WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
June
5, 2015
Vancouver,
Washington
Board
Members Participating: Jim Kemp, Nancy
McDaniel, Dennis Mathews, Yang-su Cho, John Glenn, Lorna Walsh, Berl Colley, Michelle
Farrell and Ed Snook.
Board Members Absent: Cindy Bennett
Ex-Officio
Members Participating: Doug Trimble
(Teachers Association), Joleen Ferguson (Washington Council of the Blind), Lilly
Longshore (Parent Representative), and Betty Watson (National Federation of the
Blind of Washington).
Ex-Officio
Members Absent:
Scott Hone (Washington Federation of
State Employees Local #1225.
WSSB
Staff Members Participating: Dr.
Dean Stenehjem (Superintendent), Emily Coleman (Director of Outreach/State Vision
Consultant), Colleen Lines (Director, Ogden Resource Center), and Janet Kurz
(recording secretary).
Guests: Denise Colley (former Board of Trustees
member), JJ Isaacson (WSSB Teacher of the Visually Impaired), and Ed Lukowski
(Information Technology System Specialist).
June 5, 2015 – 11:40am
Ed
called the meeting to order at 11:40am.
Business
Meeting:
Old
Business:
Approve
board meeting minutes of May 7, 2015. Jim moved to approve the minutes as
submitted; Nancy seconded the motion.
The minutes were approved unanimously.
New
Business:
Emily
Coleman (Director of Outreach/State Vision Consultant)
Ed welcomed Emily to
the meeting (via Lync in Colville, Washington).
Emily reported that
she has been working as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) in the WSSB
Outreach department for four years in Eastern Washington. Emily resides in Reardon (west of Spokane),
has three children and her middle child is blind and autistic. Emily went through the Portland State
University (PSU) Vision Program to obtain her TVI endorsement. Emily is in charge of writing blogs and posts
for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) family connect site. In addition, Emily is on the Board for the
Pacific Northwest Association for the Education and Rehabilitation for the
Blind and Visually Impaired (PNWAER) and is currently their President. Emily is also involved with the NFB in their teacher
of tomorrow program.
Emily has also
designed a Facebook page entitled “Blindsided”. This was intended to be a page
where families can connect, post events that are occurring, etc.
Currently, Emily is enrolled
in the Washington State University (WSU) Administrator Program and has one
semester remaining. Craig Meador, WSSB’s former Director of Outreach/State
Vision Consultant has been her mentor for that program.
In her spare time,
Emily enjoys quilting and reading.
Emily would like to
see the Outreach program continue to grow and expand; she would like to continue
to provide professional development opportunities, be aware of what’s happening
in the field, and bring the best of that back to the state and to the
students.
Collen
Lines (Director, Ogden Resource Center)
Ed
reported the board is here to honor and state our appreciation for Colleen for her
30 years of dedicated, devoted and excellent service. Dr. Stenehjem reviewed Colleen’s tenure at
WSSB. When WSSB was looking to start a
Braille Access Center (BAC), he felt Colleen was perfect for the position.
On
May 21, a group of WSSB staff traveled to the Washington Corrections Center for
Women (WCCW) to visit the braille program to celebrate the women’s success in
the program. Colleen’s role with the WCCW/ Correctional Industries has been
extremely important. Other states have replicated the program that is in place today.
Colleen
thanked the Board for the opportunity to work at WSSB and credited Judi Sorter,
former proofreader at WSSB for teaching her braille. Colleen also thanked Dr.
Stenehjem for the support he has given her.
Ed
Lukowski said that in the many roles that Colleen has held at WSSB over the
years, one of them was supervisor of the IT department and she was Ed’s first
supervisor.
Ed
presented Colleen with a plaque of appreciation for her years of service.
John
said that Colleen was the savior for itinerant teachers around the state and
farther; people have no idea how many phone calls she receives; John said she
was the go to person, always kind, and wanted to thank her personally and
professionally.
A
retirement celebration will be held on Saturday, June 13 from 2-5pm at the
Grant House. Colleen invited the Board
to attend.
Superintendent’s
Report
Dr.
Stenehjem reviewed the following:
WSSB
applied for $173,468 in Safety Net funds for three high needs students. The
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) will be reviewing the
application on June 10 and 11. As has been discussed at prior meetings, both
the WSSB and Washington School for the Deaf do not fit the normal formulas
designed for local school districts due to the funding source (state vs. per
student calculation). WSSB requested
Safety Net funds at the urging of the Office of Financial Management (OFM)
rather than submitting a supplemental budget last fall. Safety Net only covers a portion of the cost
for the positions tied to the high needs students. Dr. Stenehjem will keep the
board apprised when he finds out. Lorna
asked what is the qualifier is for Safety Net.
Dr. Stenehjem said it is based upon financial need and the Individual
Education Plan (IEP) is the driver; if the IEP is not 100% complete that
application will be kicked out of the process. Dr. Stenehjem said WSSB has
applied for Safety Net two prior times and received funds both times.
In
the area of Birth-Three, DeEtte Snyder, Coordinator is doing a great job. Tracey
Gaver, TVI in the Seattle area is currently serving B-3 blind and visually
impaired (BVI) kids in the King County area. There are approximately 140 kids
on her caseload (WSSB estimates there could be 247). Tracey started in a new
position in King County the same time that DeEtte was hired by WSSB. Pierce
County (other than Tacoma), recently hired a B-3 TVI, funded by a combination
of private B-3 providers. The new B-3 BVI
lead in Pierce County has had prior experience in the state of New Mexico. WSSB submitted a budget request for a
decision package for $500,000 for the biennium to support B-3. On May 29, WSSB
learned that the amount was reduced to $250,000. WSSB was able to provide documentation to
show the need for the full $500,000 and thankfully it is back in the budget; if
funding isn’t provided from legislature, WSSB would try to secure private/local
funds to move this program ahead. WSSB
posted a B-3 TVI position which will be helping meet the needs in S.W.
Washington in partnership with ESD 112.
WSSB is providing seed money to get it started and we are confident that
the caseload will be full in a short period of time and therefore
self-sufficient. WSSB is hoping that
this model will be replicated across the state and setting up system for
quality services to BVI infant/toddlers and their families.
WSSB
hired Jennifer Fenton as the new Director of the ORC. Jennifer has a phenomenal background in
professional development, library science, etc.
Jennifer’s first day will be June 16 and she and Colleen Lines will be
heading to the WCCW to visit the braille transcription program.
Several
programs are scheduled this summer: Summer Camp, Youth Employment Solutions
(YES), Computer Programming Camp (over 50 individuals are signed up), Cortical
Visual Impairment (CVI) workshops, and Summer Institute. Emily Coleman will be providing the lead for CVI
and Summer Institute.
Dr.
Stenehjem will be retiring in August, 2016 with his last day as September 1,
2016. Dr. Stenehjem wants to get the process going very soon to get the best
candidate. Dr. Stenehjem feels there
will be a number of school for the Blind Superintendent’s retirements over the
next several years. Dr. Stenehjem said Washington
must provide a competitive salary in order to attract excellent candidates.
Doug
asked about the B-3 TVI position that was posted. Dr. Stenehjem said it would
be funded from General State Funds, if approved. If not, WSSB will utilize
private/local funds to help get this position in place with the idea that it
would be self-sustaining like outreach teaching positions. Hopefully seed money
will come with the B-3 funding from the legislature once the final budget is
announced. Doug asked if in the future there are positions posted if Dr.
Stenehjem could discuss these with teachers first to help improve
communication. Dr. Stenehjem said the
B-3 position that is posted is a lot like Outreach position and it will be funded
through contracts with school districts and that it is important to note that
this doesn’t take away from on-campus programs.
WSSB
and the University of Northern Colorado have been working together to submit a
grant for $400,000 for an online intervention program for families for training
in the B-3 area. WSSB hopes to know the outcome of this grant by this fall.
Yang-su
stated that the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) also has B-3
personnel who support families and asked what type of coordination is being
done with WSSB and DSB. Dr. Stenehjem stated
that DeEtte has an Advisory Committee and the DSB is represented and DeEtte
also gives DSB contact information for the children that she serves.
The
ORC is in charge of registering BVI children with the American Printing House
for the Blind (APH). With each student
registered, WSSB receives allocations to order materials. Last year, only eleven B-3 children were
registered; WSSB believes there can be 300 by this December and up to 577 in
the near future. The only way to make
that happen is to take a proactive approach in communicating with the providers
of B-3 services and get these children registered. This could amount to approximately $90,000 of
additional materials available through the APH through what is called Quota
funds.
Yang-su asked about the computer programming camp.
Yang-su feels there are issues with real time programing code sharing tools
during code reviews and edits. He found that inaccessible real time code
sharing is more pragmatic than accessible programming language in getting
programmer jobs. Dr. Stenehjem suggested that Yang-su visit the campus during
the camp and discuss this with the lead of the Computer Programming Camp, Dr.
Andy Stefik. Dr. Stenehjem will also
send Dr. Stefik Yang-su's contact information. Lilly asked what is the target
grades for students; Dr. Stenehjem said it depends on the student; could be upper
grade school age through high school, dependent on the student’s skills and
abilities.
Superintendent Search Committee
Committee
Search Update: Ed stated the Board has
been aware for a long time that the Superintendent in Washington is underpaid
based upon national salary survey of schools for the blind. The Board asked the Governor’s office to
review and consider compensation adjustment. Ed feels the issue is critical because WSSB will
be looking for an excellent Superintendent and needs to be competitive with
other states. Ed stated there are only
42 Superintendent positions for schools for the blind and the field is very
competitive. Dr. Stenehjem did a national survey of Superintendents, and
received a substantial number of responses.
WSSB was able to conclude that the average salary of superintendents
nationwide is at least $50,000 more than Dr. Stenehjem’s salary. Ed sent a
comprehensive letter to the Director of Internal Affairs in the Governor’s
office, indicating this and included the results of survey. If anyone would
like to see the survey, let Ed know. The Governor’s office is asking for Dr.
Stenehjem’s specific date for his retirement. A meeting will be planned with
the Governor’s office in the near future as we need to be a year ahead of every
other search. Currently 5 or 6 top school Superintendents will be retiring,
which will entail fierce competition. In
addition, Ed has asked Anne Baker, HR Manager, to put together application information,
etc. that will be sent out, so WSSB will be ready to go. An initial search
committee meeting was held this morning (John, Yang-su, Ed and Dennis). The immediate goal is to be ready to post the
position, no later than late summer, however discussion has not yet occurred
with the Governor’s office. At this time
we are unsure as to what the Governor’s office will require us to do. Doug said
the Irwin and Outreach teachers would like to be involved, as well as the
consumer organizations. Ed would like to hear from everyone and stated that the
Bylaws require the full board to approve someone and will then send the recommendation
to the Governor’s office and the Governor will decide. Dr. Stenehjem said when
he was hired, he was interviewed by 6-8 different groups (teachers, Residential
Life Counselors, consumer groups, board of trustees, Governor office staff, etc.).
Joleen asked if Dr. Stenehjem’s pending retirement is now official. Dr. Stenehjem said it is.
Election of Officers:
John nominated Jim as
Chairman of the Board; Lorna seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.
Jim nominated Ed as
Vice Chair; Lorna seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
Committee Assignments
Education Committee (Chair-John:
Members-Michelle, JJ, Yang Su, and Joleen).
Buildings and Grounds Committee (Chair-Nancy: Members-Lilly, Berl, and Jim).
Management Committee (Chair-Lorna:
Members-Ed).
Legislative Committee (Chair-Berl, Members-Lorna, Dennis, Yang-su, and Mike).
Recognition
Dr.
Stenehjem handed out certificates of appreciation honoring the Board for their
time given to the school.
Dr.
Stenehjem also presented a plaque of appreciation for Ed Snook’s tenure as
Board Chairman.
Miscellaneous
Denise Colley wanted
to officially take the opportunity to say good-bye to the Board. Denise said it took forever to get her
district filled and then it all occurred very quickly. Denise thanked the Board for the
opportunity. Denise was presented a
plaque of appreciation for her tenure on the Board last spring.
Doug stated that he
has been the Ex-Officio Teacher rep. for 3-4 years and it is time for
change. The new teacher representative
on the Board will be JJ Isaacson. JJ introduced herself and said it is a
pleasure to be on the Board and she is glad to be here to represent Irwin and
the staff. JJ looks forward to
participating.
Executive Session
An
executive session was called to order at 1:15pm.
There
being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:50pm. The next Board meeting will be held in
Vancouver on September 18, 2015 at 11:00am.
Ed Snook, Chair Dean O. Stenehjem, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Board Reports – June 2015
I am extremely excited to become the new Director
of Outreach/State Vision Consultant, and to
have the opportunity to serve students in WA within a different role. As a
current teacher within the Outreach team, I know firsthand the glorious aspects
of this job, and the aspects that can be difficult at times. I look forward to
supporting teachers as they continue to do their best work for kids who are
blind and visually impaired (BVI). With that said, here are some highlights of
the past few months and the months ahead:
·
We have hired a new Outreach teacher to
step into the work I’ve been doing in Eastern Washington. Marshal Givens comes
to us from Utah with many years in the field. His enthusiasm for teaching is
obvious, and I feel he’ll be an asset to our team.
·
The first UEB training took place in
Vancouver, and was very successful. The trainings in Seattle and Spokane this
summer are also full. The knowledge the
Ogden Resource Center (ORC) staff brings to this topic is in high demand.
·
Summer Institute and the Cortical
Visual Impairment (CVI) Workshops with Dr. Roman will also continue this
summer. There are 25-30 people currently signed up for each offering, and more
coming in each day.
·
June 12 will signal our end-of-year
Outreach meeting, and our team will convene from around the state to highlight
our successes for the year.
I look forward to continuing the good work Craig
has done, and also adding my own perspective.
Every day brings a new opportunity and another chance to further our
field and promote independence for kids.
Digital/Distance Learning
This April at the American Foundation for the Blind
(AFB) Leadership Conference in Phoenix, Mike Bicknell gave a presentation
titled, “No More B for Blind: Providing Equal Access to Education for Math
Students who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Deafblind.” The point of the talk
was threefold: To introduce the WSSB distance learning math program to more
people in our field, to encourage other schools for the blind to start similar
distance learning programs for students, and to challenge people in the field
to see an alternative to the current service delivery model regarding academic
K-12 STEM classes.
The National Distance Learning Collaborative for
Blind and Visually Impaired (NDLCBVI) group met via a web meeting on May 6.
Mike hosted the meeting with generous assistance from the Texas School for the
Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). We discussed current projects from
participants around the country. One standout was a tele-intervention project
that uses an iPad to bring COMS services to a family with a young child. (This
research project was originally presented at AFB-LC.) A contingent from Iowa
will host our next web meeting in November. If you would like to join the
NDLCBVI listserv, email me for directions: mike.bicknell@wssb.wa.gov.
Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) Lisa Hodge
continues to work with Professor Andreas Stefik, Ph.D. and one of his graduate
students from UNLV to produce an accessible patch for use in the national LEGOs
robotics competition. (Hodge is testing and providing feedback to the
developers.) The patch will work in Quorum,
an evidence-oriented programming language developed by Stefik and others.
Students who are blind or deafblind will then be able to compete in the
national LEGOs robotics competition by programming their robots in Quorum.
WSSB Digital Learning hosted a two-day training by
Bruce McClanahan in April and again in May on how to use the iPad and Mac
computer with VoiceOver and Zoom. Nearly 20 teachers, COMS, paraprofessionals,
and administrators from WSSB and from around the state attended.
The WSSB Distance Learning math schedule is posted
for 2015-2016. We are offering classes on campus and via distance learning for
Pre-Calculus, Statistics, Geometry, Algebra I & II, Pre-Algebra, and Middle
School Math. An optional Math Lab for the secondary classes will also be
available. Our highly qualified math teachers are JJ Isaacson and Sonja
Steinbach for high school and Lisa Hodge for middle school. These classes use
Microsoft Lync, now Skype for Business, to give students direct, real time
access to classes. High school students on and off campus also gain experience
using Yammer, an online collaboration
environment where teachers post assignments and videos. Students can also post
questions, comments, and more.
The Washington State Small Agency Chief Information
Officer (CIO) group met on March 26 to discuss IT concerns specific to small
state agencies. Bicknell and Mary Craig of Department of Services for the Blind
(DSB) co-founded and led the group meeting. Twelve CIOs attended and met with
enthusiasm to discuss common concerns and innovative solutions. Our next
meeting is scheduled for June 25 in Olympia.
WSSB also recently completed its first E-Rate
application in years and will use the federal funds to help purchase and
install more wireless access points for the school starting next fall.
In conclusion, we are wrapping up the school year,
finishing IT projects, and meeting with departments to discuss technology plans
for the next three years. It’s been a full year with lots of projects and many
more are on the horizon.
On Campus
Enrollment
Our current total school program enrollment is
67. This includes 49 on campus students,
2 part time students from Fort Vancouver HS, 8 distance learning, and 8
Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT). Our projected enrollment for next school year
is 61, excluding LIFTT. The fall
enrollment includes 49 on campus, 1 student from Fort Vancouver HS half-time,
and 11 distance learning students. We
are expanding our course offerings to include additional math coursework
(statistics, pre-calculus) and potentially offer GOALS (Go Out and Live
Successfully).
Job Placements
Jennifer
Hervey-Langley will be joining us as WSSB’s music instructor beginning the
2015-2016 school year. Jennifer was Eben’s predecessor at WSSB for a
number of years and has a deep passion for student-centered learning and music
education. With her wide range of experiences and knowledge in the field
of special education, music, and vision, Jennifer will be great to have back on
the WSSB team.
Summer Programs
Summer camp and Youth Employment Solutions (YES) 1
are scheduled for this summer in two separate sessions. June 27–July 1, summer camp will be broken up
into groups based in daily living skills (DLS), technology, and orientation and
mobility (O&M). All of the students
will have the opportunity to have a variety of experiences in recreation and
sporting activities. YES 1 will be
conducted on campus from July 5-16, which will focus on pre-vocational
experiences, community outings, career interest inventory and assessment for
14-16 year old students.
Events
Track Meet (May 14)
This year’s track meet was another great success!
We had over 100 participants from around the state who participated in events
that included the 25, 50 and 100 meter dash, standing long jump, shot put and
much more. In addition to the track and field events students had opportunities
to do swim, do art projects, say hello to llamas, meet local K-9 task force and
tour the sensory safari to name a few.
Student Council Lock In (May 21)
Staff and students alike had a great time during
the lock in. Most students managed to stay up all night with the help of
snacks, karaoke, goalball, movies, open gym, swimming and much more!
Lion’s & Leo’s Jamboree (May 21)
The Lions and Leo’s members from Fort Vancouver
Lion’s Club came out to host the 2015 Jamboree for the students. Cotton candy,
hot dogs, hamburgers, Velcro wall, pie eating contest, tug of war, blow up maze
and lots of fun for the students.
Spring Concert (May 28)
WSSB students participated in a two-part concert in
the Sherman Auditorium. The performance
was broken up by soloists/small groups and then larger ensembles. Additionally, the pilot Lego robotics class
provided a demonstration in the library on what they've been working on this
year. The students in the robotics class
have conducted research on an environmental disaster, and then simulated a
disaster relief effort using computer programming to operate a robot that
supports this scale model relief effort.
Powerlifting Meet (May 30)
WSSB Lion’s will have 8 powerlifters, 4 women and 4
men, compete in Aberdeen, WA for their final event of the year.
Residential
Health Center
I have neglected to provide a section on the Health
Center in my last three board reports. I have been overseeing this department
since the beginning of this school year. The Health Center staff have continued
to provide for the health care needs for our students as well as provide
trainings to our staff. We have been providing twice yearly trainings in first
aid/CPR/AED for several years and will continue this. I have spent the year
learning about how this department works. Robin Williams and Justine Mings are
the full time staff in the Health Center. Of note during the year was a request
made to update the position classification for the position Justine holds from
a Nurse 1 to a Nurse 2. After review of the two positions and the work that the
job entails, the classification was changed to Nurse 2 in December (retroactive
to September.)
Justine has joined the Army National Guard and was
in training for the winter quarter. She will have more training in June and
following that, it will be weekends. Robin did an excellent job finding nursing
coverage for her in her absence. Our nurses are passionate about health care
for our students as well as our staff.
Residential
Students continue to participate in DLS programs
and recreational activities. Gardening skills were one highlight of this
quarter. A group of students created an outdoor garden on campus planting peas
and potatoes as well as small herb gardens in the cottages. Another theme was
“you and your community”. Students sang at a retirement center, worked at the
food bank, and did a park cleanup project. We feel it is important for our
students to give back to the community.
Staff are busy with end of year activities and
cleaning tasks, this is always a very busy time of year.
LIFTT
Students are working to finish their programs and
complete their goals before the end of the program which is June 19. Targeted
training has occurred this quarter in the area of the steps for renting an
apartment. Students learn rental vocabulary, lease information, utilities, and
learn to identify their wants versus their needs all based on their budgets.
Two students have gone through the process and have moved into an apartment.
They are still participating in the program through the end. Staff are working
with them on making accommodations in their apartment (appliance marking, etc.)
as well as travel training in the area in addition to completing their basic
LIFTT goals.
Transportation
No special news to report.
General
Two more Residential Life Counselor’s (RLCs)
completed the Hadley Braille courses this past quarter. I hope to report in the
fall update that one more RLC has passed the National Library of Congress
Braille Certification. He has submitted his manuscript and is waiting to hear.
We will introduce the UEB changes to the staff sometime in the next academic
year.
We are planning for the two sessions of summer
school, and expect to have a few more students than usual participating.
Fall in service planning has begun. There will be a
CPR/first aid/AED course one day. There is no doubt that we will be able to
fill the 3 days allotted to in-service!
Business Office
2013-15 Operating Budget
Listed at the end of the department reports is a
monthly budget summary for General Fund and 19B Local Fund. We ended the month
with positive balance of less than 1%. We are projecting to end the year
balanced, however that is dependent on the technical correction of $101,000 and
Safety Net funding.
2015-17 Operating Budget
Dean will report on the legislature’s progress in
passing the budget.
2015-17 Allotments
I conducted a training for staff on budget
allotments. They are working on their respective departments. The Office of Financial Management (OFM) due
date for allotments is August 7.
Department of Labor & Industries Retrospective Rating
Our refund this year was $1,452.86—much better than
a bill for $246,411!
Year-end Close
We will be working on the usual close-out
activities:
·
Continue to closely monitor and track current year
expenditures
·
Close out the year
·
Year-end processing on various levels (Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report, Disclosure forms, Capital Asset Management report)
·
Close out various grants and submit final
reimbursements
·
Prepare client service, facility use, and tuition
contracts
·
Records storage and set-up of vendor files for new
biennium
·
2014 allotments
·
2015-17 Budget Preparation (Instructions have not
been published)
Human Resources
New Hires:
·
Outreach Director – Emily Coleman
·
TVI (Outreach - Spokane) – Marshal
Givens
·
On Call RLC – Tina Powell
Open Recruitments:
·
Music Teacher of the Blind
·
School Psychologist
·
ORC Director
·
Substitute Teacher
·
On-Call Teacher’s Assistant
Trainings Attended:
·
Military 101 Hiring for Managers
·
HR Manager’s Meeting, facilitated by
Lee Strehlow, Department of Retirement Systems
·
Affirmative Action/Disability
Coordinators/Veteran’s Coordinators Quarterly Meeting, facilitated by Tammy
Pitre, Statewide HR
·
Exploring Employment Liability, ESD 112
·
SW Washington Community HR Group
·
Personnel Manager’s Meeting
Ogden
Resource Center (ORC)
My
Final Report, by Colleen Lines
It
has been a pleasure to serve the state of Washington in various capacities in
public school and WSSB for the past 30 years. I thank the Board and Dr.
Stenehjem for supporting me in my leadership role in the ORC at WSSB.
American
Printing House for the Blind (APH) Annual Census
ESD |
Districts/Agencies |
Students |
101 |
16 |
158 |
105 |
18 |
86 |
112 |
12 |
173 |
113 |
23 |
110 |
114 |
8 |
70 |
121 |
41 |
726 |
123 |
11 |
101 |
171 |
13 |
78 |
189 |
22 |
204 |
Totals |
164 |
1706 |
Phases
one and two of the annual census has been completed by administrative
assistant, Justin Raner. He is to be commended for his diligent work on this
time consuming task. Currently we have
1706 students registered for by 164 different districts and agencies that
provide services for BVI.
Ninety-five
birth-to-three babies are now registered with the ORC. We have 127 preschool
three-to-five year olds registered. Thanks to DeEtte Snyder and Tracey Gaver
out in the field for promoting our services.
Preliminary
APH Census Students that Meet (MDB) or Function (FDB) at the federal Definition
of Blindness are as follows:
#214
School for the Blind – 40
#216
Districts/Agencies – 888
#217
Preschool 86
Total
– 1014 APH students
No Need
to Fear UEB is Here Workshops
Before
Craig Meador left for Kentucky, he arranged to have three statewide UEB
workshops sponsored by Washington Sensory Disability Services (WSDS) and with
ORC staff trainers. Zach Lattin, Mike Sivill and Angela Vargas created their
own UEB curriculum, PowerPoint presentation, participant worksheets and the UEB
exam to update current BLUE certificate holders.
The
first workshop was held at WSSB May 5-6. This hands-on workshop had 35
participants from all over the state attend, free of charge and were provided
UEB Manuals and handouts. Of the 35 participants, 31 passed the UEB competency
exam. One free retake is being provided to those not passing. We conducted a satisfaction survey with 26/35
responding. Overall the workshop was rated a 4 – Above Average on a scale of
1-5. The UEB training team is making improvements to their workshop
presentation for the upcoming workshops: Seattle CSI–July 22-24, Spokane–August
11-12, WSSB in-service–August 27-28.
Washington
Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) Recognition Event
On
May 21, 2015 we, in collaboration with WCCW-Correctional Industries (CI), held
a Braille event to recognize the hard work and accomplishments of our
transcribers. We recognized each woman individually and presented them with
certificates of how many braille pages they have created since they entered
into the program.
The
event was well attended by Department of Corrections (DOC) superintendents,
officers and CI board members. We had TVI's and paraprofessionals from
districts and WSSB staff tour the Braille program. The women were excited as
they were able to invite two family members or friends to attend. Senator Patty
Murray's staff assistant Colleen Bryan attended and was very excited to see our
program and the empowerment it has given these women, resulting in quality braille
for our blind citizens. Lastly, I was presented with a plaque from WCCW-CI
Braille. It really means a lot to me, as this program is my proudest life
accomplishment. We had tears and hugs and laughs. Thank you.
Buildings and Grounds
Capital:
·
The smoke dampers in Old Main have all been
replaced and are working as they should be. There were just over 100 dampers
and all were changed out in one weekend.
·
Specifications have been finalized and are now with
our architectural services representative in Olympia for review. This will be a
very tight schedule to meet posting, walk though and bid timeline requirements
but we are trying to have a contractor selected by June 22.
Campus:
·
We recently purchased a new piece of equipment
using the retro-refund safety dollars. The new bed edger redefines the
separation between grass and bark dust by edge cutting and rototilling the
turned over grass at the same time. This will allow us to greatly reduce our
use of Roundup to define the beds and reduce labor if were to try and do this
project by hand.
·
We are in the process of redesigning to heat
exchanger system in Kennedy. As a result of a motor failure we had to bypass
the cooling capacity of the exchangers and now will re-pipe the system to allow
for better control throughout the year.
·
Summer activities are keeping the custodial and
food services staff busy. The weekend coverage requested for many of the
activities will allow for little down time between programs but planned
cooperation by residential staff should make the transitions easier.
·
After 35 years of service to WSSB, Tom Schaff, our
grounds keeper has announced that he will retire this August. The general
campus knowledge that he takes with him is all but impossible to replace.
Birth-Three
Training
DeEtte conducted 2 trainings. One on “3-Prong
Approach to Vision and Hearing Screening” with Nancy Hatfield at the Fort
Worden Early Childhood Conference through ESD 114. Also she conducted an
all-day training workshop, with Emily Coleman, Cindy McAlexander, and Tracey
Gaver, at the Infants and Early Childhood Conference (IECC), which is a
statewide early childhood conference, on the topic of visual
impairment/blindness in young children. Workshop was attended by 48
participants and very well received.
Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT)
Partnership with ESIT continues. DeEtte completed
the Practice Guide for Providing Early Intervention Services for Children who
are BVI, in cooperation with WSDS and Sheila Ammons, our special programs
consultant. This guide will go out to
all local lead agencies in July and will be used to assist agencies in their
provision of appropriate services to families. Included in the Guide are these
main components: 1) Registry Form, 2) APH procedures, 3) 3-Prong Approach to
Vision Screen, 4) Agency Self-Evaluation tool, and 5) Areas to address with all
families of children with BVI.
B-3 TVI Local Capacity
DeEtte continues to work with counties to address
the shortage of B-3 TVIs in their local area.
She has assisted both Snohomish and Pierce counties to locate a
professional and starting July 1 both of these counties will have a designated
TVI for B-3, similar to King County. She
is also currently working with Whatcom to do the same. Also WSSB is working to create a B-3 TVI
position to cover the SW Washington area, including ESD 112 service area and
Lewis County.
Referrals
Referrals to DeEtte are increasing here in SW
Washington through ESD 112 and also Snohomish, Pierce, Whatcom counties
(between 2 to 4 every week). She is
filling in the gaps in working with these teams for evaluations, consultations,
and ongoing services until an ongoing B-3 TVI can start. In July, she will begin transitioning these
services to the local TVI designated for B-3. Also when the Practice Guide is
distributed to all local lead agencies, referrals is expected to also
increase.
DeEtte has estimated the number for each county and
will track identifications of children with BVI over the course of the year.
ESIT will be holding local lead agencies accountable for their identifications
with the use of the Registry Form in the Practice Guide.
University Partnerships
1)
WSSB and Portland State University
(PSU) are moving forward to creating an Early Intervention Visual Impairment
graduate certificate program.
2)
WSSB and University of Northern
Colorado wrote a grant together to fund a “Research to Practice Partnership”
project to develop a “tele-support” model of providing vision services via
distance technologies. Acceptance of grant
will be known in October, but until then, WSSB is moving forward to looking at
this model to address the shortage of B-3 TVI support in its continuum of
services.
Superintendent
Budget
·
2015 budget: Mary Sarate, Business
Manager, manager provided an update on our current budget status, but I did
want to highlight a few areas.
o
Safety Net: Currently waiting to hear from the Office of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) as to whether or not we will
receive funding approval on needed dollars for three high cost students that
require one on one staff. [$173,468
requested under safety net funding]
o
Our saving grace over the past few
years has been our ability to carry forward from private local funds which have
helped us deal with shortfalls in state funding and also help as seed money for
the beginning of the Birth–3 position, which as far as we know is still in the
2015-2017 budgets in the House, Senate and the Governor’s Budget.
§ NOTE: Private local
funds for the most part are dollars we generate other than state appropriations
for programs.
·
2015-2017: Still waiting for the close of the
legislative session. We hope that the
legislature finishes its business soon so we can progress with the work that we
need to do in planning for the 2015-2017 fiscal year, which is upon us
beginning July 1, 2015.
o
Operating budget: At this time we anticipate a workable budget
for current operations and anticipate funding of the Birth–3 Statewide
Coordinator and additional money for training and to assist with program
coordination. Based upon the one year we have seen with the seed money that has
made this possible from private local dollars, service coordination is shaping
up nicely due to a solid partnership of many agencies and the great work being
done by our new Statewide Coordinator, DeEtte Snyder.
o
Teachers: Additional in-service days for teachers in
order to help stay somewhat current with LEAs salaries. WSSB is adding 4
additional days onto of the three fall in-service days. Note: WSSB doesn’t have
local mill levy dollars, which districts throughout the state use for TRI
Days. These days are being paid for with
private local funds.
o
Capital Budget: We anticipate funding
for preservation work and possible funding for pre-design/ design of new LIFTT
Cottage.
Staffing
·
Craig Meador accepted a position with
APH this month and we were fortunate to hire Emily Coleman, Outreach teacher
from the Spokane area, who officially started as the new Director of Outreach
on May 16, 2015. Currently Emily is
doing two jobs, finishing out the year as an itinerant and transitioning into
the position as Director of Outreach and State Vision Consultant. Emily will
complete her administration certification in December of 2015. It is our intent to have Emily based out of
the ESD in Spokane to give us increased presence in the eastern part of the
state.
·
Marshall Givens has been hired as a new
Outreach Teacher in the Spokane area to replace Emily. He will begin work fall of 2015.
·
Jennifer Langley former music teacher
at WSSB has returned to WSSB and will be our new music teacher the fall of
2015. We are excited to have Ms. Langley
back at WSSB.
·
Colleen Lines, Director of the ORC is
retiring on June 30 and we are in the process of conducting interviews for this
important positions. Colleen has been with WSSB for 30 years and has done an
excellent job in a number of positions. She has been a key person in the
success of the Braille Access Center, Women’s Prison Program, Instructional
Resource Center, which are all under the umbrella of the ORC, which was named
for former Rep. Val Ogden. We wish
Colleen the best in retirement.
·
Bonda Albers, RLC, will be retiring the
end of this school year after providing excellent service to WSSB for 25
years. We wish Bonda the best in
retirement and thank her for her years of services to so many children.
·
WSSB continues to recruit for
TVI’s/O&M Instructors for WSSB and for LEAs. Continued shortages are a
concern and we are hopeful that the installation of the Modular home for student
teacher use on the campus will help attract for teachers in training to the
Pacific Northwest.
·
Birth–3: WSSB is exploring hiring of a B-3 teacher to
help provide better services to BVI children in SW Washington. We have
partnered with ESD 112 to try and move forward with this position. It is still
not determined whether this would be a WSSB position and/or ESD position. We
are trying to figure out what will work best for the variety of service
providers in need of specialized vision services in SW Washington. Starting
this position may be somewhat dependent on the action taken by the legislature
on the B-3 Coordinator’s position funding.
Some of the appropriated funds could be used to fill the gap in hiring a
new position until a full case load is in place to fully fund the position.
Summer – 2015
This will once again be a very busy summer with the
following workshops and summer programs occupying most weeks from mid-June
through mid-August.
·
Summer School for BVI students,
including Youth Employment Solutions I (YES I).
·
Computer Programming Workshop for
teachers from throughout the U.S./Canada – partnership with Dr. Andreas Stefik.
This program is supported by federal and private grants and will provide
specialized training to about 50 teachers.
·
Summer Institute for
teachers/para-professionals and administrators who will be have a BVI child in
their classroom next fall. Emily Coleman will provide lead for this workshop.
·
Cortical Visual Impairment workshops
with Dr. Christine Roman.
Capital Projects - Summer of 2015
·
Replacement of pool liner and gutter -
still working on timelines - concern whether we will be able to complete this
in August. (The pool has so much use
that scheduling work is always an issue.)
·
Telephone system replacement is to be
completed by June 30 – Mike Bicknell – lead.
·
Misc. painting, sidewalk replacement,
etc.
Accreditation
·
WSSB is in the process of renewing its national
accreditation with the onsite work beginning this spring and continuing summer
and fall. Dr. Hans Michielsen as
Principal is the lead for this important process which will include multiple
committees completing a self-study, which will be followed up with an onsite
review sometime the spring of 2016. WSSB has held national accreditation since
the late 1980s. This accreditation
process has helped shape our strategic plan which is updated every two years
and has been a driving force in continual program improvement. We will keep you
posted as the process continues, which will include board member involvement on
some of the committees.
Announcement of Retirement
·
After nearly 30 years of employment at
WSSB and serving as Superintendent since August of 1990, I have decided to
announce my retirement which will be sometime in August, 2016. I have decided to provide the Board,
Governor’s office and staff over a year’s notice in order to help facilitate
solid recruitment for the best candidate that can help take the school to the
next level in quality services for children, families and to all the partners
with whom we have worked for many years. It has been a pleasure working with so
many people over the years and it has been an amazing trip in seeing all the
new services that have been developed.
I’ve always told people that almost everything we do, would not have
been possible without wonderful partnerships and staff that have helped create
some amazing programs and services. I will continue to work with the Board and
Governor’s office to ensure a smooth transition.
% of budget |
75% |
25% |
||||||||
Apr-15 |
GFS-FUND 001 |
Private/Local-19B |
||||||||
Budgeted |
Actual |
Variance |
Budgeted |
Actual |
Variance |
Revenue Incr or shortfall |
||||
100 |
Res |
$
710,109 |
$
661,843 |
$
48,266 |
$
118,000 |
$
21,112 |
$
96,888 |
|||
110 |
Rec |
$
52,762 |
$ 49,221 |
$
3,541 |
|
$ - |
||||
120 |
Health |
$
150,442 |
$
143,768 |
$
6,674 |
|
$ - |
||||
200 |
Food |
$
139,279 |
$
130,605 |
$
8,674 |
|
$ - |
||||
300 |
B&G |
$
327,716 |
$
325,291 |
$
2,425 |
$
40,000 |
$
26,880 |
$
13,120 |
|||
400 |
Ed |
$
1,776,578 |
$
1,913,381 |
$
(136,803) |
$
8,000 |
$
139,678 |
$
(131,678) |
-13% |
||
420 |
LIFTT |
$
104,786 |
$
133,621 |
$
(28,835) |
$
104,846 |
$
36,793 |
$
68,053 |
24% |
||
500 |
Summer |
$ 659 |
$
(2,036) |
$
2,695 |
$
66,887 |
$
76,520 |
$
(9,633) |
|||
510 |
Outreach-State |
$
54,431 |
$
5,569 |
$
48,862 |
$
1,293,480 |
$
1,176,531 |
$
116,949 |
10% |
||
520 |
Summer Institute |
|
$ - |
|
$
16,333 |
$
(16,333) |
||||
543 |
BAC |
$
38,468 |
$ - |
$
38,468 |
|
|
-27% |
|||
600 |
Support Services |
$
585,287 |
$
571,213 |
$
14,074 |
|
$ - |
||||
601 |
Superintendent |
$
232,750 |
$
225,705 |
$
7,045 |
|
$ - |
||||
611 |
Foundation |
|
$ 8 |
$ (8) |
|
$ - |
||||
610 |
Board |
$
7,863 |
$
7,354 |
$ 509 |
|
$ - |
||||
700 |
Technology |
$
360,394 |
$
344,061 |
$
16,333 |
$
66,670 |
$
5,844 |
$
60,826 |
|||
800 |
Transportation |
$
244,477 |
$
186,726 |
$
57,751 |
|
$ - |
||||
920 |
IRC |
|
$
57,706 |
$
(57,706) |
|
|
||||
930 |
Idea |
|
$
7,502 |
$
(7,502) |
$
7,502 |
|
$ - |
|||
940 |
Other Grants |
|
$ - |
|
$ - |
|||||
BETER |
Betterment |
|
$ - |
$ - |
|
$ - |
||||
BIRTH |
Birth to Three |
$ - |
$ - |
$
208,330 |
$
83,174 |
$
125,156 |
||||
WSDS |
|
|
$ - |
|
$
2,679 |
$
(2,679) |
||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
$
6,339,580 |
$
4,786,001 |
$
4,761,538 |
$
24,463 |
$
1,906,213 |
$
1,585,544 |
$
320,669 |
||||
Proj. Balance |
$44,789 |
|
0.77% |
Proj. Balance |
$
1,174,563 |