The Daily News Leader from Staunton, Virginia • 5

www.newsleader.com SPECIAL REPORT The News Leader, Monday, February 24, 2003 A5 Hampton earns a lot of respect in the state for being associated with an important facility. Mamie Locke, Hampton mayor can't see anything but good that would come out of a move to Staunton. John Avoli, Staunton mayor I I I (7 it 11 v' 0 wait for story time at the Staunton Public Library. Schools Continued from Page A1 In 2000, Mississippi expanded the campus at the school for the deaf to include students from the nearby school for the blind. North Carolina decided in 2000, after supporting three state schools for the deaf for 20 years, that there were not enough students to justify the system.

Similar to Virginia, state legislators heard emotional testimony about why the elementary and middle school at Greensboro should remain open and similar appeals for its closure. In the end, a lack of funding sealed the deal. Virginia is likely headed down the same path. The House of Delegates tabled the latest bill this year calling for consolidation to Staunton, citing $4.2 million in expenses in the next two years, but bill patron Del. R.

Steven Lan-des, R-Weyers Cave, projects long-term savings if the state can afford the initial cost. Regardless of whether or not a merger happens in the near future, the mission of Virginia's schools is changing. Education evolution Despite evidence that better prenatal care, fewer serious childhood diseases and new medical technology have resulted in fewer deaf and blind children in the United States, Sheila Breitweiser maintains that there is a need for state-operated schools for special populations. "The need for specialized education is going to be even greater, but schools will not be allowed to be stagnant; their role is going to evolve," said Breitweiser, principal of the 150-year-old South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind. "Change is tough in institutions that are as long-standing in the community as most of these schools.

I saw a lot of resistance," added Breitweiser, who was an administrator at the North Carolina School for the Blind when the deaf schools were considering consolidation. Many schools for the deaf and blind, including those in Virginia and South Carolina, made a significant change in their operation by starting to offer programs for infants in the 1970s. Breitweiser said providing services for children younger than preschool-age opened the schools to a new population, many of whom enroll in the academic program later. Close to half of the 900 children served at her school are in the parent-infant program. Breitweiser is also following the trend of an increase in "The point is that we have a choice," she said.

Planning for change Although the Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind are physically and socially on the outskirts of their communities, a merger would change the presence of the disabled community in both cities. In addition to the financial loss the city would incur if staff from the Hampton school relocated, Mayor Mamie Locke said the area would also lose its point of contact for infant disability screening, resources for deaf and blind adults and space for public school programs. "City officials lobbied against the closure of the school during hearings at the capital and when regional meetings were held a few years ago," said Locke, who has been mayor for two years. "Hampton earns a lot of respect in the state for being associated with an important facility." Staunton alumni and staff and Mayor John Avoli said the school and the city have the infrastruc- 1 ture to support more students and families with few changes. "The city has not discussed any major changes that would need to be made for additional students, but we aren't ready to talk about that kind of thing yet because no decision has been made," said Avoli, adding that he does not expect a large influx of families into Staunton.

He expects those who relocate to contribute the same ways as staff and families who are already in the city buying houses, shopping downtown and working and volunteering in the community. "I can't see anything but good that would come out of a move to Staunton," he said. Former VSDB teacher Dawayne Werner points to the strong network of alumni, signing suppers at local restaurants and the Shenandoah Valley Club for the Deaf as examples of the interdependence between the city and the school. "Many of us in the deaf community are or can be role models for the students at school. We show them what it takes to have jobs, cars, homes and family.

Sometimes VSDB asks us in the deaf community to interact with students to supplement its curriculum," wrote Werner, a deaf Staunton resident, during an interview. "We have a better way to contact other deaf people and their friends simply because VSDB keeps us here together," he added. i Beth Moore read while they Stats Snspslsot Virginia is the only state that supports two residential schools that both serve deaf and blind students, according databases from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C and the American Foundation for the Blind in New York. Virginia is one of 10 states that have combined campuses for deaf and blind students. Other states are: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, South Carolina, Differing philosophies The IDEA started the largest decrease in population at schools for the deaf and the blind, but new technology pulls students from special schools and creates friction between progressive and traditional philosophies.

Diane Miller knows she is unpopular with some in the deaf community in Staunton, but she has no doubt she and her son made the right decision to get him cochlear implants. Almost three years ago, John Miller's implant was activated and he started to hear with much-improved clarity. For Mark MillerThe News Leader state school for the deaf closed in 1998; a school for the blind is still in operation. Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton, established and opened in 1839, is the one of the oldest state-supported institutions in the country for the deaf and the blind. Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton opened in 1909.

Dawn Medley Miller chose not to send her child to VSDB, but said the school indirectly influenced her family's decision to move to Staunton to enroll in public school. "The competition with VSDB for students results in better hearing-impaired programs in the city schools. The public schools here don't need to duplicate what VSDB is doing, so they look for different strategies," she said. Several years after starting to consider a cochlear implant, Miller is also seasoned enough in the philosophical debate to realize that not everyone agrees with her son's exclusion from the VSDB environment. Mynor Moore, left, and Mary multi-disabled children enrolled at state schools, including her own, and she contends that schools' ability to accommodate more children with severe impairments will be a key to survival.

Some studies of consolidation in Virginia suggest mainstream-ing students with multiple disabilities into local public schools, but Breitweiser believes that would be a mistake. Prenatal drug abuse is one of several factors causing a spike in children with multiple disabilities, Breitweiser said. "State schools are the best chances these kids have. Successful schools will learn how to educate and serve them," she said, explaining that classes and dorms for multi-disabled youths are on campus with deaf and blind programs in South Carolina. Breitweiser said parents and students are also demanding more flexibility including taking classes at local public schools in addition to the residential school, more community interaction and educational after-school programs.

"Our job is to respond to our clients the parents and students and tell them "You won't be sorry that you chose our she said. i I 4 i Vincent LerzThe News Leader ri i Uncertainty wears on employees 7TX" Utah and West Virginia. Most schools in the United States have state-supported schools for the deaf and the blind on separate campuses, and several, including North Carolina, California, Pennsylvania and New York have more than one campus for deaf education. Nevada and New Hampshire do not have state-supported schools for deaf or blind students, according to the national databases. Nebraska's John, now 1 1 it was the beginning of learning to communicate orally; for his mother, it was the beginning of lessons in acceptance and self-assurance.

Unlike many in the deaf community who believe deafness is a character trait and should not be changed, Miller and her husband opted for the implants because they wanted John to function more easily in society. "Deafness is notmy son's defining characteristic. Yes, he is deaf, but he also has brown hair, he likes to eat spaghetti and he plays soccer. There are many things together that define who he is," she said. "In a way, it's motivation to keep going, to prove that we are accomplishing things and should stay open, but the constant pressure is also tiring," Lawson added.

Lawson is one of about 120 teachers, staff and administrators on the payroll at the Hampton school who are in jeopardy of losing their jobs if the school is combined with the Staunton school for the deaf and the blind. The latest legislation, submitted in January by Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, provides $2.4 million in compensation for Hampton employees under the Workforce Transition Act. Enacted in 1995, the law requires the state to pay up 36 weeks' salary to employees who are forced to leave the system before retirement.

Staunton's staff of about 150 would be able to handle most of the additional students, and Landes estimates that the school will need to add fewer than 30 employees, not including personal assistants needed by some multi-disabled children. Although severance pay and new staff in Staunton will be an initial expense, he said payroll will be the largest area of savings for a consolidated school in the long run. A single campus would allow the state to reduce the schools' combined staff by at least 50 positions, according to the Department of Budget and Planning's IX if Mi I 1 4 'r Vincent LerzThe News Leader Claudine Payne, media specialist at the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-Disabled in Hampton, trains student Jessica Jones to be a library assistant. rr. rrr US i I controversy.

However, her classes carry on unfazed. Most studies have recommended closing the Hampton campus, but employees in Staunton are not immune to anxiety, said Superintendent Nancy Armstrong. "I keep them informed about what I hear on the legislative side. They are people with families and bills to pay and this is their livelihood," Armstrong said. Hampton Superintendent Darlene White echoed Armstrong's sympathy for the school's employees.

"They feel like everything they do is thought of as unacceptable in the state's eyes instead of feeling encouragement. It's a basic human response to doubt yourself in that situation," White said. Hampton workers wonder how long they'll have jobs By Dawn Medleystaff dmedleynewsleader.com HAMPTON Donna Lawson greeted by name every student she passed on her walk between buildings on a windy, frigid morn ing at the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled this winter. She is only in her fifth year at the school, her second as the director of stu Lawson dent life, but Lawson knows her reputation on campus is the "peacekeeper," and she delivers upbeat momentum with handshakes and hugs. But during the last few years, Lawson's role has been more challenging than she bargained for.

"It's difficult to keep up morale when people ar9, in essence, telling you your school is not worth keeping open and you're not doing your job," she said. As part of her job, Lawson communicates with students and parents about school events, and conversations about consolidation have been unavoidable. rough estimate. The personnel and facilities savings for a combined school are about $1.8 million per year, Landes said. Some Hampton staff could be employed in Staunton, but the number of employees and in which departments they are needed has not been determined.

Claudia Wiggins has been a teacher at the state school in Hampton for 22 years, and she said the end of the school will be the end of her career. "I started here and I'm going to finish here; whether I decide when it will be or the state does is in someone else's hands now," she said. Wiggins said the consolidation debate has been through several cycles during her tenure, marked by a few years of quiet followed by years of Kathy Mutter, a deaf teacher at Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled in Hampton, Instructs Shakeria Atkinson, clockwise from top, Auroln Clarborne, Malik Simms and Ashley Britt.