Senate education committee holds bill to unify Arkansas schools for the deaf and blind after community objections

House Bill 1810, introduced to the committee by Representative Carr, would unify administrative functions at the Arkansas School for the Deaf (ASD) and the Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ASBVI) into a single school structure while preserving separate instructional leadership, the sponsor said.

Representative Carr told the committee that the measure is an "administrative unification," intended to "streamline" instructional plans and create "a more effective instructional approach" for students served by the two institutions. "It seeks to unify the administration in the schools of the school for the deaf and the school for the blind," Carr said.

The bill drew sustained public comment from deaf and blind community members and advocacy groups. Testimony included concerns that the proposal would reduce the governing board’s role and limit community voice in school governance. A speaker identified with the Arkansas Association of the Deaf (AAD) said the organization withdrew its prior support and urged the committee to "vote against this house bill now," citing flawed outreach and a December 2023 survey that the speaker said lacked captions, ASL translation and accessible formats for blind respondents.

Charlene Fite, a former state legislator and a teacher of deaf children who said she had served on the education committee, spoke in favor of the bill’s goals to modernize campus facilities and operations. "Governor Sanders, much to her credit, has stepped forward and was willing to take bold action and streamline the school, streamline the campus, and make it better," Fite said, adding that 15 other states use a similar combined-campus model.

Committee members questioned details of the 37-page bill and asked whether significant substantive changes were included beyond consolidation. Senator Dodson described the bill as "a 37 page bill, and we're late in the session," and pressed whether the package was mainly administrative cleanup. Representative Carr answered that much of the stricken language was antiquated and that the measure was largely administrative consolidation.

After public testimony and committee discussion, the bill’s sponsors asked to withdraw it from consideration at the hearing and bring a revised version back at a later meeting. The chair agreed to hold the bill pending further work by sponsors.

Outcome: House Bill 1810 was held for further consideration; no roll-call vote was recorded at the hearing.

Next steps: Sponsors said they will revise the bill and return it to committee for continued consideration.