WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Minutes
from Board of Trustees Meeting
January 18, 2017
Conference Call
Board Members Participating: Berl Colley, Michelle Farrell,
Keri Clark, Yang-su Cho, Cindy Bennett, Nancy McDaniel, Ed Snook, and Jim Kemp.
Board Members Absent: Dennis Mathews and Lorna Walsh.
Ex-Officio Members Participating: Joleen Ferguson (Washington
Council of the Blind), Vaughn Brown (Teachers Association), Marci Carpenter
(National Federation of the Blind of Washington), and Lilly Longshore (Parent
Representative).
Ex-Officio Members Absent: Corey Grandstaff (Washington Federation of State Employees Local
#1225).
WSSB Staff Members Participating: Scott McCallum
(Superintendent) and Janet Kurz (recording secretary).
January
18, 2017 – 7:30pm
Nancy called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.
Business Meeting:
Old Business:
Approve board meeting minutes of November 18,
2016. Jim Kemp moved to approve the
minutes as submitted; Berl Colley seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.
New Business:
Superintendent’s Report
Scott reviewed the following:
Scott, Sean McCormick (Director of On-Campus Programs), and Emily
Coleman (Director of Outreach/State Vision Consultant) met with Dorinda Rife
from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Dorinda toured the campus and learned more
about the programs and services that the WSSB provides.
Scott had dinner in Hall Cottage (middle school girls’ cottage). They made a wonderful meal and had a lot of fun.
Scott presented information regarding the WSSB at a recent Results
Washington meeting in Olympia. Results
Washington is a Governor’s initiative and one of the goal areas focuses on
“World Class Education”. Other members
in this group are representatives from the Office of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (OSPI). Department of Early Learning (DEL), Arts Commission,
etc. Most agencies in this group are connected
to education. In general, smaller
agencies within this group do not have an opportunity to present regarding
their agencies.
Scott traveled to Seattle to attend a reception for the new state
librarian. Scott also met with LouOma
Durand, Director of the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB), and Michael
MacKillop from DSB to tour their facility and to discuss partnerships and
programs we share with DSB. The
conversation went well and Scott is hoping to meet with DSB on at least a
quarterly basis.
Recently, WSSB has experienced some challenges with the inclement
weather. Students were sent home one day
early on January 12 due to the weather.
This decision had a financial impact on some employees. Scott sent a survey to all staff regarding
communication during the inclement weather and is looking forward to receiving
the feedback from staff. Scott will then
share the results with the leadership team.
Scott stated that he was very proud of WSSB staff for their dedication
and commitment to coming to work during the inclement weather to ensure that
students’ were their priority. Jim asked
how many days students missed due to the weather. Scott stated that the residential students
missed one day; however, local/day students missed up to seven days. Rick Hauan, Director of the Center for
Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL) and Scott will be meeting to discuss
the possibility of extending the school year.
Jim asked that Scott let the Board know if the school year will be
extended. Scott said that there are many
factors with this decision including graduation and that Governor Inslee is
scheduled to be our commencement speaker this year. Jim stated that he will not be attending the
June 2 Board meeting/commencement because he will be at his 60th
high school reunion in Kansas.
On January 19, Scott will be presenting to the house education
committee regarding how WSSB integrates and partners with the K-12 education
system.
Committee Reports:
Management
Committee (Ed Snook):
·
Ed
stated there is nothing to report at this time.
Education
Committee (Michelle Farrell):
·
Michelle
spoke to Sean this week and received positive feedback for the Board’s visits
to the classrooms and assembly during the November meeting. Michelle and Sean also talked about the
possibility of the Board joining the students for dinner on a Thursday evening
before a Friday board meeting or participating in a recreation activity. Sean also discussed the possibility of Board
members getting involved with WSSB seniors.
Nancy mentioned that she attended a Career Fair at WSSB and was able to
interview some students as part of this activity. Michelle will send an email to the Board to
obtain their ideas regarding involvement with students. Cindy remarked that she likes the idea of a
variety of options for interactions with students and that she also participated
in WSSB’s Career Fair and felt it was very worthwhile. Yang-su stated he also appreciates
the involvement with students and plans to come to WSSB on a Thursday so he can
participate in a ski trip with the students.
Lilly said she has connected with Mr. Face who works with the students
in woodshop.
·
Vaughn
shared that some of his colleagues were inquiring about the possibility of
bringing the elementary program back to WSSB.
Keri stated she could see the importance of having an elementary program
at WSSB as she has an elementary aged child.
Lilly agreed as well. Nancy asked
if this could be an agenda item at the March Board meeting. Scott stated that at this time there is no
funding for that program and that all of the decision packages for the next biennium
were submitted. Jim stated it would have
to be a biennium in advance. The issue
of sending elementary aged students to a residential program is also a factor. Michelle said that there might be some
interest in having older elementary aged students attend WSSB (4th
to 5th grades). Lilly stated
that having her son enrolled in the WSSB for middle school gave him exactly
what he needed and taught him how to advocate for what he needs. Keri discussed
the importance of parent outreach regarding education for their blind and
visually impaired children.
Buildings
and Grounds Committee (Lilly Longshore):
·
Lilly
stated she would be interested to know how the campus weathered the recent snow
and ice storms. Jim said that the WSSB
posted pictures on the website and it showed how well WSSB did with clearing
sidewalks, etc. Scott said there was a
significant amount of snow and wanted to give kudos to staff for their
dedication to getting to work and their commitment was great. Rob and his staff did a great job keeping the
campus safe.
Legislative
Committee (Berl Colley):
·
Berl
stated that at this time the only focus for the legislative committee is
obtaining full funding for the Birth-3 program.
Scott reported that the Governor has funded our request as submitted in
his version of the budget for our Birth-3 program.
Ex-Officio’s Reports:
Teachers Association
(Vaughn Brown):
·
Vaughn
reported that the WSSB winter holiday concert, volunteer orientation and open
house will take place on January 19.
This is an opportunity for parents and volunteers to talk to the
teachers, look at the classrooms, etc.
The students are very excited to show what they have learned during the
concert. The concert will be streamed on
the internet through the school’s YouTube account.
Washington Council of
the Blind (Joleen Ferguson):
·
Joleen
reported that the WCB President, Steve Fiksdal, worked with their membership to
establish committee members for their various committees. More information can be located on the WCB’s
website.
·
The
WCB winter board meeting will be held the first weekend in February 2017.
National Federation
of the Blind (Marci Carpenter):
·
Marci
stated that it was a shock for everyone when former Board member Mike Freeman
passed away on Christmas Eve. Marci and
Scott have been discussing ways to honor Mike.
Mike was adamant that he did not want a service or memorial; however,
the NFB’s Clark County Chapter meets the fourth Saturday of each month and plan
to meet after for a get together to honor Mike.
·
Marci
and four other members from the NFB of WA will travel to Washington DC in a
couple of weeks to meet with members of congress and legislators. Former WSSB student and current intermittent,
Matt Hines will also be attending. Two
of the issues that the NFB is currently working on is obtaining accessible
instructional materials in higher ed. and the other is asking for a one-time
appropriation for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Handicap
to fund and allow a pilot program to make a new braille display available for
library patrons. This braille display
costs less than $500 and they are going to ask for a one-time appropriation so
they can distribute 10,000 braille displays across the country.
Parent Representative
(Lilly Longshore):
·
Lilly
discussed some of the struggles that her son has had to endure in local public
schools regarding accessibility. Lilly
stated that she starts each new school year with her son by meeting with his
teachers and Principal to discuss his vision issues. Lilly would like to find a way to work with
general education teachers to educate them about having a blind or visually
impaired student in their class and the unique needs and challenges this can
pose. Lilly stated that some teachers
have been very proactive in working with TVI’s and others do not. Lilly suggested that perhaps WSSB could offer
a program relating to this. Scott
remarked that the WSSB has a program called the Summer Institute for teachers,
paraprofessionals, etc. who have never had a blind or visually impaired student
in their class. Each summer this
workshop has 50+ in attendance. Discussion
was held regarding whom to reach at the school districts for information
regarding this workshop. Michelle
remarked that she has sent many teachers and instructional assistants to WSSB’s
Summer Institute and it has been beneficial.
Michelle stated that some of the disadvantages of the Summer Institute
is that it is held during the summer, is in Vancouver and is cost prohibitive
because teachers have to fund this with their own money. Lilly asked if there is a possibility to
bring that training to the school at the request of the principal. Scott offered to meet separately with Lilly,
Keri and Michelle regarding possible trainings and the challenges that they are
experiencing with their children’s education.
·
Michelle
asked if WSSB was having their website assessed for accessibility. Scott said that
Utah State University did an evaluation and we are now in the stages of making those
corrections. Michelle reported that three of her blind staff members who use
screen readers reported they are unable to manage the student accounts. Scott will talk to our webmaster about this
issue.
Miscellaneous:
Janet reported that at the November Board
meeting, discussion was held regarding inviting Darla Helt, Parent Coalition to
attend the Board meeting and to have a JAWS demonstration. Janet is in the process of arranging both for
the March meeting
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 8:38pm. The next Board
meeting will be held at the WSSB campus on Friday, March 17, 2017 at 11:00am.
Nancy McDaniel, Vice-Chair Scott McCallum, Superintendent
Superintendent Report – January 2017
Happy
New Year! While the overall theme for most people in the agency over the last
two months may be inclement weather and winter break, the superintendent’s
office has been busy as usual. Dorinda
Rife, Vice President of the American Printing House for the Blind, visited WSSB
on November 29, 2016. Dorinda met with
Sean McCormick (Director of On-Campus Programs), Emily Coleman (Director of
Outreach/State Vision Consultant-WSDS), and I to discuss programs offered
through WSSB and take a tour of our beautiful campus. The next day’s evening
was highlighted by dinner with Hall Cottage with the students. The following
evening, on December 1, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the
Vancouver Lion’s Club about the school and my professional journey that led me
here. The following week began with another presentation about the school, this
time to the Results Washington, which focuses on the Governor’s initiative for
a “World-Class Education”. While this is a group that I participate in
regularly, I typically do not have the opportunity to present. The presentation seemed to be well received
by members of the group. Later that same week, on December 8, I travelled to
Seattle to meet with LouOma Durand and Michael MacKillop of Department of
Services for the Blind (DSB). We
discussed current collaborations such as our Learning Independence for Today
and Tomorrow (LIFTT) program and our new Transition Support Specialist, Marcy
Ebarb. The visit to DSB also provided me with an opportunity to tour the main
DSB facility in Seattle. Future meetings will be set with DSB to further
discuss program improvement and future collaboration opportunities. Later that same day I traveled to the
Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) in Seattle, for the welcome
reception for the new State Librarian, Cindy Aden.
As
mentioned previously, the last two months have not been without interruption.
As planned, we had our winter break.
Additional days off for some students have been dealt by the hand of
Mother Nature. Our local districts, which provide transportation to our local
students, have delayed or cancelled school several times now due to the extreme
weather in this area. On one occasion, we decided to send our residential
students home one day early, effectively cancelling school entirely for both
resident and day students around noon on Thursday, January 12. Because of the consistent disruption to the
education of students attending WSSB, we will discuss and consider the addition
of school day(s) at the end of the year and/or altering our school
calendar.
Finally,
the 2017 Legislative session has begun. I will be presenting to the House
Education Committee on Thursday, January 19, 2017. The presentation will
provide a brief overview of the agency as well as address the question of how
WSSB relates to and interacts with the K-12 education system.