Rally seeks to keep deaf, blind schools separated
A bill before the Senate would create a school board for each
June 2, 2007
Supporters of the deaf and blind communities were joined by Salem neighborhood residents at the state capitol Friday in making another push for the schools’ independent operations.
They were protesting a recent decision by the Oregon Department of Education to relocate the Oregon School for the Blind, sell its downtown campus and use the proceeds to move blind students to the Oregon School for the Deaf, located in northeast Salem.
The decision, which has been proposed numerous times in the past, was announced by Superintendent of Public Schools Susan Castillo on May 18. Both schools would be independently operated and buildings on the deaf school campus would be retrofitted for the move.
State Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said she will continue to rally for support of Senate Bill 757, a proposal that would create independent school boards for both state special schools. The bill is in the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
“The Legislature has a historic opportunity to pass 757 to further the mission of Oregon special schools,” Walker said.
On Tuesday, House Bill 2263 moved out of the Senate Education Committee, led by Walker. That proposal included an amendment that would direct the superintendent of public instruction to make recommendations to the state assembly regarding changes to the schools’ facilities.
The Oregon School for the Deaf alumni association announced the creation of an annual award and scholarship named in honor of Walker and former school director Jane Mulholland, said spokeswoman Margi Morgan. Last December, Mulholland was fired by state officials, which angered many in the deaf community.
The privately-funded award and scholarship will be granted to a graduating senior beginning with the class of 2008, Morgan said.
State Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, also spoke at Friday’s rally. Clem said he was led to believe by state education officials that the Legislature would ultimately decide the fate of the two schools.
“We have the ability to stall out any other last-minute, back door maneuvers and have a real public process,” Clem said.
Evelyn Riggan of Salem, a retired educator of the visually impaired, said it would be a mistake to have students of both schools on one campus. Riggan, who’s taught at the Oregon School for the Blind, also had experience with the state blind school in Utah.
Riggan said the Utah school used to house both blind students and deaf students, but separated the two schools because of competing tensions about using such facilities as the gymnasium or pool. Riggan said she wouldn’t like to see the same problems plague the Oregon special schools.
About half a dozen Gaiety Hill residents, who live in the area around the Oregon School for the Blind, also showed support Friday.
Carole Mitchell, a Neighborhood Watch block captain, said residents cared for the students at the school, who had become part of their community. Mitchell said residents were also concerned about protecting the neighborhood’s historic value and vicinity to Salem institutions such as the Bush House, Historic Deepwood Estate and Bush’s Pasture Park.
Retired Oregon School for the Blind director Neil Kliewer said each Legislature seems to lose institutional memory from past battles waged over the school, but he urged rally participants to continue fighting for the state schools’ independence.
Kliewer said faculty and students view the Oregon School for the Blind as more than just a location.
“It’s not just a piece of property. It’s a piece of our culture,” he said.
rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941