The Utah State Board of Education committee amended Policy 4002 on Monday to adjust parent representation on the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind advisory council and approved companion bylaw changes.

The committee amended part C of the advisory-council language to read (as amended): three parents of deaf children, three parents of blind children and one parent of deaf-blind children. The amendment passed unanimously.

Superintendent Nelson provided enrollment figures during the discussion, saying "our deaf-blind enrollment at November was 22 students on our campus programs. Our blind student enrollment is 225, and our deaf student enrollment was 343," and committee members used those numbers to argue for proportional campus representation.

Committee members also discussed campus representation and whether to reserve slots for specific campuses; Nelson said the advisory council had left campus assignments to the appointing board but had emphasized that parents should be "parents of children who are on at least one of the USDB campuses." Members agreed to align the bylaws with the amended Policy 4002.

On bylaws, Superintendent Nelson and committee members recommended removing a strict limitation of three consecutive terms because the advisory council historically has had difficulty filling vacancies; the change would allow the board to reappoint interested members with continued oversight.

The committee voted to forward the amended Policy 4002 and the aligned bylaws to the full board for second and final reading.

Next steps: Policy 4002 (as amended) and the revised bylaws will go to the full board for final consideration in January.