf communities congratulate Maile on an outstanding job as KSD superintendent over the past 10 years.
RECEPTION
Robert Maile’s retirement reception will be 4-6 p.m. Friday at the Kansas School for the Deaf’s Lamm Dining Room, 450 E. Park St.
After serving as KSD superintendent since 2000 and Instructional Services director since 1989, Maile will be finishing a 47-year career as a teacher and administrator in deaf education.
Maile’s main accomplishment at KSD has been the improvement of the Olathe school as a center for American Sign Language-English bilingual instruction, making it a model for other deaf schools across the country.
KSD has used both ASL as the primary and English as a second language. Deaf students using ASL and English are acquiring and developing written English skills and are becoming more fluent in both languages.
According to one recent study, 62 percent of deaf and hard-of-hearing students who have been shifted from oral programs to the ASL-English bilingual program have done well in both languages.
Maile’s most public accomplishment has been to effectively bridge the hearing and deaf communities. Nearly every leader in the community, in non-profit organizations and the deaf community know Maile.
Behind the scenes, he’s known for his quiet legislative skills. Maile has done an outstanding job in working with area legislators and state Board of Education staff in increasing teachers’ salaries to where they are approaching the levels of comparable public school peers.
Maile had planned to retire earlier. However, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ordered the state Facilities Closure and Realignment Commission to consider options for KSD, the Kansas School for the Blind and other facilities.
The commission had a series of meetings, which involved the deaf community, parents, KSD staff and area legislators. Members of the commission found that both schools were well run and that they provided outstanding education for deaf and blind students.
Based upon the commission’s recommendations, several state facilities were ordered closed by the governor’s office, but the schools for the deaf and blind were recommended to remain open and separate.
The governor and state Board of Education, however, decided to merge the superintendent positions at KSD and KSB into one superintendent when Maile retires.
Unfortunately, the merger of those positions was not a good decision politically or financially. It’s worth noting that State Board of Education member John Bacon of Olathe voted against merging the positions.
Although KSD staff and the deaf community have been understanding of the budget situation, it still will be interesting to see how the new superintendent, Madeleine Burkindine of the school for the blind, will do in her new role at KSD.
Since state law was amended in 1945 to require the hiring of the best qualified person to be superintendent of KSD, the school has had three outstanding superintendents—Stanley Roth, Gerald Johnson and Maile.
The hearing and deaf communities congratulate Maile on an outstanding job as KSD superintendent over the past 10 years.
RECEPTION
Robert Maile’s retirement reception will be 4-6 p.m. Friday at the Kansas School for the Deaf’s Lamm Dining Room, 450 E. Park St.