WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

 

Minutes from Board of Trustees Meeting

March 13, 2015

Vancouver, Washington

 

 

Board Members Participating:  Lorna Walsh, Dennis Mathews, Jim Kemp, Ed Snook, Cindy Bennett, Nancy McDaniel, Michelle Farrell, Berl Colley, Yang-su Cho and John Glenn.

 

Ex-Officio Members Participating: Doug Trimble (Teachers Association), Lilly Longshore (Parent Representative), Joleen Ferguson (Washington Council of the Blind), and Michael Freeman (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), Mary Sarate (Director of Business and Finance), Steve Lowry (Transition-TVI), DeEtte Snyder (Coordinator, BVI Birth-3), and Janet Kurz (recording secretary).

 

Guest:  JaReda Webb, Executive Director, Pacific Foundation for Blind Children

 

March 13 – 11am-2:15pm

Ed called the meeting to order at 11am.  Ed welcomed Joleen to the Board of Trustees Ex-Officio group and also welcomed Berl as a new Board member. Berl was formerly an Ex-Officio member for the WCB.

 

Business Meeting:

Department Highlights:

*      JaReda Webb, Executive Director, Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC)

o   JaReda provided a brief history of the PFBC. 

o   JaReda stated there are two major fundraisers each year. The next fundraiser, “Three Grands” will be held on July 26 at the Bethany Vineyards in Ridgefield, WA. Berl encouraged JaReda to incorporate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the ADA as part of the Three Grands event. Ed stated the three pianists who are performers at the Three Grands are fantastic.  JaReda stated a jazz vocalist will be attending as well and a special guest will be invited.  Lilly stated she attended the event last year and the location did not have wheelchair accessible restrooms. JaReda assured Lilly that this venue does have accessible restrooms, but will double-check to be sure.

o   JaReda stated that the PFBC’s major focus is raising funds for Birth-3 and she is working with DeEtte to identify areas of needs. The PFBC has been focusing on updating their Strategic Plan.

o   The PFBC’s fund balance has been increasing each year; $42,000 (2014) and $31,000 (2013).      

o   Jim asked that if any Lions Club in the 4th Congressional District makes a donation to please let him know so he can present the thank you from the PFBC, personally. 

 

*      Mary Sarate (Director of Business and Finance)

o   Ed asked what our balance was in 19B (private/local funds). Mary stated she is projecting a balance of $1,068,000 at the end of the fiscal year; this is a slight decline from the close of the last fiscal year, therefore the balance is declining.  This is partly due to the purchase of the modular home and funding for the B-3 position. Next year, Mary anticipates that B-3 funds will be expended from General State Funds (GSF) as they were in the Governor’s proposed budget. 

o   Mary stated the motor pool meeting was held (details listed in her report below).  The Motor pool has been depreciating our vehicles when they should have been swapped out; therefore our rates increased by $7,000.  Mary is hoping that they will credit WSSB for this amount.

o   Safety Net funds are being requested through OSPI.  Dr. Stenehjem said this is due to several positions that were not funded through the budget process (see report below). The Office of Financial Management (OFM) suggested we apply for Safety Net funds. Dr. Stenehjem said the timeline for information has been established and March 23 is the deadline for final submission.  Mary’s goal is to have the package complete and ready for Dennis to review by March 20. WSSB applied for $126,000 for two positions; Mary stated the difference between getting funding from state vs. safety net is that through Safety Net $25,000 will be taken from the amount requested (this is due to OSPI’s reduction of $25,000 for school districts). Mary doesn’t anticipate we will receive the full amount that is being requested.  Ed asked how long it takes for OSPI to respond; Mary said before end of fiscal year, possibly May, however these funds would apply to the current year. Mary stated this is the disadvantage as funds are received towards the end of the fiscal year.

o   Dr. Stenehjem said the saving grace for WSSB is 19B and also out of state tuition. This year WSSB has 4-5 Oregon students who attend WSSB on a tuition/contractual basis. 

 

*      DeEtte Snyder (Coordinator, BVI Birth-3)

o   DeEtte stated that Moses Lake is serving their B-3 BVI children very nicely; they have identified four babies who they are providing TVI services on a regular basis. Moses Lake has a great team with center based programs and they also provide home based programs.   

o   Lilly asked about Battle Ground School District; Lilly was told they have their own TVI.  Lilly asked if WSSB helps to train TVI’s. DeEtte stated that there are annual conferences sponsored by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and that WSSB is also considered to be a resource to all TVI’s across the state. Dr. Stenehjem reported that on March 13 there was a training going on at the campus regarding Braille Notes that many TVI’s from throughout the state are attending.  DeEtte said that WSSB is a nice resource for the whole state and school districts rely on us; not only for services for kids but consultation, mentorship and training for TVI’s and Orientation & Mobility Instructors (O&M).

o   DeEtte presented at the recent AER conference specifically to help educate people regarding the differences in funding structures for students under Part B and C.  Most TVI’s have only received training regarding Part B services.

o   Ed asked how many additional babies has she identified that we didn’t know about. DeEtte’s best guess is 20; however Tracey Gaver who is the B-3 TVI in King County has over 100 in her area. DeEtte feels there should be 400-600 babies in the state of Washington.    

o   John asked if we identify the 400-600 B-3 VI children, how they are going to be served especially with the lack of training for TVI’s in the state in the area of B-3. Dr. Stenehjem stated we anticipated that this was going to occur so DeEtte has been working with Dr. Holly Lawson (Vision Program Coordinator) at Portland State University (PSU) regarding the possibility of adding modules to the current TVI program. DeEtte reported that the University of Illinois has a similar program that adds an endorsement to their teaching certification however this is only for those TVI’s who work and live in Illinois. Dennis asked who would pay for the program. Dr. Stenehjem thinks we will have the data to move forward with a request for funding from the state in the future.  There will be the need to hire additional TVIs and/or taking early intervention specialists and putting in place training on the vision side in order to meet the demand.  WSSB is working with Health Care Authority (HCA) and Department of Health (DOH) regarding the possibility of adding vision and O&M under Medicaid reimbursement, which is not possible in WA at this time. Twenty two other states currently tap into Medicaid reimbursement for these services. Dennis said another option is to have districts pay for their staff to receive the additional training with the condition that they remain in the district for X number of years.  DeEtte said B-3 children are already receiving Early Intervention (EI) services from their ESD’s, ESIT, non-profit organizations, and school districts, they are just not receiving specialized services for BVI.  In EI, services are paid for in multiple different ways: private insurance, Medicaid, school districts, non-profit foundations, private funds. Dr. Stenehjem said EI service funding is a lot more complicated than those students under part B, probably due to all the funding sources, etc. 

o   Dr. Stenehjem met with the KMR foundation; Dr. Stenehjem asked if they would be willing to fund stipends for educators to go back and get additional training in the area of B-3; the foundation staff said this is something they would bring forward to the foundation donors to see if there is an interest.  DeEtte said as she has met TVI’s around the state, a number of them in different pockets are interested in working with only B-3.   

o   Dennis stated that some school districts provide direct services to their infants and toddlers; others may serve some and contract with an outside agency; and, then some districts contract with an outside agency for all their infants and toddlers services. DeEtte said there are 39 counties and 295 school districts and each provide B-3 BVI services very differently.

 

*      Steve Lowry, Transition Coordinator, TVI

o   Steve provided a one-sheet handout to the Board; this handout is a resource sheet that is a quick overview for parents for what transition services means and the resources WSSB tries to connect families with. 

o   Steve works with 13 students who take classes at Hudson’s Bay High School; this is close to 30% of the high school student’s population on campus; two students are in the Running Start program at Clark College and one additional student who does her morning classes at a local middle school; this totals 16 students who attend general education classes. 

o   Community Experience is another part of Steve’s position. Steve feels this increases social interaction and community involvement.  Doug Trimble co-leads the community experience group with 9 students involved in this program.  These students go to various places in the community, i.e. shopping for groceries, cash checks, etc.   

o   One option being explored for the occupational studies classes is incorporating a vocational curriculum as the core text of the class. 

o   Steve discussed the different avenues for students who are on a career path, i.e. learning about themselves, matching skills and abilities to occupations in the real world; learn about what jobs require and skills, knowledge capacity to get those, discrepancy analysis, plan for what they need to do in the future, etc.  Lilly asked if there is a way that WSSB’s Outreach students can have access to these.  Steve reported that in three weeks all of this will be offered in a 3-day intensive camp experience (Career Fair).  The Career Fair has been evolving over the past few years.  This involves bringing students in from across the state. 

o   Lilly asked if there is an entrance exam or aptitude test for BVI students. Steve stated WSSB uses the Washington State WOIS (interest inventory), and one other instrument (Steve will follow-up with Lilly regarding the second test). 

o   Nancy asked if mock interviews and practice interviews are utilized. Steve said this happens twice throughout the year:  the first is the capstone piece of the Career Fair (15-minute interview) and the other is through WSSB’s paid work experience program.  Mike said one has to be careful with interest tests as if there is one designed for VI it has its own biases.  Dr. Stenehjem said there are job banks on the Voc. Rehab site available. 

o   Steve said WSSB’s work experience program has almost 30 different job options and eight different organizations in the community that offer opportunities for students. In both cases, students earn actual funds; and for a lot of students is a huge confidence boon. Currently, Steve has a student who is interested in accounting so now does bookkeeping for WSSB’s coffee shop.  One community partner is the Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters whose owner has been great to work with.  The owner has adapted many aspects of his operation to accommodate our students (auditory read-out, talking scales, etc.).  Other options in the community include the Habitat for Humanity Restore, Vancouver Pie Company; and many others. 

o   One new program, Learning Exploring and Planning is held for 20 minutes, twice per week to infuse career awareness, resumes, interview skills, etc. 

o   Steve feels a key factor in success after high school is the interagency collaborations. 

o   John asked if there is a matrix for skills that are introduced, mastered, etc. Steve said he spoke to the job coach at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) regarding this topic as WSSB does not have one. TSBVI is revamping theirs and plans to share it with WSSB. 

o   Steve feels that having a systematic approach to teaching job skills is newer territory because education swung far away from vocational education with No Child Left Behind.  WSSB is also looking at building alternative vocational programs for some students who aren’t necessarily on a traditional academic track. Berl asked about trying to coordinate with community connections; and hopes we don’t de-emphasize traditional academic courses. Steve said they work with students individually. 

o   Lilly said she has been exploring college entrance exams for her son (ACT and SAT).  The Vancouver School District, where her child attends (and receives Outreach services through WSSB) supports the SAT.  In talking to Kim Curry (WSSB counselor) and the Vancouver School District’s Counselor, Lilly found out that the ACT will allow a student to take the test up to 3 times, over multiple days which is very advantageous for her son. Lilly said generally, counselors don’t know these advantages and it would be beneficial to get this type of information out to school districts. 

o   Lilly mentioned that she has been working with Janet George from the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) who is the lead for the YES 2 program.  Janet believes that since the YES 2 program is an internship program spanning six weeks, Alex should receive high school credits. This information may also benefit others in other school districts. Lilly feels there is a lot of in-house knowledge about benefits and questions how WSSB can push that knowledge out, statewide or at least push the awareness that we are best practice. Dr. Stenehjem feels that information like this could be sent out to the EVE listerv. 

o   Mike commended Steve for a fine presentation and appreciates his good work. 

o   Steve stated there are 9 students participating in a Powerlifting meet at the Shilo Inn by the Portland Airport this weekend. 

o   WSSB’s Career Fair is April 1-3; if anyone is interested in doing mock interviews; Steve could use help.  Dr. Stenehjem asked if someone could do it through Lync; Steve said no reason why not.  Doug commended Steve and also Sean McCormick (WSSB’s Associate Principal) who ran the program two years ago and the changes they have made to the program and the huge difference it makes to students. 

 

*      Old Business:

o   Approval of Board of Trustees meeting minutes for: November 14, 2014, December 19, 2014 and January 14, 2015.  Jim moved to approve the minutes, Nancy seconded the motion.  The minutes passed unanimously.

 

*      New Business:

o   Review/approve 2015-2016 school year calendar. 

¨       Ed stated that Janet sent out the 2015-2016 school year calendar.  Dr. Stenehjem stated this aligns with the Vancouver School district since a number of WSSB students take classes at the Hudson’s Bay High School.  Berl moved to approve the calendar as presented; Michelle seconded the motion.  The calendar was approved, unanimously. 

 

Committee Reports

·         Education Committee

o   John enjoyed Steve’s presentation, particularly regarding skills that can be available for BVI.  John appreciated hearing about the collaboration between school staff, i.e. Doug (O&M) taking students to work sites. John felt it was a great presentation and would like to see more like this. Ed stated if anyone would like to hear from any department or staff, let us know and we can invite them to present at future Board meetings. John said that would be his preference. Dr. Stenehjem said one of the reasons why we have a 24-hour IEP is to provide services to all ranges of students. 

o   Nancy said when she served on an advisory board they used local employers in the community to do interviews and often times that resulted in the people actually getting the job. 

o   Dr. Stenehjem stated WSSB is getting geared up for the re-Accreditation process.  The Steering Committee has begun meeting and Dr. Stenehjem feels that the Education Committee will be actively involved in the process.

 

·         Buildings and Grounds Committee

o   Jim went on a walk-through of the campus and stated that the grounds are in excellent shape.  Jim noticed that the sculptures by the Kennedy Fitness Center have been brushed and cleaned up.  Discussion was held regarding repairs that WSSB is hoping to make to the pool this summer.  Dr. Stenehjem said the goal is to have this done in August. Jim stated that he assumes that all annual inspections, i.e. fire and safety have occurred.  Dr. Stenehjem said they have. Dr. Stenehjem said the modular home is currently being used by a practicum student from BC. 

 

·         Management Committee

o   Lorna stated she finally finished Dr. Stenehjem’s evaluation for 2013-14 and is working on 2014-2015 evaluation for review by Ed by Friday, March 20. 

 

·         Legislative Committee

o   Ed and Denise Colley attended the annual WASA/WSSDA Legislative Conference in March and funding/budgets seemed to be a common concern. Dr. Stenehjem said everyone was waiting for an answer and there wasn’t one at the time. Dr. Stenehjem stated that we attempted to schedule meetings with Representatives and Senators, however we were informed that they were not available as they were all on the floor or in caucus.  Berl stated a new legislative chair needs to be appointed since Denise Colley is no longer on the Board. Berl will chair the committee and Jim will chair the Buildings and Grounds committee.

 

Ex-Officio’s Reports

·         Washington Council of the Blind (WCB) – Joleen Ferguson

o   Joleen stated the WCB co-sponsored the braille challenge this year on February 7 in the Seattle area and there were 9 students participating with 12 adults helping with proof reading, etc. This was a successful event. 

o   A leadership meeting will be held from May 1-3 which will include a Board meeting.

o   The National ACB Convention will be held July 3-11.

o   The WCB state convention will take place November 3-5, 2015. 

o   Berl said one initiative they are working on involves the WTBBL.  Unfortunately, the Secretary of State and State Library have not presented a plan of action to protect anything budgetarily. 

 

·         National Federation of the Blind (NFB) – Mike Freeman

o   Mike reported that the NFB of Washington sponsored a booth/exhibit at the recent AER conference in Vancouver and that the Council of the Blind had one too. 

o   The NFB’s National Convention will be July 5-10 in Orlando, Florida.

o   The date for fall convention has not been set yet.

o   The NFB will be holding a talent show with WSSB students on March 26 on WSSB’s campus.  NFB’s Bob Sellers and Don Mitchell will be visiting students at the WSSB cottages to talk it up. 

o   The NFB is also involved in the WTBBL initiative. 

o   Cindy added that the NFB held their annual Washington seminar in Januaryl.

o   Cindy mentioned the WTBBL provides alternative media, braille and talking books, i.e. all materials for the print disabled; one of the budget cuts in question was to discontinue conversion of local media, such as historical documents and the patron advisory council at the library felt it was not a good idea. The Council of the Blind and NFB got together and sponsored letters to be sent to all patrons of library. Cindy said it was great to work with the Council.  The Ogden Resource Center was contacted and was able to turn out 450 braille letters and sent them to Seattle with a patron who was in the area and all WTBBL patrons who prefer braille was able to get the information.  Cindy was very impressed with her experience with the ORC.

 

·         Teachers – Doug Trimble

o   Doug stated that it has been a busy year and that things are going well. 

o   Doug stated there are 7-8 graduates this year.

o   Upcoming activities include the following:  Track Meet, Career Fair, Student Testing, etc.

o   Doug felt there was a great turnout at the AER Conference for WSSB teachers, Residential Life Counselors (RLC’s) and para-pros. 

o   Doug stated they are sad to see our music teacher leave this year (Eben Fernando-Heldreth). 

o   One teacher, Stephanie Face is on maternity leave and one para pro, Leif Barnes is a new dad. 

 

·         Parent Representative – Lilly Longshore

o   Lilly sent out some information regarding her position on the Board in the Irwin newsletter.

o   Sean McCormick asked Lilly to meet with him to see how WSSB can get parents more involved. 

o   Lilly suggested that Adrienne send out her recreation information to all parents. There are times when Lilly is not available to volunteer at these events, however Lilly appreciates knowing when activities are going on and felt that other parents would too. 

o   Lilly asked about WSSB’s Facebook page and ways to post comments, etc.  Michelle asked if she was looking for students just at WSSB or in general; Dr. Stenehjem said statewide. Michelle said there is a Facebook page called “Blindsided” which Emily Coleman, WSSB Outreach TVI hosts.  Lilly feels she has good information to share from a parent’s perspective.  Dr. Stenehjem said we will send Lilly Emily Coleman’s email address to her to get the two connected.   

 

Superintendent’s Report

Dr. Stenehjem reported the following:

·         Dr. Stenehjem stated it was great having the ESD 112’s regional Special Education Directors on campus in March.  The Special Education Directors were provided information from our administrators and had a tour of the campus.

·         Dr. Stenehjem will be presenting at the International CEC convention in April in San Diego.  Dr. Stenehjem will be presenting regarding diversification of services and how can people get more involved in partnerships.  This is natural for WSSB but foreign to some.

·         Dr. Stenehjem recently participated in the Future Ready Regional School workshops (information in the Superintendent’s report below).  A team of three people from WSSB and Dr. Stenehjem attended.  Dr. Stenehjem felt it was important to bring a BVI team member. The workshop leaders ensured materials were accessible after Dr. Stenehjem contacted them.

·         WSSB is very concerned with school district’s move to provide textbooks as eBooks as the majority of the material is not accessible.  Dr. Stenehjem made contact with the American Federation of the Blind (AFB) and the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in December and it did not appear to be on either one of their radars.  Dr. Stenehjem approached Colleen at the ORC to propose that WSSB pursue coming up with a patch or alternate format to get information into books so BVI kids are not left out.  Mike urged Dr. Stenehjem to contact Mark Riccobono, President, NFB and Neal Lewis.  Dr. Stenehjem doesn’t feel people are doing this intentionally.  Lilly is a judge at local science fairs and feels this would be a great thing for someone who can do alt programming and apps who can program to do a patch.  Dr. Stenehjem said nice thing, one of the organizations helped McGraw Hill, had follow-up on this topic.  WSSB will be checking for accessibility while books are being produced.  The issue is more with pictures that don’t have alt tags and diagrams, etc.  Dr. Stenehjem will keep the board apprised. 

·         Joleen remarked that she recently listened to a podcast regarding Jaws for Windows and how they are able to take a web based math equation, speak it, and demonstrated how it could be drilled down from a different equation.  Dr. Stenehjem said we will look at all options. 

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:45pm.

 

Executive Session

An executive session was called to order at 1:50pm and ended at 2:10pm. 

 

The next Board meeting will be held via conference call on May 7, 2015 at 7:30pm.     

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Ed Snook, Chair                                                                                 Dean O. Stenehjem, Ed.D., Superintendent

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Board Reports – March 2015

 

Outreach

Our general report is usually a reflection of student numbers, district served and workshops that were offered during the previous months. For this report I thought I would share a little insight into the world of the Outreach teacher that might help in the understanding of the complexity and challenges of meeting the needs of students. The information gathered is from an informal survey I conducted with 31 Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) from WSSB and around the state:

 

·         The average caseload for a TVI in Washington State is 20 students. The makeup of this caseload is:  2 braille students, 6 low vision students needing direct service, 5-6 students with multiple disabilities needing direct service, and the remaining students receiving consultation services on a weekly or monthly basis. In addition to the students assigned on caseload, teachers receive 9-12 requests yearly for evaluations and assessments. Braille students place the highest demand on TVIs, with emergent readers requiring 12-15 hours per week from the TVI. 

·         The average teacher spends eight hours a week driving, while the highest number was 16 hours in transit.  Teachers spend a great deal of time engaged in consulting classroom teachers, office staff and para-educators as they transition between students and most of this time is unaccounted for. In addition, there is preparation for lessons, and modifications of existing school curriculum so that the student will be ready to progress with their peers. 

 

If you were to quickly add the numbers, it becomes apparent that there is little to no down time and that the average day for a TVI is not average. Despite the lack of time, TVIs are a very dedicated group of professionals that thrive on challenge and enjoy their work immensely. It is rare when someone decides to leave the field with most remaining for their entire career, which is fortunate since there is a state and national shortage. Working with such dedicated people makes my job incredibly rewarding and I feel very fortunate to have landed in such a great career.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Digital/Distance Learning

The Digital Learning department is currently involved in different initiatives. We list a few of these below.

 

WSSB sent a team of four to the regional Digital Future Ready Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and the Alliance for Excellent Education. Led by Superintendent Stenehjem, our team will continue to work towards the goal of ensuring the school is on track to provide a solid digital education for our students in the future. We also hope our membership in this group will help influence the regional and national conversation as regards accessibility for blind and visually impaired (BVI)-DB students in K-12 digital education.

 

WSSB and the Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC) is working with UNLV Professor Andreas Stefik and his team to develop a LEGOs Robotics plug-in for the accessible programming language Quorum. Middle School Math Teacher Lisa Hodge will work with Dr. Stefik and one of his graduate students to help make LEGOs robotics programming a reality for blind and deafblind students who rely on screen readers for information. This open source and free plug-in will be available next year for competitive school teams (or anyone) across the country to use.

 

WSSB Technology TVI Bruce McClanahan will teach workshops on Apple’s VoiceOver screen reader for the iPad in April and possibly again in May.

 

WSSB Digital Research and Development Coordinator Mike Bicknell and Math TVI JJ Isaacson co-presented at the PNW-AER Conference on the efficacy of the WSSB Distance Learning Math Program. They will co-present on the same topic at the upcoming American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Leadership Conference at Phoenix in April as well.

 

Margaret M. Jones, para-professional from Alaska, wrote this about our distance learning math classes: “This program has made a huge difference for the student that I work with.  She has transitioned from doing math only with a sighted para-pro as a reader and scriber to independently Brailling her math and working out the problems on her own!  This has been huge.

 

Also in terms of savings for our school, the cost of the program is less than what we were paying for the text in Braille each year.  Then at the end of the year, we would be left with a Braille text that we most likely wouldn’t ever use again.  In this program, the use of the text is a part of the cost and we will send it back at the end of the year, thereby eliminating waste.

 

Doing math this way has allowed my student to work at her own pace and to get her questions thoroughly answered by a qualified TVI.  I have seen incredible growth in my student. At times it has been frustrating getting the technology to work on our end. But with a little patience, we have been working through that.

 

Overall, I am thrilled with our experience with this program and look forward to doing it again in the future.” 

 

In other news, Mike Bicknell is working with the Ogden Resource Center’s (ORC) Director Colleen Lines and Proofreader Zach Lattin to develop accessible e-textbooks using the EPUB format. The three of us visited the Braille Services Team at Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) at Gig Harbor to discuss the proposal, and subsequently the beta project was approved. Zach has already started to develop the process for accessible e-textbook production and we hope to make significant headway that will include training for the female offenders in the next few months.

 

For more info about our program: http://www.wssb.wa.gov/Content/offcampus/DistanceLearning.asp

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

On Campus

Enrollment

Current school enrollment is 69 students. Nine students are enrolled in the Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) program. Eight students participate in the on-line program in four different mathematics classes. On-line students hail from Idaho, Oregon, Alaska and Washington.  Fifteen of our students attend one or more classes at Hudson’s Bay High School and Clark Community College. At this time, we have started several conversations with other schools for them to participate or use our on-line offerings as soon as the next school year. In addition, we have started to experiment with offering other services online such as a combined cooking class with a group of students in Yakima.

 

Job Placements

Our transition coordinator, Steve Lowry, continues to do a tremendous job developing job placements for our students in the community and on campus.  The student store is again open regularly.  We have sold our first order for apparel and should be able to offer more soon.  Because the State will not allow us to use credit cards for purchases at the student store, we will not be able to make these items available through the website.  Students have also started to learn to fix broken long canes.

 

Goalball

Our school team won the Oregon State Tournament last week.

 

Camp Magruder

Camp Magruder plans are coming together. The camp will run from April 27-30. The camp is located near Tillamook, OR.

 

Spring Track Meet

The spring track meet is scheduled for May 14.

 

Summer Programs

Summer camp and Youth Employment Solutions (YES) 1 applications and flyers are out.  This year, we will not do both programs at the same time so that we can accommodate more students.

 

Graduation

Gradation is scheduled for June 5 at 9:30 in the Sherman Auditorium.  We can’t believe how close this is.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Residential

Transportation

One of our residential students was unable to fly safely by himself each weekend and we have added a staff escort to fly with him on Fridays and Sundays to ensure he has continued access to airline travel. This is working well so far.

 

LIFTT

The LIFTT program was selected in February as a trial site for the new Voice Guidance accessibility feature on the new Comcast X1 system. The company is piloting this system in several locations around the country that focus on serving people with print disabilities. LIFTT is very fortunate to be one of the sites. This system uses speech to allow users to access the guide and all programming information. So far it gets a big thumbs up from students and staff! The pilot will go for a year.

 

Residential

Even with the unseasonably warm weather, we have been able to get most of our ski trips in with the students.

 

Our monthly DLS themes have been:  January-Self Defense, February–interpersonal communication/social interaction and March will be a combination of personal care and gardening. Students and staff are doing a great job diving into these topics each month.

 

General

We have another Residential Life Counselor (RLC) that completed the Hadley Braille course, and one RLC complete her NLS certification!! Another RLC is attending University of North Carolina (UNC) to get her TVI and Orientation & Mobility (O&M) certification. Two other RLC’s are in the process of beginning programs towards TVI certification. This is very exciting for our profession.

 

Libby Pitts has wonderfully filled the Residential Life Dean role while Tess Brown continues her maternity leave (Tess had twin boys in November).  We are very lucky to have her. Dalton Williams has also done a wonderful job of filling in for Libby in the LIFTT program during this time.

 

We were able to hire and train two new on-call RLC’s to help us meet our staffing needs. They are trained and are a great asset to our staff when we need coverage.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Business Office

2013-15 Operating Budget

We closed the month of January with a negative variance of less than 1% in general fund-state and a 12% surplus in 19B not including carry over balance from last year. 

 

2015 Supplemental Budget

As mentioned in the last report, the Governor’s budget includes our technical correction of $101,000.

 

2015-17 Operating Budget

We received three fiscal note requests. They had to do with bringing teacher salaries current to include cost-of-living increases as mandated by Initiative 732.  They have been suspended since 2008-09.  The requests for fiscal notes were later cancelled.  The Office of Financial Management (OFM) will more than likely handle the note so they do not get conflicting information from the various districts impacted.

 

We are also doing preliminary 2015-17 allotment work in anticipation of the budget passing. If we wait until the legislature approves the budget, we have little to no time left so we have to make some assumptions as we move forward and adjust as necessary once the budget passes.

 

2014-15 Fiscal Year Close

It’s hard to believe it is THAT time again!  We have three months left for the end of the fiscal year.  We will be looking at our closing timeline and getting information out to staff to facilitate a smooth close.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, OFM continues to shrink the window of time we are given to finish closing the year after June 30.  Our closing process is a work in progress and we continue to refine it as we move forward.

 

Safety Net

Since our budget requests for dedicated staff for a few of our high needs students were not recommended for funding, we will be applying for Safety Net funds. We are about three-fourths of way done with the application.  It is due March 27.

 

Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises Goals (M/WBE)

RCW 39.19.060 was passed to ensure that certified businesses are afforded the maximum practicable opportunity to directly and meaningfully participate in the state’s execution of public contracts for public works, and goods and services. The Office of M/WBE, with state agency commitment, has a participation goal of 16%.  We are required to prepare a 2015 M/WBE plan to help achieve this goal. We are currently working on our plan and have preliminarily identified areas where we might have the ability to use M/WBE contractors, if available.  One of the goals we are being asked to achieve is to increase our participation by 20%. Our agency will have to identify plans to sponsor, support, and/or participate in outreach events with the M/WBE community associations, vendor, and industry organizations; develop 3-5 strategies in 2015 to obtain our goals; and conduct training, activities, policy work, or other activities which are designed to promote M/WE inclusion.

 

Motor Pool

An internal audit of motor pool invoices resulted in some questions regarding rates. It appears we are being charged anywhere from 100-237% more than what was originally proposed.  We have a phone conference pending with motor pool representatives to determine the variances.  Their initial response is those vehicles are fully depreciated, therefore our rates would have increased.  However, we did not receive new vehicles in their place.  We will bring you up-to-date at the meeting.  I’m not holding on to much hope we will get an adjustment.

 

Managing State Print Operations Rules

“Another rule”--The state passed rules regarding managing state print operations.  Because we are under 1,000 FTE’s, we do not have to comply with this rule.  However, the state expectation is that we reduce printing costs.  Again, while not required to submit anything formally, we will be reviewing some of our processes to determine if there are areas where costs could be reduced.  For example, one requirement is to reduce/eliminate desk top printers.  This will probably be an area we will analyze.

 

Retro-Refund

You may recall, at the end of last fiscal year, we were hit with a $246k+ invoice for workers compensation. Human Resources appealed some of the claims and were successful in receiving a $70k+ refund.  These funds are earmarked for safety related/return to work costs.  We have a plan for spending the funds but are having difficulty getting access to them. I have been ready to submit our allotment package for spending but the funds are not showing up on our expenditure authority schedule.  Department of Enterprise Services (DES)/OFM have been working on getting the issue resolved.  They keep telling me it is resolved but we can’t tell until the books close for the month.  We have done that twice and are now going for the third time.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Human Resources

New Hires:  

·         On Call RLC – Jessica McAlexander

·         On-Call Teacher’s Aide (TA) – Sarah Murphy

·         Substitute Teacher – Richard Coffman

 

Open Recruitments:

·         Teacher of the Blind – Music

·         Teacher of the Blind – Outreach Spokane

·         Teacher of the Blind – Outreach Seattle area

·         Substitute Teacher

·         On-Call Teacher’s Assistant

·         On-Call Registered Nurse

·         School Psychologist – On hold

 

Trainings Attended:

·         HR Manager’s Meeting, facilitated by Lee Strehlow, Department of Retirement Systems (DRS)

·         Affirmative Action/Disability Coordinators/Veteran’s Coordinators Quarterly Meeting, facilitated by Tammy Pitre, Statewide HR

·         Ethics Advisor Meeting, facilitated by Ruthann Bryant, Executive Ethics Board

·         Southwest Society for Human Resources Managers Meeting

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Ogden Resource Center (ORC)

The Big News!  Colleen Lines, Director of the ORC announced her retirement during her presentation at the PNWAER conference. If everything goes through the retirement process as planned, her last day of work will be June 30, 2015.

 

Quota Funds

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) distributed funds from the 2014 Census to us early this year at the per capita rate of $298.45 per eligible student as follows:

#214 WSSB

40 students

$11,938.06

#217 Private non parochial

58 students

$17,310.18

#216 Districts

880 students

$262,637.28

Totals

978 students

$291,885.52

 

 

 

 

 

 

APH Annual Census

The first phase of the annual census is almost completed by Justin Raner, Administrative Assistant at the ORC. We have not run the final numbers, as we are checking on the eligibility of some students. It will be completed before the cut-off date of March 15. At that time APH will close the webpage and ready us for phase two of the four phases.

 

Unified English Braille (UEB)

With Colleen Lines as chair of the committee, she collaboratively wrote the Statewide UEB Implementation plan and resource list is posted on the WSSB webpage (www.wssb.wa.gov). Colleen is keeping the field informed with communications on EVE. She also did a presentation at the PNWAER conference in regards to the Washington UEB plan.

 

UEB Training at WCCW

Angela Vargas and Mike Sivill presented a three-day workshop for the women, but they caught on so quickly, they only needed 2-1/2 days!

 

WCCW

The partnership with Correctional Industries has been a great success. The room where the program is housed has been completely remodeled and updated to a professional spacious workspace. WSSB did not incur any expense, except for a $156 secure tool cabinet!

 

In light of a seven year program rule and the imminent release within the next couple of years of most of our highly trained transcribers will be out of the program.  We are piloting a transcriber apprenticeship program. Angela Vargas is heading this up. Our plan is to hire four additional women that will work part-time as helpers and intensively work on their braille certifications.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Buildings and Grounds

Capital

The manufactured home was used by one of our outreach teachers and two assistants staying in it during the recent AER conference. They reported that it worked very well and was more relaxing than a hotel. We have several more users lined up including one person doing their practicum on campus. 

 

The smoke damper evaluation in Old Main, by an electrical engineering company from Olympia came in at a higher than anticipated projected cost. After reviewing the estimate we questioned their pricing calculations but opened it up for bid submittals. The actual bid came in at $58,000 which was $56,000 below the estimate and within our budgeted cost. This project will start in March and should take one week to complete.

 

We continue to press for reworking of the pool through our representative with Department of Enterprise Services (DES). It looks like we may be able to bid this as a small works roster project. I will need to write the specifications for project and product if Olympia does not have a qualified pool consultant available.

 

We are in the process of evaluating and upgrading existing security camera equipment. Eight of the cameras are analogue format and five others are no longer functioning. The server is also undersized for the increased amount of data which results in long search times and a shortened number of days we can store before the data is overwritten. Some of this work has already been done in house. We are discussing bidding wire replacement and camera changes. Estimated camera cost is $7,000.

 

Campus

We have returned three more of our former vehicles to the motor pool due to excessive miles. While calculating what this would mean for additional charges, as those were cars that we purchased and thus billed at a lesser amount, it was discovered that they had increased our bill fourteen months ago. We have had a phone meeting with their assistant director and are in the process of working out a rebate for the overage.

 

Our plant mechanic Brian has accepted the assistance of a student from the deaf school. The student works with him Monday through Thursday mornings and is helping in a variety of projects including oil changes, camera wire replacement and plumbing rework.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Birth-Three

DeEtte continues to learn about the Early Intervention System (ESIT) here in Washington State. She attended the SICC meeting in January and February.  She did a presentation on the EI system for the PNWAER Conference as this information is important for TVIs and O&M specialists who work in both Early Intervention (EI) and school based systems to understand as it is very different. It was well received.

 

DeEtte conducted many trainings in the learning differences in children with BVI as well as screening/ identification practices with the following counties and their EI programs: Whatcom, Adams, Spokane, Snohomish (all day), and Clark.

 

DeEtte met with three county local lead agencies to discuss EI/VI services from a TVI or O&M specialists including Whatcom, Snohomish, Spokane, and Yakima. All were positive and 2 counties are exploring hiring their own TVI similar to the model in King County.

 

Tracey Gaver, the dedicated B-3 TVI in King County, works very closely with DeEtte and the two meet monthly to discuss issues, collaborate on projects, and support each other professionally through dual mentorship.  She has identified more than 100 children with BVI and has an ongoing caseload of about 50 children. Current projects they are working on together is the ESIT Practice Guide for Agencies to Provide Appropriate EI Services to Children with BVI.  This resource guide will include 4 components: 1) a flowchart to services, 2) a registration form for each child with BVI in county, 3) EI program self-evaluation in providing services for children with BVI, and 4) areas to address with every family with a child who is BVI.

 

DeEtte continues to work in obtaining Medicaid funding for TVI and O&M services. We know more about the process and especially the provider qualifications for licenses through Department of Health (licensing).  Partnership with Department of Early Learning (DEL) is continuing in this endeavor. Dr. Stenehjem will address this item further.

 

Two exciting projects in the works:

1)      Early Intervention Vision Impairment Specialist (EITVI Specialist) endorsement or certificate program at Portland State University (PSU) through joint collaboration with Dr. Holly Lawson, coordinator of VI program and Dr. Hollie Hix-Small, coordinator of EI/ECSE program. The program would consist of 4 classes with a number of hours for reflective supervision.  Once completed students would receive a “certificate of advanced training”.  Target audience are currently licensed teachers (either in VI or early intervention/early childhood) to obtain skills needed to work with children aged birth to 3 with blindness and visual impairments and their families. Details of program are still being developed with goal of first class this summer.

2)      Tele-intervention pilot study with one family of toddler with albinism in Clarkston, WA (Asotin). Goals include developing a model to implement with other families and with other teachers around the state.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

Superintendent

WSSB continues to monitor the legislative process to determine whether we see any funding changes from the Governor’s proposed budget for WSSB in both operations and capital.  At this time we have received no news of changes and I don’t anticipate we will until close to the end of the session. Both Book I and Book II in the Governor’s operating budget are such that we should be ok in moving forward and both budgets also included additional support for B-3 statewide coordination and development.  This is vital in implementing a system change in our state resulting in improvements in services to BV) infant/toddlers and their families and increased training to those provide services. We anticipate that the 77 registered as BVI for quota funding through the Instructional Resource Center at WSSB will likely grow to about 300 and eventually up into the 500+ range, which should result in $90,000-$150,000 of additional access dollars for APH products available in our state. The Governor’s Capital budget included approximately $800,000 in preservation funding and $503,000 for pre-design/design of a new LIFTT cottage which would allow us to expand the LIFTT program and potentially serve a wider range of students. 

 

Safety Net–OSPI

WSSB is applying for Safety Net funds for three students who require one on one support due to medical conditions, one–on-one interpreter (deaf/blind), etc. These students more than likely will be served on campus for a number of years and will require continued intensive support in order to access basic education. Safety Net applications are due the end of March, 2015 and will be reviewed by the OSPI Safety Net committee a little later this spring.

 

Pacific Northwest Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the BVI (PNWAER) (Professional Conference BVI-Education and BVI-Rehabilitation)

The conference took place in Vancouver this year with 200-220 people in attendance which is about a 17% increase than a typical PNWAER conference. Part of this increase is due process in moving the U.S. into UEB (Unified English Braille System) and also a great selection of in-service/workshop topics. I am proud to mention that 10 WSSB staff members were presenters at this conference, which is accessed by educators and rehab personnel from throughout the Pacific Northwest. The current President of the PNWAER is our own Emily Coleman, Itinerant TVI who lives in the greater Spokane area.

 

Council of Schools/Services for the Blind (COSB)

In March, Dr. Stenehjem will be participating in a strategic planning workshop for COSB which will be held in Albuquerque, NM. This planning session will help build the framework for COSB for a number of years to come.

 

ESD Special Education Directors Visit

On March 5, ESD Special Education Directors visited our campus to tour the facility and learn more about the services that WSSB provides. WSSB has so many partners both on a statewide and national basis that are important in pulling all the pieces together. The ESDs and OSPI are both very important partners and this gave us an opportunity to not only inform them of all that is occurring, but also a time to say thank you.

 

International CEC Conference – April, 2015

Dr. Stenehjem will be presenting at the International CEC Conference in San Diego, CA in April.  He and Dr. Eugene McMahon will be conducting a workshop on how schools for the blind throughout the U.S. are and have changed to become statewide and regional resource hubs in service delivery in a wide variety of ways. WSSB was asked to provide examples of the diverse range of service options that have been developed over the years in partnerships with many organizations. Dr. Stenehjem will also be participating in a sharing time with the DVIDB Division about the services provided in Washington and also will have a recruitment booth set up to help facilitate recruitment to fill unfilled TVI, O&M, Psychology, etc. positions within our state. The DVIDB Division is mostly represented by University Teacher Training programs and students involved in these programs.

 

Future Ready School Regional Workshops

WSSB participated in the Regional Future Ready School Summit on February 17-18, 2015 in Vancouver.   This was the second of 12 regional summits that provide focus on a comprehensive set of issues that drive student learning. The summits highlight the experiences of districts in each region and offer district leaders tangible ways to build capacity among their teams and throughout their districts. This is a national initiative from President Obama and the U.S. Department of Education. Thirty-seven school districts from Washington and Oregon participated and will continue to receive tremendous support with new online tools to assist participating districts with all aspects tied to the digital environment and improving student outcomes, e.g. specialized tools that will be available to participating districts, connections and materials with experts in network development and deployment, professional development, data tracking, overall strategic planning, etc. This was a tremendous opportunity and WSSB is so honored to be part of this national movement and having the ability to network with schools in the Northwest that are doing some amazing things for students and professionals along with the ability to network with others throughout the country. In order for a district to participate the Superintendent/CEO needed to take a national pledge on program improvement in improving curriculum through digital development. Without the Superintendent/CEO in attendance the district could not send the remaining team of three individuals. WSSB team members:  Corey Grandstaff, TVI, Mike Bicknell, Digital Learning Coordinator/Research, Sean McCormick, Assist. Principal and Dr. Dean O. Stenehjem, Supt.

 

The Future Ready Regional Summits are an important step to realizing the goals of the ConnectED Initiative announced by President Obama in 2013 to connect 99% of students to high speed internet and empower teachers with the technology they need to transform teaching and learning. The Regional Summits are expected to engage more than 1,300 district leaders nationwide.  For more information on the regional summits please visit www.FutureReadySchools.org. “Future Ready highlights the critical role of district leaders in setting a vision and creating the environment where educators and students access the tools, content, and expertise necessary to thrive in a connected world,” said Richard Culatta, director of the Department’s Office of Educational Technology.

 

Early Intervention Statewide BVI Services

DeEtte Snyder will provide updates in her report, but I want to highlight a few important issues:

·         Medicaid (3rd party billing for TVI- B-3 and O&M Services B-adulthood); roughly 22 states currently bill for these services (Washington is not one of these states). We would like to change this and are working with Department of Early Learning (DEL), Health Care Authority (HCA), and others in moving this forward.  

·         APH Quota funding: Currently there are about 77 students registered for quota–federal funds on account at APH that help supply students with specialized equipment/materials, etc. This number should be close to 577 based upon national incidence numbers. Our goal is to get this up to approximately 300 registered (one year from now), which would result in an additional $90,000-$100,000 quota dollars to draw from for specialized materials, equipment, etc.

·         DeEtte is working with Portland State University (PSU) in exploring additional coursework for TVIs who will be working with Birth–3 BVI students, also piloting digital intervention for families and exploring the potential of combining additional training along with training in the use of digital intervention models to better meet families/BVI infant and toddlers needs.

·         WSSB along with other partners will be presenting a pre-session training on BVI at the IECC (Infant and Early Childhood Conference) in Tacoma the first part of May.  

·         DeEtte is doing a good job in networking throughout the state and BVI infants/toddlers are coming forward with requests for services and support throughout the state. This first step will lead to solid future programs.

 

NOTE:  WSSB has a decision package in both (Book I and Book II) of the Governor’s budgets to provide funding for this important program. We know this funding will continue to allow us to improve services, but we are exploring many additional options of funding through both the private sector and federal funding sources in order to help meet the needs for support and training throughout our state.

 

National Accreditation Process for Re-Accreditation (National Association of Accredited Schools–NAAS which is now called – AdvancED)  

Dr. Hans Michielsen, as Principal, will chair the Steering Committee in moving the process forward. Estimated timeline:

·         Steering Committee forms:  March, 2015

·         Committees established: April/May, 2015

o   Working committees begin

o   Collection of information for self–study

·         Self-study continues fall of 2015 (August–November, 2015)

·         Self-study information compiled (December, 2015–January, 2016)

·         On-site visitation team (April or May, 2016)

o   Purpose of visitation team-validation of self-study

·         Summer/Fall 2016: Re-accreditation based upon self-study and onsite review.

 

The information collected in this process is vital to the development and refining of the school’s Strategic Plan, which is a driver for budget development, staff development, etc. WSSB will also be pulling information from the work being done on the “Future Schools Initiative” addressed earlier in this report as part of the total process of quality improvement and from the work the school has been doing in LEAN.

 

Land Here, Live Here, Learn Here Program

WSSB has been a partner of this local effort that is being facilitated by the business community in partnership with local school districts. Part of this program is providing recognition of Real Heroes within schools. This year Ms. Jennifer Butcher was recognized as an outstanding teacher/hero and Ms. Mollie Hands as an outstanding volunteer/hero. Congratulations to these two heroes at our school.

 

Iris Award
Lori Pulliam, Director of Transition, was chosen as one of three recipients of the Iris Award that was presented on Thursday, March 5 at Clark Community College.  This award (previously called the Women of Achievement award) was created to honor women in Southwest Washington. Lori was recognized for her 32+ years of teaching at WSSB, her dedication to the Fort Vancouver Lions Club, coaching soccer and serving on the state’s Disability Transition Task Force.  Congratulations, Lori!