Washington State School for the Blind

Written Testimony

For the

House Capital Committee

February 2, 2006

House Capital Committee

Written Testimony

February 2, 2006 - 1:30 p.m.

(Hearing Room A – John O’Brien Bldg.)

Dr. Dean O. Stenehjem, Superintendent

Washington State School for the Blind

Representative Dunshee and Capital Committee members:

I appreciate the time to briefly provide you with information about the many quality services that WSSB has successfully implemented over the past 16 years. I also appreciate the opportunity to respond to the WSIPP Comparative Study that was conducted on both the School for the Blind and School for the Deaf. I would like to keep my comments very brief and give most of my time to parents that have attended this hearing in order for them explain to you the differences that have been made in their child’s life because of the services WSSB has been able to offer. Most of what I would have to say is included in the my formal response to the WSIPP study and the additional information provided you in the packet, which includes both on and off campus demographics, examples of efficient operations, success rates of graduates and a few letters from parents.

WSSB has always been a safety net for local districts, a resource for districts, a facility providing intensive short-term placement options and an organization that has provided leadership with new initiatives resulting in improvements in statewide services for the blind and visually impaired students, both on and off campus. Detailed information of this is in the packets provided for each of you.

Cost: The study eluded that it is much more expensive to educate a student at WSSB than in the local district. In the information provided, you will find empirical data that demonstrates that when you compare students served at WSSB and those similar students served in the local school district - you actually see the opposite. There are 1,073 blind and visually impaired children served in Washington between the ages of K-12 in the local districts. The study identified 321 students from OSPI data. This is very misleading data due to the fact that the majority of blind and visually impaired students in our state have more than one disability. Based upon our yearly census with the Instructional Resource Center at WSSB, we not only have the name of each child, but their vision condition, reading mode, etc. Of the 321 students identified, 11% of these students represent the high cost students that are typically those we end up serving through on-campus programs. We identified high cost students as those needing braille and the other services that accompany those students who are blind or have very low vision. Of these 11% we were able to do direct follow up with local districts on 22% to determine what it costs the district to provide services. The range for these children was from $49,000-$79,000 per year, for a 5-6 hour day. This shows that often the same children we are serving on the campus costs less, while receiving instructional, recreational, social, and CORE Competency training from 10-14 hours per day as part of their 24-hour Individualized Education Program. Closing an on campus program would not be an efficiency and would result in the loss of valuable program options for students, parents, and local districts, and would result in a less educated blind and visually impaired student population in the future.

WSSB’s On Campus program personnel also serve as consultants to parents, and school district personnel throughout the state. Many of our staff spend part of their day teaching students in their specific discipline (i.e. math, science, assistive technology, music, CORE competencies, etc.), and part of their day fielding questions from local school district teachers of the blind in regards to how to teach various concepts. We realized years ago, the best consultants are practicing consultants who continue to be in touch with students. Numerous other states have followed WSSB’s lead in using staff in this way.

Capital Investment: WSSB has excellent facilities that are in very good shape with the exception of the Physical Education Facility which has major seismic problems. Over the past years, funds had been appropriated to design a replacement facility. The replacement facility has been completely designed and has met all approvals through the city of Vancouver Building Department and is ready to issue a building permit. We are at the very end of any major capital work that needs to be completed on campus as you will see in the attached information. The campus is very high tech, energy efficient and utilized 12 months out of the year for the education of blind and visually impaired children both on and off campus, the training of teachers of the blind, training of teachers that will have a blind child in their classroom, parent training, para-professional training, and used by approximately 50,000 community members per year. Investing in the capital structure on campus is not investing in an outdated way of meeting the needs of blind children, but investing in a program/facility that has a proven track record in helping to develop successful blind and visually impaired citizens through our state.

Thank you for the time you provided me. Please read through the information in the packet. I believe this will show you that WSSB is constantly in the discovery process of creating and improving quality services to over 1,200 blind and visually impaired students, has developed hundreds of partnerships to help make service improvement possible, and has developed an excellent national reputation as a leader in the field when it comes to providing efficient and effective services to children.

I ask you to invest in expanding the quality services for blind/visually impaired children in our state and continue to help us put systems in place so that cost efficient and effective service delivery options continue for blind and visually impaired children. Helping to create quality program options for children is not just a job to me; it is my purpose and passion.

Thank you.

.

Washington State School for the Blind

2214 E. 13th Street

Vancouver, WA 98661

(360) 696-6321, Fax (360) 737-2120, TTY (360) 696-6321, extension 171

E-mail: admin@wssb.wa.gov Web site: www.wssb.wa.gov

"We will provide world-class educational services to the blind and visually impaired"

Vision: Independence for blind and visually impaired children.

Mission: The mission of the Washington State School for the Blind is to provide specialized quality educational services to visually impaired/blind youth ages birth-21 within the state of Washington.

Purpose: To serve as a statewide demonstration and resource center and provide direct/indirect services to students both on campus and in the children’s local communities.

Statewide LEAs/ESDs:

¨ Approximately 1,230 qualified visually impaired/blind students, birth to twenty-one (2005).

¨ Approximately 85 FTE trained teachers of the blind serving LEAs and ESDs (2005).

¨ Approximately 316 birth through 3 years old VI/blind and deaf/blind children identified (2003).

¨ National incidence of visual impairment/blindness of .1%.

Washington State School for the Blind: (diversified statewide service delivery system)

¨ 540 students served monthly during the 2004-2005 school year.

· 70 on campus residential students.

· 324 students served monthly through off-campus itinerant services and monthly materials (WSSB currently provides direct/consultant services to over 1/6 of all districts in the state). (2004-2005)

¨ 14 students attended a two week YES program (July 2005).

¨ 17 students attended a Sports Camp program (July 2005).

¨ 14 students attended a Summer School program (July 2005).

¨ 100 students from throughout state attend career fair and track meet two days annually in May.

¨ 92 low vision evaluations provided each year (2004-2005).

¨ Statewide Technology Center for the Blind (2004-2005):

· 215+ comprehensive technology evaluations provided per year.

· 175+ online technology services provided each month.

· Average 6-8 training sessions each month for teachers in local public schools on specialized technology.

¨ Braille Access Center. Braille production of over 12 million pages of Braille since fall of 1993 (self-supporting fee for service program). (Partnerships with Dept. of Printing and Corrections)

¨ Statewide Instructional Resource Center. Provides large print, Braille, aids and appliances to approximately 1,400 blind, deaf/blind, and blind multi-disabled children each year.

¨ 480+ vision-related services provided each month to the general public.

¨ 50,000+ people used WSSB’s facilities during the 2004-2005 school year.

¨ Quarterly newsletter mailed to approximately 2,000 individuals.

Over-all on Campus Student Profile:

¨ 36% multi-disabled/visually impaired/blind (more than one disability); 7% are deaf/blind; 57% are visually impaired/blind (2004-2005).

¨ 10% ethnic minority: 3% African/American, 1% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 3% American Indian (2004-2005).

¨ 38% yearly student turnover. (Transition to adult services or back into local school programs.) (2004-2005)

¨ 99% of students stay an average of 3.1 years or less at WSSB. (Range: 1 week to 9 years; data from 2004-2005.)

¨ 76% of graduates (7-year study) employed or in vocational/technical/academic college program. (1998-2005)

¨ 87% employed, post secondary and/or homemakers. (1998-2005)

Statewide/Regional Staff Training:

¨ Partnerships for university level training established with states that have university level vision (no university level vision training programs exist in the state of Washington).

¨ 22 participants attended WSSB’s Summer Institute--Statewide training workshops for regular classroom teachers and teacher aides (2005).

¨ Over 475 students, teachers and para-professionals took part in Distance Learning Classes (2004-2005).

¨ WSSB and DSB provided Parent workshops focusing on Daily Living Skills (2004-2005).

Comparative Review of Washington State

Schools for Students with Sensory Disabilities

Washington State School for the Blind

Response to WSIPP Study

Dr. Dean O. Stenehjem, Superintendent

January 18, 2006

Washington State School for the Blind

2214 E. 13^th Street

Vancouver, WA 98661

Telephone: 360-696-6321

Fax: 360-737-2120

www.wssb.wa.gov

Summary Review:

As the WSIPP researchers discovered, trying to analyze data on low incidence populations with a wide range of needs is very difficult and there doesn’t appear to be any one approach that works the best for any one blind or visually impaired child at any particular time in his/her educational program. This is confirmed in the literature review that was conducted as part of the study. The development of strong partnerships among residential schools and local education agencies to provide for the comprehensive needs seems to work well in many states.

Information contained within the reviewer’s response challenges the belief that residential schools (on-campus programs) are much more expensive than those provided in the local districts. To the contrary, when examining the amount of specialized services provided to comparable high needs students, the residential school could be viewed as a very efficient model in meeting blind and visually impaired children’s comprehensive needs. Through intensive comprehensive short-term education placement, blind and visually impaired children are able to build a base of skills that allows these children to experience a higher level of success in a shorter period of time and therefore transition back to the local district with the skills needed to be successful. It is important to mention that the typical student that attends the residential school is usually not the lower cost low vision students that account for the largest percentage of visually impaired children in the state.

Governance (oversight) of the school varies tremendously throughout our country, from multi-layered bureaucracies to private non-profit school, receiving state funding. Washington has one of the more efficient models in being responsive to the needs of blind and visually impaired children, while at the same time meeting all state rules and regulations for the protection and rights of students and their families.

It is our hope this study can be used to expand quality services for blind and visually impaired children, and therefore provide more options for success. As the data analysis in the response will show you, WSSB has had a great track record in the implementation of initiatives that have made a huge difference in our state. The major leadership for these statewide changes has usually come from the Washington State School for the Blind working in partnership with teachers of the visually impaired and the blind consumer organizations from throughout our state. This is confirmed by the success rates of children that have completed the on-campus program in comparison to national data and the success rates of initiatives and the new services that have been implemented.

As Helen Keller stated, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!” This becomes even more evident when trying to develop quality statewide services for low incidence populations such as blind and visually impaired children.

Legislative Directive for Study:

As per the legislative direction three issues were to be examined:

• “compare governance, finance, and service delivery” at WSSB and WSD.
• “recommend how the schools could configure service delivery to complement and support school district programs.”
• “examine which state agency should have responsibility for governance and oversight of the schools.”

ESSB 6094, Section 709, Laws of 2005

Purpose of response to WSIPP study:

• Clarify information, dispel misinterpretation of information, dispute some of the findings that were based upon misleading statistical analysis
• Clarify the role of WSSB and the statewide needs of blind and visually impaired children.
• Focus attention on the development of quality programs and practices through effective partnerships in meeting the needs of all blind and visually impaired children in our state.

Declining enrollment: (Misleading statement) Over-all the numbers of students that WSSB has served per month has increased by approximately 600 percent since 1990.

On-campus enrollment has basically been constant (level) since 1990. WSSB has often had to put in place waiting list for various programs in order to meet the needs of children. [Exhibit 8 shows an on-campus enrollment that has wavered slightly up and down over the years. This has been due partly to waiting lists established various years based upon the needs of children and the inability of WSSB to hire additional personnel to meet children’s on-campus needs. NOTE: WSSB is not funded on a per- student basis, but one time flat biennial funding and does not have the ability to carry a fund balance forward to meet unmet needs]

· Literature review: Residential schools had larger on-campus enrollment due to the 1940–1960 RLF situation – as much as a 158% increase in the number of blind/visually impaired needing services. Also, increases in residential enrollment in the 1960–1970’s were due to the rubella epidemic and the need for serving large number of deaf-blind children. (Taylor 2005) from page six of the literature review. This caused a bubble effect for on-campus enrollment at many residential schools during these years.

· WSSB Outreach Services: Expansion of outreach services over the years has helped develop effective partnerships with local districts in meeting unmet needs and transitioning students from the district to WSSB for more intensive short-term placement options. Therefore, efficiently meeting students needs in a timely manner and keeping on-campus enrollment between 65-75 students.

Declining residential population (living in the cottage) student enrollment has occurred even when on-campus (counting day students) remains level due to two factors:

· Development of a pre-school program as per requests from local districts to assist with a large population of pre-school age blind and visually impaired children from S.W. Washington – who live at home.

· Numerous parents relocate to Vancouver so their children can attend WSSB and still live at home. During the 2004-05 school year, ten percent (10%) of on-campus enrollment was represented by students whose parents moved to Washington so their child could attend WSSB. The school has an excellent national reputation.

Note: Enrollment in the cottages can change from year to year, based upon student/district/parent needs. An on-campus enrollment increase or decrease of 2-8 students from year to year doesn’t truly represent a declining or increasing on-campus enrollment trend.

· Future anticipated increases in on-campus (cottage) enrollment:

o Currently WSSB has a waiting list for students at the elementary and middle school range. (January, 2006)

o Two years ago, WSSB was requested by LEAs to start a 5^th year program for students that are/or have graduated, but lack the CORE Competency, (blindness skills) to be independent and successful. This program also has had waiting lists.

Student Safety: The study implies that both schools have had major student safety issues over the years and have been involved in up to nine similar studies. In reviewing the WSIPP study the last study that was conducted regarding WSSB was in 1981 by DSHS.

· WSSB has gone through two national accreditation self-studies over the past 10 years, like other schools that are interested in achieving national accreditation.

· WSSB has had a solid school safety record and provides yearly training to all employees and students.

Cost Comparison WSSB: local school districts: The study implies that it cost significantly more to educate a student at WSSB than in the local district. This is based upon (mean costs data) from OSPI on 321 visually impaired children. WSSB has analyzed the 321 children from data by accessing the Instructional Resource Center (IRC) federal quota count database that lists each student’s reading mediums, etc. Of 321 students 11% are braille readers and higher cost students. (Note: A data discrepancy occurs in the report – visually impaired listed as 362 in on location and 321 in another. The 321 is the correct number in accordance with OSPI, we assume that the 42 deaf/blind students were added to the 321 to arrive at 362 students). These are the students that need to be compared against students in attendance at WSSB to gain true comparative data. The cost in local districts based upon a sampling from these 35 students range from $49,120 to $79,000 for a 5-6 hour program. WSSB yearly costs for children on a 24 hour Individualized Program (IEP), which emphasizes all CORE Competency skills training elements, is $46,000 to $50,677 for 10-12 hours of instruction, including all residential and transportation costs associated with operating a residential program that also provides a diversity of statewide services.

Missing visually impaired/blind children in WSIPP study:

The study is missing 752 children that have more than one disability and are counted in OSPI database system as multi-disabled. Of the total 1,073 students in grades K-12, 85 students are braille readers, and an additional 64 students are dual readers moving from print to braille. These are one of the groups typically served by WSSB and are usually the higher cost students for districts. (IRC, quota count for 2005.)

Condition of Facilities: WSSB has been extremely proactive in bringing a one time dated facility up to current standards (state-of-the-art) facilities.

· With the exception of the P.E. (Kennedy) Building replacement project, the remainder of the campus is in excellent conditions. (see the attached map of past projects)

· Future projects also include an independent living skills program to house the 5^th year program.

· Other than these two projects, the campus will average approximately $350,000 per year in maintenance projects focused on life safety, energy conservation, preservation, etc.

· 50,000 people a year use WSSB facilities, which assist the school in covering some of its cost for utilities, etc. Some of the on campus partners are:

o Department of Services for the Blind – regional office

o Detectives Division – Vancouver Police Department

o Southwest Washington Childcare Consortium

o YMCA & large variety of various community organizations

Governance: Seven potential oversight options were mentioned in the study, none would result in real cost savings and could result in a less efficient operation.

· Of the seven options of governance, the current system is probably the most efficient when it comes to limiting the layers of bureaucracy and the ability for a school/agency to be proactive in promoting quality programs for children on a state-wide basis. Placing the school under another large bureaucracy would more than likely pull additional financial resources away from direct services to children to cover additional administrative oversight.

· The ability to advocate for quality services throughout the state could be curtailed through additional bureaucratic layering.

· Establishing the school as a private nonprofit that is state supported would reduce bureaucracy, provide more flexibility in service delivery, but also would reduce state-oversight and control.

Closing the schools: Since this was a comparative study, information on WSD and WSSB should not have been collapsed for data analysis. Decision on one school should not necessarily impact the other. This did not provide solid numbers as to each school’s programs and services and how these would be replaced if the schools were to be closed.

· The five options all assume that there would be savings by closing the schools. We assume that this was based upon the incorrect data that was ascertained in the earlier part of the study on the cost to educate a blind/visually impaired child in the local district. The cost to educate children currently served by WSSB could actually cost more in putting in place comprehensive services in the local district, and paying for out of state placement options, which would run from $50,000 - $150,000 per year. This would also eliminate an important option for children within our state, and the ability for children to fluidly move back and forth in meeting their educational, social and emotional needs.

· The study also has not taken into account that WSSB is a Hub of service delivery for LEAs, parents, etc. throughout the state. Each of the itinerant teachers of the blind and visually impaired depend on the on-campus teachers as consultants in a wide variety of disciplines. (i.e. math, science, music, adaptive physical education, expanded CORE competencies, psychological services, evaluation, assistive technology, speech and language services to blind and deaf/blind, etc.) Each of the individuals that work with children on a daily basis in these areas is not only a trained teacher of the blind, but also trained in that specific discipline. Most of the individuals are the only ones in the state that have these credentials and skills. Their consultative skills remain current because they are working with children on a daily basis as opposed to only being a consultant.

· Capital project savings: WSSB’s facilities are used 12 months out of the year. When children go home for the summer another group of children needing intensive short-term programs enter for summer school. At the completion of summer school, WSSB becomes a training program for teachers from throughout the state that will be having a blind child in their classroom the following fall and a training site (in conjunction with various universities) for individuals working on their credentials to become a teacher of the blind/visually impaired. In addition numerous classes are held throughout the year in the areas of: braille, assistive technology training, etc.

· Over 50,000 people a year use WSSB facilities.

Literature Review - Educational Placement Options: As stated throughout the literature review, it is very difficult to come to any one solid conclusion about what placement options are best for blind/visually impaired children due to the low incidence number and variability of those being served. No concrete statement of which program is the best for children has been inconclusive because each child being served has unique and special differences that need to be addressed specifically at various times in their educational experience if they are to be successful.

· Crandel and Streeter found that students who attended a combination of residential and public schools were more socially adjusted followed by students attending a residential school. BVI students in local schools demonstrated the poorest social adjustment (Crandel & Streeter, 1977–page 23 of literature review)

· NLTS researcher concluded that BVI students who spent more time in regular classrooms were more likely to struggle academically while in high school compared with those receiving special education services. (NLTS, 1996 )

· NLTS found that 30% of BVI youth were employed in the first three years after graduation. WSSB success rate for graduates (employed or in post secondary educational/training programs) is 77.6%. (1998–2000)

· No studies have defined which setting provides a higher level of success, but implies that children’s ability to move into intensive training and back to LEAs as needed might be the best model. (McMahon 94 – page 19 of literature review) Without development of all expanded CORE competencies the likelihood of success could be limited.

· It is highly unlikely that a single educational setting could meet all the needs of all BVI children all the time. (Hebbeler, 1993 – page 20 of literature review)

Quality Services and Initiatives Implemented by WSSB: WSSB has had a very rich history of providing quality services to blind and visually impaired children within the state of Washington. Below is just a small sample of some of the successes that have occurred over the past 15 years:

· Successful Graduates: Tracking of all graduates since 1998 show an 87% success rate compared to national figures of 50-70% unemployment in the blind community. (employed, involved in post-secondary education, & all service provision in place for terminally ill students)

· Parent and District Satisfaction: Since 1993, WSSB has been collecting quality information on programs and the services that are provided. WSSB consistently receives ratings of 4.5 or higher in almost all service areas, based on a 5.0 scale.

· Implementation of a 24-hour IEP System: This provided the staff/school the opportunity to focus on its strength in being able to provide intensive 24-hour services for children and accomplishing a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time.

· Self Medication Program: If blind and visually impaired children are going to be independent, all aspects of independence needs to be addressed. WSSB is one of the few schools in the country that has implemented such a program.

· Outreach Expansion: Providing services throughout the state and having the school be viewed as a Center of Best Practices has assisted local districts in meeting the needs of blind and visually impaired children. WSSB currently contracts with approximately 1/5^th of the school districts in the state for itinerant vision services. This service continues to grow based upon the availability of highly qualified teachers of the blind and visually impaired.

· Summer School Program: WSSB provides summer school programs to children from throughout the state that are not in attendance during the school year.

· Summer Sports Camp: WSSB, in partnership with WCBSA (West Coast Blind Sports Association), provides a sports camp for blind and visually impaired children.

· Youth Employment Solutions I (YES