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USDB outlines outreach role, IEP process and 9,000‑minute caseload benchmark for teachers
Summary
Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind staff described outreach services, IEP roles and a 9,000‑minute annual caseload target for teacher full‑time equivalency during a state board working committee meeting; members pressed for data and warned against staff cuts that could overload providers and reduce services.
Leanne Wood, chair of the Financial Operations working committee, introduced the second topic Wednesday: “we're going to move on to discussion on our outreach services,” a USDB staff member said after the transportation segment.
USDB staff explained that outreach services are provided after a local education agency (LEA) completes an IEP evaluation and determines services; if the IEP team wishes to consider USDB, a teacher of the visually impaired or teacher of the deaf conducts assessments and proposes vision or hearing‑related goals and minutes. ‘‘The team also determines related services, which help the student access special education,’’ Leah Voorhees, deputy superintendent of student achievement, told the committee.
Why it matters: committee members said the outreach model provides statewide expertise for low‑incidence sensory disabilities, which many small districts or charter schools cannot staff cost‑effectively. Several board members urged caution about any broad staffing cuts, warning that raising teacher workloads would likely harm services for students with significant needs.
USDB staff described operational elements in detail. Teachers’ caseloads are planned in minutes; the school for the blind uses 9,000 minutes per year as approximately one full‑time equivalent (FTE) for a teacher of the visually impaired or orientation & mobility instructor. That total includes direct student service minutes on IEPs, travel for rural visits, time for assessments and IEP meetings, preparation, required paperwork and professional development. USDB staff said they formally review caseloads three times per year and as needed.
Outreach assignments are geographically organized. Teachers of the visually impaired and teachers of the deaf attend IEPs when a district requests assessment or services; a district‑level official or USDB director attends if the IEP team is considering a change in placement to USDB’s campus programs. Brandon Watts (blind school) and Adam Billings (deaf school) were identified as outreach directors assigned to regions.
Board discussion focused on sustainability and allocation choices. Board member Randy Booth and others asked whether some placement options could be transferred back to LEAs; USDB and deputy superintendent Voorhees replied that while LEAs could hire specialists, the low‑incidence nature of hearing and vision loss often makes hiring a partial‑FTE impractical for small districts and charters. Committee members asked USDB to prepare a placement‑by‑service analysis for the working group to review.
Concerns about potential budget cuts surfaced repeatedly. Board member Booth urged caution about increasing caseloads or eliminating positions in 2026: “there’s no way that the teacher can extend their best efforts to that many more minutes per year and still meet the needs of that student,” he said, warning that cutting staff without redesign would risk both teacher burnout and reduced services. Several members asked USDB to return data showing service counts and placement distributions so the working group and board can weigh policy changes against service impacts.
USDB staff also noted monitoring practices: teachers submit signature logs, site visit notes, Google Calendar entries and monitoring reports to document services and to support requests for additional positions when caseload minutes exceed safe thresholds. No formal policy change was approved; the committee requested further data and scheduled a workgroup meeting to analyze which placement options USDB should retain or modify.
