Students Rally to Save School for the Deaf

[Miss-Delectable]

Students Rally to Save School for the Deaf - WNEP

Teachers, parents, politicians and students past and present gathered Saturday, rallying to save the Scranton State School for the Deaf.

It was an S.O.S. rally, "Save our school." Dozens of people braved the chilly weather to rally for the school.

Governor Ed Rendell plans to close the doors at the facility to save the state money. But some say the governor doesn't have all the facts.

" What the governor is trying to do is cut the cheapest way of educating deaf children down," said Dr. Jeffrey Weeber of the State Advisory Council for the Deaf. "In order to take it to more expensive, so it's actually cheaper for the state to keep it open."

The school has been around for almost 130 years and generations have passed through the building.

"This school is crucial to me, said student Kayla Miller of Olyphant. "I grew up here, my family graduated from here. I had to come today."

Miller and her younger sister Kai go to the school now. Their parents and grandparents are alums.

"We love it here," added Kai. "This is a fully accessible environment, everybody signs and we want to continue to keep it open."

If the school is forced to close, students fear they may have to go to the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf near Pittsburgh.

"I would be so sad because we're like a family here," said student Alyssa Swartz fo Danville. "We have great friends. I don't want to be separated from all of my friends here."

"Don't give up, please don't give up," said student Al Giovanelli. "Keep it going. The kids are good. Keep it going. Keep it going."

More than 90 students attend the Scranton State School for the Deaf.

People at the rally said they hope the Governor realizes how much support there is for the local school and they hope he decides to keep it open.

 

[Miss-Delectable]

Seeking a helping hand

Seeking a helping hand | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader

Nicollette Schwab’s hands were moving so fast you could feel the emotion in her words.

Schwab is a 16-year-old freshman at the Scranton State School for the Deaf and she was using American Sign Language to emphatically say that she wants to ask Gov. Ed Rendell why he wants to close her school.

Scwhab, daughter of Sherry Kresge of Tannersville, will be part of a field trip to Harrisburg Tuesday with 64 other students from the Scranton school that Rendell has proposed to close at the end of this school year. The governor has cited economic constraints as justification for closing the 129-year-old institution that has provided specialized services to the deaf community for generations.

Nicollette said she would welcome the opportunity to talk to Rendell and tell him why the school should stay open.

“I’m preparing for my future,” she said through an interpreter. “This school will give me my future. It can’t close.”

Nicollette’s mother, Sherry, said the public school system didn’t work for her daughter. Since being at the school, Sherry has seen a remarkable improvement in her daughter. “We’ve tried them all,” Kresge said of other schools and programs for deaf children. “This is the best place. It’s not like we have a lot of options either.”

Dr. Monita Hara, the school superintendent, said she can’t understand how the decision to close the school was made without any recent visits – several years – from anyone from the governor’s office or the state Department of Education to fairly evaluate the school’s performance.

“Our students do well academically – more than 90 percent score well enough to be eligible for college admittance,” Hara said.

Hara said the parents of students are struggling trying to understand why the state would ant to close a school that has helped their children so significantly.

“They are searching for answers,” Hara said. “We have asked for the Department of Education to send a designee to come in and evaluate our program; to see what goes on here. We have not received a response.”

Rosa Ramos of Wilkes-Barre has three children enrolled – Kiara, 14; Adolfo, 9; and Victor, 5. Rosa is deaf and she attended public schools in New York. She said the experience “wasn’t any good; the education was inferior.” Rosa spoke through an interpreter, Arnine Weiss, a 25-year employee at the school.

“Here the students learn and they thrive,” Rosa said. “They have to keep this school open. Mainstreaming is not good for deaf students.”

Emelia and Vladimir Slavova were living in Sofia, Bulgaria, until six years ago. They are the parents of two deaf children – Radoslava, 18, and her brother, Vlado, 13. Emelia told the story of how they came to live in Scranton and how they chose Scranton State School for the Deaf.

With two deaf children, the Slavovas began an online search for a deaf school in the U.S. They chose the Scranton school because they felt it was by far the best in the country.

Vladimir is a computer engineer and speaks three languages. Emelia has two master’s degrees – in engineering and speech pathology – and she speaks five languages.

“My kids came here with no language skills; no ability to use sign language,” she said. “Now they are excelling in school.”

If the school closes, Emelia said she doesn’t know where she will send her children.

Marge Davison Matisko, chairwoman of the school’s board of trustees, said they have asked for a representative of the Department of Education to sit on the board, but none was ever appointed.

“We’ve never received a lot of support from the state,” Matisko said. “They are right when they say they don’t want to run the school because they never have expressed any interest in the operation of the school.”

Matisko said there were meetings with Dr. Gerald L. Zahorchak, secretary of education, and the school submitted a plan that called for trimming its budget by $3 million. That was in October, Matisko said.

“The next time I heard from Dr. Zahorchak was when we were notified that the school was closing,” she said. “There was no prior discussions; no interest in exploring other options. We wanted a partnership; what we got were directives.”

Matisko said, “We want to know why too. We’ve had no discussions with Gov. Rendell directly. I would as the governor what he thinks is the most appropriate placement for a deaf child. I think he needs to hear all sides of this story.”

State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. During a hearing Thursday, Baker learned that there is a $5.5 million line item in the Office of Administration’s budget to cover unemployment compensation and transition costs associated with the closure of the Scranton State School for the Deaf and Scotland School for Veterans’ Children.

“They announced this closure with no plan in place to serve the students and their families, but they are already preparing for displaced workers,” Baker said. “I believe the priorities are misplaced. We will learn more from the Department of Education at the Appropriations Hearing next week.”

Chuck Ardo, Gov. Rendell’s press secretary, Friday said a request has been received from the school for the governor to speak with 65 students who will be in Harrisburg Tuesday on a field trip.

“At this time, it is not even known if the governor will be in Harrisburg,” Ardo said. “Gov. Rendell has stated that if parents and students are so inclined to advocate for the school that they should contact their legislators and help find cuts to compensate for the program.”

 

[shel90]

Reading this just reinforces my beliefs that there are many hearing people who do not understand the importance of deaf schools. To me those who put money first over the kids' education should be ashamed of themselves!

 

[ASLGAL]

Reading this just reinforces my beliefs that there are many hearing people who do not understand the importance of deaf schools. To me those who put money first over the kids' education should be ashamed of themselves!
__________________

I agree Shel.

I know I am opening that old can of worms again, but I truly believe a lot of the misunderstanding is a result of the Oral Only advocates constant barrage of Oral VS ASL and pushing for CI's for 6 month olds by telling parents their children can be "normal" if they get CI's, demand Oral Only education, and mainstreaming everyone.

 

[Sosie]

THE CITY OF SCRANTON THANKS THE DEAF

How important is a regional schools basketball
tournament to the city of Scranton in Pennsylvania?
The tournament, hosted by Scranton State School
for the Deaf, is taking place this week.

Said the school administrator:
A boost to the local economy because close to 1,000
people from various teams and their fans are temporarily
setting up shop in Scranton. They stay in the motels,
they eat in the restaurants, they go out to the movies.
They shop.

The governor wants to close the school for good.
The people in Scranton is putting up a fierce fight.

It was in deaf news. Good for the people in Scranton is going to fight to make sure that the school will not be closed...