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Teacher and parents say services for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students have deteriorated; call for agenda item
Summary
A teacher and parents told the board the district is failing to provide required services for deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students, citing unfilled positions, lack of certified teachers and missing classroom accommodations; parents said students' IEPs have been violated and urged the board to put the topic on a future agenda.
At the Oct. 11 meeting a teacher of deaf and hard‑of‑hearing students described long‑running problems with staffing and program supports, saying the district has not fulfilled commitments made more than a decade earlier.
The teacher, who identified herself as a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing, said staff vacancies and credential gaps are widespread: "I have 17 positions right now, we have 4 to 5 that are unfilled, we have 3 to 4 that are without deaf and hard of hearing credentials, that's about 50%." She said students lack interpreters and FM systems, that classrooms were not acoustically modified and that some staff left because of pay and housing pressures. She delivered a formal complaint tone: "This is abuse and neglect," she said, referencing a 1975 citation (spoken in the record as '90 142').
Parent Amy Galavut told the board her daughter's Individualized Education Program (IEP) has been violated: her daughter was mainstreamed without appropriate supports, the classroom lacked required FM equipment, and after staff departures her daughter's language skills began to regress. She asked the board to place the issue on a future agenda so families and staff can discuss solutions directly with district leaders.
Board members did not resolve the specific claims in public comment that night; the teacher requested that the district put the issue on the agenda for direct discussion and remedy. The record shows commissioners later described district efforts on recruitment and retention in committee reports but no immediate operational corrective action was announced in the Oct. 11 meeting minutes.
