This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind could be strengthened by moving the superintendent from Ogden to the State Office of Education in Salt Lake City and expanding the responsibilities of the USDB advisory council, according to new recommendations from a state task force.
The report was prompted by a suggestion during the 2011 Legislature to shutter the schools to save money.
"The task force was very clear," said Martell Menlove, state deputy superintendent of education and chairman of the panel, which included legislators and state board members. "They recognized the need for a statewide program that has the expertise and services to meet the needs of students with sensory disabilities."
Menlove presented the report to the State Board of Education on Friday, but the board did not take any action on the recommendations.
At a public hearing in May, many called for the schools for the deaf and the schools for the blind to be separated, but the task force decided not to recommend that. There are some overlapping services, especially for students who are both deaf and blind, Menlove noted.
Cheralyn Creer, a blind member of the USDB advisory council, said after the meeting that she is concerned about a recommendation to no longer require that all members of the committee be deaf, blind, deaf and blind or parents of deaf/blind children. The task force recommended that experts on sensory disabilities, who may not be deaf or blind themselves, also be considered. The state board appoints members of the council.
"We're very concerned that they're saying that someone who is blind or someone who is deaf isn't an expert in the field," Creer said. "I just don't want the influence of blind or deaf adults to be removed from the council."