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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050828/NEWS01/508280310/1002
Several things will be going their way when the staff and students of the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind start classes Monday.
A buoyant Superintendent Steve Gettel ticked off a list that included many plums from the 2005 Montana Legislature:
Lawmakers gave MSDB workers and other state employees raises of 3.5 and 4 percent after a virtual two-year freeze in which they saw pay increases of only 25 cents an hour the last six months of the biennium.
In addition, the Legislature provided MSDB with another $150,000 to raise the salaries and benefits for teachers and other professional staff.
Combined, the average pay raise for teachers was 12 percent, Gettel said.
"We still have a ways to go to reach parity with Great Falls public school teachers, but it's a step in the right direction," Gettel said.
The Legislature exempted MSDB from the latest round of "vacancy savings" budget cuts and allowed Gettel to fill two teaching vacancies at its Great Falls campus. The two newcomers bring the teaching staff to 19.
"Things look good," Gettel said. "We're fully staffed."
About 70 visually and hearing-impaired students attend the Great Falls school, including about 35 from around the state who live on campus in cottages. Parents will bring those students to Great Falls on Sunday.
In what Gettel calls "another exciting move," the Legislature approved a Braille bill to assure that blind students across Montana have access to teachers and equipment that will help them learn to read from the system of raised dots.
The bill provided money for MSDB to hire four more "outreach consultants" to work with visually impaired students in their home districts across Montana.
"There were only three of us working with blind students before, and Montana's a big state," said Dennis Slonaker, supervisor of MSDB's outreach program. "With seven visual consultants, we will be able to provide more schools throughout the state with additional help in identifying, assessing and serving their blind and visually impaired students."
MSDB also has two consultants who travel the state working with hearing-impaired students in their home districts.
The school serves about 260 students and 20 infants and toddlers through the outreach program, Gettel said.
The Legislature also gave MSDB $75,000 more for maintenance and $25,000 more for computer replacement.
"Our buildings are now 20 to 25 years old and some things were in desperate need of repair," Gettel said.
The school already has replaced a commercial oven and dishwasher in the cottages and a big water heater for its swimming pool.
MSDB's computers also were aging, he said, adding: "We need cutting-edge technology, which enhance our kids' ability to get access to information and learn to read and write despite their disabilities."
"We really appreciate the extra money from the legislators," Gettel said. "They realize we have a mission that's bigger than just the kids coming to the Great Falls campus. We have a statewide program that serves deaf and blind students all around Montana."
The Great Falls School Board's final decision to close Paris Middle School rather than East Middle School greatly benefited MSDB's students and staff.
Since East is directly across Central Avenue from MSDB, students won't lose 10 to 15 minutes every time they switch classes from MSDB to a public middle school to take subjects like art or shop or advanced classes, Gettel said.
A shift from MSDB to Paris also would have required more travel time for MSDB interpreters, he said.
"It's a huge advantage for us to not have to deal with the issue of wasting student and staff time," Gettel said.
In addition, any MSDB students using wheelchairs will have an easier time at East, which is on one level, Gettel said. Paris has three levels and no elevators.
Several things will be going their way when the staff and students of the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind start classes Monday.
A buoyant Superintendent Steve Gettel ticked off a list that included many plums from the 2005 Montana Legislature:
Lawmakers gave MSDB workers and other state employees raises of 3.5 and 4 percent after a virtual two-year freeze in which they saw pay increases of only 25 cents an hour the last six months of the biennium.
In addition, the Legislature provided MSDB with another $150,000 to raise the salaries and benefits for teachers and other professional staff.
Combined, the average pay raise for teachers was 12 percent, Gettel said.
"We still have a ways to go to reach parity with Great Falls public school teachers, but it's a step in the right direction," Gettel said.
The Legislature exempted MSDB from the latest round of "vacancy savings" budget cuts and allowed Gettel to fill two teaching vacancies at its Great Falls campus. The two newcomers bring the teaching staff to 19.
"Things look good," Gettel said. "We're fully staffed."
About 70 visually and hearing-impaired students attend the Great Falls school, including about 35 from around the state who live on campus in cottages. Parents will bring those students to Great Falls on Sunday.
In what Gettel calls "another exciting move," the Legislature approved a Braille bill to assure that blind students across Montana have access to teachers and equipment that will help them learn to read from the system of raised dots.
The bill provided money for MSDB to hire four more "outreach consultants" to work with visually impaired students in their home districts across Montana.
"There were only three of us working with blind students before, and Montana's a big state," said Dennis Slonaker, supervisor of MSDB's outreach program. "With seven visual consultants, we will be able to provide more schools throughout the state with additional help in identifying, assessing and serving their blind and visually impaired students."
MSDB also has two consultants who travel the state working with hearing-impaired students in their home districts.
The school serves about 260 students and 20 infants and toddlers through the outreach program, Gettel said.
The Legislature also gave MSDB $75,000 more for maintenance and $25,000 more for computer replacement.
"Our buildings are now 20 to 25 years old and some things were in desperate need of repair," Gettel said.
The school already has replaced a commercial oven and dishwasher in the cottages and a big water heater for its swimming pool.
MSDB's computers also were aging, he said, adding: "We need cutting-edge technology, which enhance our kids' ability to get access to information and learn to read and write despite their disabilities."
"We really appreciate the extra money from the legislators," Gettel said. "They realize we have a mission that's bigger than just the kids coming to the Great Falls campus. We have a statewide program that serves deaf and blind students all around Montana."
The Great Falls School Board's final decision to close Paris Middle School rather than East Middle School greatly benefited MSDB's students and staff.
Since East is directly across Central Avenue from MSDB, students won't lose 10 to 15 minutes every time they switch classes from MSDB to a public middle school to take subjects like art or shop or advanced classes, Gettel said.
A shift from MSDB to Paris also would have required more travel time for MSDB interpreters, he said.
"It's a huge advantage for us to not have to deal with the issue of wasting student and staff time," Gettel said.
In addition, any MSDB students using wheelchairs will have an easier time at East, which is on one level, Gettel said. Paris has three levels and no elevators.