Committee approves unification of Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind after heated testimony on access and representation

The Senate Education Committee voted to pass House Bill 18-10, a measure to unify the administration and board for the Arkansas School for the Deaf (ASD) and the Arkansas School for the Blind (ASB) and to streamline instruction and shared services on a single campus. The bill passed with an amendment added on the floor requiring gubernatorial appointments to the merged board be subject to Senate confirmation.

Sponsor Representative Joey Carr said the change is intended to improve instructional alignment, consolidate services such as audiology and low‑vision clinics, and make better use of staff and facilities as the state finances construction of a new campus. "It will help to streamline the instructional plan and programming," Carr said in opening remarks.

Supporters — including both current campus leaders — told the committee the unified governance will improve access for students with dual needs (deaf‑blind), allow some students to access programs previously limited to the other campus (for example, advanced placement coursework), and reduce duplication. Nicole Walsh, superintendent of ASD, said joint work between the schools this year identified 20 additional deaf‑blind students who could be better served by shared services. "This would enable our school for the deaf students to access those advanced placement courses, and have better chances for their future," Walsh said.

Opponents and several alumni and community leaders pressed for guaranteed, formal representation for deaf community members on the new board and criticized the process and timeline. Kitsonia Hancock, president of the Arkansas Association of the Deaf and an ASD alumnus, said the bill "was created without input, transparency, and without any regard or the reversible damage it could cause." Hancock also said a Department of Education survey circulated in December lacked sign‑language interpretation and captions, and that stakeholders had been denied meaningful opportunities to participate; she said the group had taken legal action over concerns about process.

Department of Education representatives defended public engagement, saying the agency had held multiple stakeholder meetings; ADE officials told the committee they had conducted open houses and forums and that facility design work had included architects with expertise in accessibility. ADE staff told the panel the construction project and planning calendar created urgency for a governance decision so staffing and fiscal planning for the next fiscal year could proceed.

Committee members asked specifically about the bill's emergency clause, representation on the board and the effect on ongoing construction. Supporters said existing construction plans and ADA‑led design work would continue and that an administrative merger would better coordinate services and preserve programs for the about‑to‑be consolidated campus.

Several parents, graduates and staff spoke in favor of the bill, citing improved services and a modern facility as reasons to proceed. Opponents focused on removal in the bill of a statutory board seat described by some as a required deaf board member fluent in American Sign Language; proponents said governance details and required representation can be addressed in board bylaws and that the amendment requiring Senate confirmation of appointments provides an added safeguard.

Outcome: The committee adopted an amendment adding language that gubernatorial appointments to the merged board will be subject to Senate confirmation and then voted to pass HB 18-10 as amended. The transcript records committee action but does not capture a roll‑call vote count in the committee record.