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Services for deaf and blind see rising enrollments; agency requests staff and campus capacity growth
Summary
Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind reported rising campus and outreach enrollments and asked for career‑ladder equivalents and additional positions to reduce caseloads; the agency also plans new residential cottages to address a student housing wait list.
Representatives of Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB) told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on March 4 that both campus and outreach programs have seen steady enrollment growth and that staff recruitment and caseload pressure are persistent challenges.
Jared Tetrault summarized IESDB’s enrollment trends, saying the campus population has grown from about 77 students in 2010 to roughly 122 in the most recent year while the outreach program served about 2,600 students (birth to 21). He noted IESDB’s appropriation increased over the last five years as enrollments rose.
IESDB Superintendent (transcript: Mr. Darcy) said the outreach program and campus operate different services: the campus enrolls school‑age resident students while outreach sends teachers and specialists into districts. The agency reported a cash balance consistent with state agencies (about 5% of operations) and said recent enhancements have focused on career ladder equivalents, additional compensation to recruit and retain credentialed staff and replacement vehicles for outreach travel.
Darcy told the committee the agency has several current vacancies for highly specialized positions — teachers, a speech‑language pathologist and interpreters — and said recruitment is constrained both by pay market differences and by a nationwide shortage of qualified specialists. He said planned construction of small residential cottages (10–20 beds anticipated) will address the campus housing wait list and increase capacity for students who require campus services.
Why it matters: IESDB serves a statewide and specialized population that requires credentials and travel‑intensive outreach. Staffing and small capital investments directly affect the agency’s ability to serve students with sensory impairments and alleviate caseloads in outreach regions.
The agency offered to provide comparative salary data to the committee; Tetrault explained CEC (change in employee compensation) increases and career‑ladder equivalents are separate budget adjustments the committee has considered in the public schools and specialized services budgets.
