WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
March 17, 2017
Vancouver, Washington
Board Members Participating: Jim Kemp, Dennis Mathews, Berl
Colley, Michelle Farrell, Keri Clark, Yang-su Cho, Cindy Bennett, Lorna Walsh
and Nancy McDaniel.
Board Members Absent: Ed Snook
Ex-Officio Members Participating: Corey Grandstaff (Washington
Federation of State Employees Local #1225), Joleen Ferguson (Washington Council
of the Blind), Vaughn Brown (Teacher Representative), Marci Carpenter (National
Federation of the Blind of Washington), and Lilly Longshore (Parent
Representative).
WSSB Staff Members Participating: Mr. Scott McCallum
(Superintendent) and Janet Kurz (recording secretary).
March 17,
2017 – 11:00am – 12:45pm
Dennis called the meeting to order at 11:00am. Dennis welcomed everyone to the board meeting
and asked everyone to introduce themselves.
Business Meeting:
Department Highlights/Guests:
Darla Helt, Clark County Parent Coalition: Darla was unable to attend. Darla will be asked
to attend the September Board of Trustees meeting.
Corey Grandstaff, JAWS Demonstration:
Corey explained that JAWS is a screen reading
software used by children and adults who are blind and visually impaired (BVI). Currently, a number of WSSB students use “voice
over” which is the Microsoft version. Keri
asked how JAWS handles ads on websites. Corey said it could appear in the
middle of the page, however, the latest version of JAWS has started doing
descriptions. Lilly asked what JAWS does
with graphs. Corey said it depends on
how it was set up. Scott remarked that
regarding smarter balance assessments, certain items had to be coded such as
mathematics (- or minus sign). Scott
asked what percentage of websites were accessible. Corey feels 75-85% are accessible. Cindy said that often times
people will combine a screen reader with braille and that some schools will
just produce the graphics for charts, etc.
Screen reading software programs are used with
keyboards only. Vaughn asked if androids
were accessible. Corey said he has used
his for 7 years and they are; in addition, Chromebooks have come a long
way. Scott stated Non Visual Desktop
Access (NVDA) is a free screen reader service.
Scott said so much is dependent on who sets up the website so that it is
accessible and usable. Lorna asked if technology is offered across the board or
if it is individualized to the student’s need. Corey explained that this year, WSSB provided
iPads to middle school students and laptops to high school students with JAWS
or screen enlargement software. Cindy
said a simple thing you could do is to try to navigate websites with a keyboard
only, i.e. “no mouse challenge”.
Old Business:
Approve board meeting minutes of January 18, 2017. Jim moved to approve the minutes as
submitted; Lorna seconded the motion.
The minutes were approved unanimously.
New Business:
Review/Approve
2017-2018 School Year Calendar: Jim
asked if WSSB got a waiver for the snow days.
Scott stated Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL) and
WSSB are both within the required amount of instructional hours for
students. Nancy moved to approve the
calendar as presented. Lorna seconded
the motion. The calendar was approved unanimously.
Superintendent’s Report
Scott reviewed the following:
Scott presented to
the House Education Committee in January and received a few questions from the
legislators. Scott only had 3 minutes to
present about the school.
Scott used the same
presentation to Special Education Directors at the ESD 101 and ESD 123. Scott traveled with Rick Hauan from the CDHL,
creating awareness about the schools and educating new special education
directors. It is Scott’s goal to visit all ESD’s across the state next school
year. Jim encouraged Scott to let the
Board member know so that they can attend in their respective area.
Scott said the
highlight of the past few months was his trip to Washington DC to attend the
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Leadership Conference. During that same time, two WSSB students and
WSSB TVI, Jessica Bolt attended the Close-Up program. Scott and the students were able to visit
with Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell, Congresswoman Jamie Herrera
Beutler and staff from Representative Cathy McMorris Rodger’s office. The legislators were very
focused on the students and our students were awesome.
Scott went to Seattle
for a Parent Resource night hosted by Michelle Farrell. This was a very informative meeting and well
attended.
Scott reported that
the WSSB wanted to do something special for former Ex-Officio member, Mike
Freeman who had been on the Board since 1992.
Mike was also a former student.
Scott proposed that the WSSB sponsor the “Freeman Project”. The WSSB has many beautiful and unique trees
in the bioswale area. The plan is to add
kiosks that have braille and print on them that are available to students and
the community. WSSB is currently working
on the project, getting together the costs and descriptions.
Scott discussed the
renaming of the Kennedy Fitness Center to the Stenehjem Fitness Center to honor
Dr. Dean Stenehjem who was superintendent at the WSSB for almost 30 years. Progress is being made
in this endeavor. Along with this
project, the WSSB would also like to add signage on the Irwin building. Scott will work with the Board to determine a
time for the dedication of the Stenehjem Fitness Center. Concurrently, the Vancouver Lions Club is
looking into a project for the WSSB. The
Lions Club would like to donate a life-sized lion statue for the campus (this
is still in discussion amongst the lions club members). If this comes to fruition, Scott would like
to unveil the statue and the renaming of the building to honor Dr. Stenehjem at
the same time. Scott will keep the board updated with the progress. Cindy asked if we had an idea when this would
occur. Scott felt it would be around the
first board meeting of next year (September).
Cindy asked how we
are disseminating information to teachers, etc. regarding the WSSB. Scott said he brings packets of information
to special education directors to disseminate.
Scott feels in most cases TVI’s are aware of the WSSB. Michelle said from a teacher perspective, that
informational packets are brought to the IEP’s and
placement meetings. Marci suggested that
for those teachers in outlying areas, Emily can send
information on the EVE listserv. Scott
reported that Emily hosts WSSB Outreach meetings across the state and in
addition, she hosts “forums” for educators (TVI round-ups). Joleen stated she often times speaks to
classrooms about BVI and felt this would also be a good time to bring up and
educate people about the WSSB.
Michelle asked about
the online TVI program that was discussed at the prior
board meeting. Scott said the program is coming to fruition. A survey will be going out to the special
education directors to see where the needs are regarding unfilled TVI positions.
Stephen F. Austin University (SFAU) will offer the TVI prep program. Scott
reported that representatives from the SFAU program will be at the Association
for the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI)
conference in Bellingham in March and will have information. One of the qualifications of the program is
that participants would have to have a teachers
certificate in the state of Washington. Michelle
asked if there will be a practicum, Scott said yes and
classes start this summer. Emily is
taking the lead on disseminating the information. At this time, there is a one-year commitment
for the program that will hopefully be extended to
five years with ten participants in the program each year. This is an endorsement not a degree. Nancy asked if there is some assurance that
they will stay in the state. Scott said
that WSSB is hoping ESD’s will enforce that.
Ex-Officio’s Reports:
WFSE Local #1225
(Corey Grandstaff):
·
Corey
stated there was no report this time.
Washington Council of
the Blind (Joleen Ferguson):
·
Joleen
reported the WCB National Convention is coming up (June 30-July 7).
·
The
WCB’s state convention will be held October 26-28 in
Pasco. Joleen stated that $17,500 in
scholarships will be granted to nine
participants. More information regarding
the scholarships can be located at www.wcbinfo.org. The WCB also held a Student Summit during the
convention last year and plans are in the works to hold one at this year’s
convention.
·
The
WCB has many active committees for blind children, families of blind children,
aging and blindness, advocacy, independent living, etc.
·
Vaughn
asked if Joleen knew when the scholarship information would be on the WCB
website so that we could notify our 2017 graduates. Joleen suggested that Vaughn check out the
website for committee information and contacts.
·
Dennis
asked if the WCB would be interested in forming a partnership or perhaps
offering scholarships for the SFAU teacher training
program. Joleen said she could bring
that to the WCB. Berl said there is a
grant mechanism and the finance committee has not received request for grants
this year. Berl said there is a
mechanism that may be used to explore this.
National Federation
of the Blind (Marci Carpenter):
·
Marci
thanked Scott for his idea regarding the Freeman Project and felt it aligned with
his love of braille and science.
·
Marci
reported that the NFB’s fall convention will be held
November 3-5, 2017 at Hotel RL in Olympia.
Marci said that Corey was instrumental in getting the hotel and details
worked out. Since the convention dates
and hotel are set, state scholarship information will be out by the end of this
month and students will have until September to apply for state scholarships.
·
The
national scholarship program awards grants from $3,000-$12,000 (deadline is
March 31). The NFB national convention
will be in Florida from July 10-15. Marci
said that Emily Coleman has been great about forwarding information about
scholarships to the EVE listserv.
·
The
NFB of WA has a Washington seminar where members come from all around the
country to travel to DC for a week. Marci felt that this year’s seminar was
great and a WSSB alumni, Matt Hines attended and that
he was a natural and did an excellent job.
·
Yang-su
asked about the NFB’s STEM workshops at their National Convention. Marci said that this would
be offered at the beginning of the National Convention and encouraged
Yang-su to contact their national office for details or visit www.nfb.org. Yang-su asked what age group would be targeted. Marci
said she would get the information and send it to Scott, Emily and the
Department of Services for the Blind (DSB).
Parent Representative
(Lilly Longshore):
·
Lilly
reported that she, Scott and Keri met to discuss starting a Parent Support
Group. Discussion was
held regarding ways to get parents from out of town to participate
(Skype, etc.). Lilly stated that her
last meeting on the Board of Trustees would be June as her son graduates this
year, however she would like to participate and assist with getting the group
going as she feels this would be a great benefit for those who have raised a
BVI child through the education system. Corey asked if this is coordinating
with the group of parents that meet at WSSB once per month. Corey said there are approximately 5-6
parents (mostly local) that meet. Scott
will connect Lilly and Keri to this group.
Teachers
Representative (Vaughn Brown):
·
Vaughn
reported that the teachers have been very busy this semester.
·
Vaughn
commented that the Exercise for Heart event was successful and that almost every teacher brought their students to the fitness
center to participate.
·
The
Career Fair was held on March 13 and 14. WSSB’s high school students attended a career
fair that was open to all high schools held at the Portland Expo Center.
·
Vaughn
stated that two high school students spent a week in DC and had the ability to
sit in on hearings and meetings with legislators.
·
WSSB’s
track meet is quickly approaching as well as the spring music concert.
·
Lorna
asked if all 15 seniors are slated to graduate this
year. Scott said there are a few that
have chosen to “walk” but will be coming back for an additional year.
·
Vaughn
said the teachers are interested in hearing updates regarding the elementary
program that is up for discussion. Scott
said that hasn’t happened or been discussed and would
have to be brought forth to the Governor’s office. Scott said these things have to be planned years in advance.
Committee Reports:
Education
Committee (Michelle Farrell):
·
Michelle
stated that it did not work out this time to have the Board come in early to do
a walk-through of the classes, etc. Sean
and Michelle will look into this for the next meeting.
Buildings
and Grounds Committee (Lilly Longshore):
·
Lilly
stated that the Buildings and Grounds committee did their annual walk-through
before the regular board meeting. Lilly,
Nancy, Dennis, Scott and Rob attended the walk-through. The main item to note is the sewer line that
needs repaired which will cost approximately $75,000. Scott explained that the sewer line is very
old and a hole was discovered in the line. The Governor’s office has approved the
expenditure to repair it. Lilly said she
is amazed at what WSSB’s budget is in this area as she is used to seeing
budgets way bigger than what we have. Yang-su
reported that several doors were not working this morning. Janet reported that there was an issue with
the controllers and Rob was in the process of resetting them. Jim stated that the Kennedy building has
several leaks and questioned whether the whole roof might need replaced. Lorna
asked if WSSB would qualify for state of emergency funds due to weather. Scott said he just received
the proclamation from the Governor’s office and will review the information. Nancy said they hold a reserve for situations
just like that. Nancy complimented Rob
and his crew for doing such an outstanding job.
Legislative
Committee (Berl Colley):
·
Berl
said there is no report for the legislative committee. Scott said to his knowledge there is no
legislation that pertains to us. Scott
participates in discussions with the governor’s office on a regular basis
regarding legislation that may affect WSSB.
Miscellaneous:
Scott said that this is Jim’s last official meeting as he will be out
of town for the June meeting. Scott
presented Jim a plaque of appreciation for his 11 years of service to the Board
of Trustees. Scott has asked Jim to continue on the Board until a replacement has been found. Jim
said it has been wonderful and he appreciated this opportunity.
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 12:45pm. The next Board
meeting will be held via conference call on May 4,
2017 at 7:30pm.
Dennis Mathews, Chair Scott McCallum, Superintendent
Board Reports – March 2017
Outreach
It’s been quite a winter statewide, which has
presented unique challenges when serving our students who are blind/visually
impaired (BVI) within Outreach. However, we have remained very busy meeting
many needs statewide. Here are some
highlights:
·
On
November 17, I presented at the Puget Sound ESD SPED Director meeting and
shared unique challenges faced in our field statewide. I also described Outreach services and the
models we use to try and assure equity for our
students throughout many districts.
·
December
2 was the Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) Round-up meeting in Spokane,
WA sponsored by the Washington Sensory Disability Services (WSDS). Over 20
providers in the Spokane area attended.
·
November
and December brought continued visits with Outreach teachers to complete round one
of observations for the 2016-2017 school year.
·
January
4 was the WSDS monthly meeting used to plan a combined event being
held the end of the month. WSSB remains an important part of this
multi-agency team.
·
I
attended the January 19 ESD 101 SPED Director meeting to remain a visible
resource in the Spokane region.
·
January
26 was a combined Outreach meeting with the Center for Childhood Deafness and
Hearing Loss (CDHL), WSSB, and the Deaf-Blind project. We shared information about our programs and
spent time learning about each other’s work.
We look forward to future collaborations to support our students.
·
January
27 served as our quarterly Outreach meeting and also
the Tumwater VI Round-Up. We had about
35 educators in attendance and the highlight was learning more about SPED
Services from an Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)
representative.
·
February
16 was another ESD 101 SPED Director meeting, and this time Scott McCallum
attended with Rick Hauan, Director from CDHL. Both of them presented on our
agencies.
·
Summer
Institute planning picked up speed on February 17 as we met to discuss this
summer’s program. We are making many
changes, which will include an increase in hands-on activities to help
attendees meaningfully apply their learning.
·
Bruce continues to provide tech support
statewide and is collaborating with the Special Ed Tech Center to create
ongoing professional development for practitioners in our field.
·
We
have added contracts continually over the school year, and recently added a
part-time, temporary Outreach position.
Krista Bulger will be additional support for our team.
·
March
2-4 was the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Leadership Conference in
Arlington, VA. What an incredible
opportunity to network with leaders in our field and learn from their
innovative programs and achievements.
Outreach
services are always in demand, and we continue to receive referrals
weekly. Two new ones came in this week
and we’ve been completing additional evaluations in
districts without services as much as we can.
We want BVI students in WA to have appropriate services wherever they
live, and I’m proud to say our entire team is committed
to that goal.
On Campus
Enrollment
51
Students On-Campus (35 Residential; 16 Day Students); Grade Levels: 12th=15, 11th=7, 10th=5,
9th=8, 8th=5, 7th=7, 6th=4; Distance
Learning Students: 7; Short Course
Participants Year to Date (between 5 course offerings): 17; Total Students Served On Campus (YTD):
75.
Residential Update
WSSB’s
residential program is a component that sets our school apart from others. Within the residential program, there are
countless opportunities to provide learning-rich experiences to help enhance
student skills towards independence.
Recently, the older student cottages have stepped up their independent
skills by expanding their daily living skills (DLS) cooking program to include
their own budgeting and shopping. In
addition to the weekly cooking experience in the cottages, students are
planning their meals, budgeting, shopping, and cooking. This is a step towards greater independence
and ownership of WSSB’s independent living skills cooking program in the
residential halls.
On
top of supporting student growth and independence, staff are working on
improving their braille skills. Residential
Life Counselors (RLCs) are currently engaging in training to support increased
knowledge and use in the area of braille in order to better support
students. In addition to braille, RLCs
participated in a daylong training with WSSB’s School Psychologist on
non-violent crisis intervention strategies using the Crisis Prevention and
Intervention (CPI) framework. The CPI
model focuses on care, welfare, safety, and security.
School Culture Update
We
are in the 2nd semester of the school year. There have been many incredible events at
WSSB this winter and there are still many more still to come this school
year. Both students and staff
participated in a variety of community/culture building activities this winter:
·
Exercise
for Heart at WSSB: This is a full day event focused on the improvement of heart
health through exercise, education, fundraising for the American Heart
Association (AHA), and celebration of staff and student accomplishments
throughout the day.
·
Washington
Regional Braille Challenge: The Braille
Challenge is an event conducted by the Braille Institute and is the only
national competition for braille. This event is multi-leveled and incorporates
a range of braille reading and writing activities for students to compete
against their peers. Competitors that
perform well in the regional contest may qualify for the finals in Los
Angeles. At WSSB, all students
celebrated braille and literacy during the event with a variety of contests,
activities, and games that promoted the braille code.
·
Downhill
skiing at Mt. Hood each Thursday evening in February.
·
Weekly
recognition of a PRIDE student of the week recognition. Staff nominate students and a PRIDE “paw” is submitted for a chance at the weekly drawing.
·
Staff
have been participating in a “Caught You Being Awesome” system for staff
nominating staff promoting or modeling PRIDE (Perseverance, Respect, Integrity,
Diversity, and Empowerment).
·
The
Fun Committee conducts a monthly Spotlight on a staff member from various WSSB
departments. Staff Spotlights have
provided a wonderful way to get to know staff better and celebrate their
contributions to the WSSB. Spotlights
have highlighted Doug Trimble (Education), Joseph Hing (Business), and Julie
Raetzman (Residential).
Academics and
Experiences in Education
This
year, WSSB began administering Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) testing
to obtain more data around student growth and academic performance. Few assessment tools are available and
accessible, provide data-rich feedback on the areas in need of growth, and
track student growth over time. The
Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is the creator of MAP and is a
non-profit located in Portland that has been working with a number of other
schools for the blind to improve this assessment. The data gathered from the December
administration was one starting point for collaboration and discussion around
providing interventions for students.
Two
students attended the Close Up experience in Washington D.C. February 26 –
March 3. During this experience, the
students attended workshops, tours, and educational programs with their peers
from all over the nation. WSSB teacher
Jessica Bolt was the staff member on this trip and participated in professional
development experiences put on by the Close Up organization while the students
attended their programs. Coincidentally,
Superintendent McCallum was in D.C. at that time and invited the students to
attend a couple of meeting with Washington state legislators.
Professional
development for teachers during the month of February focused on weekly
training in the area of supporting English Learners (EL). WSSB Director of
Curriculum and Instruction provided the training on Friday afternoons. The focus of the EL training included the
rooted elements of language and instruction, proficiency levels according to
our state’s English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA), ELPA standards, and
the alignment of Common Core standards to the ELPA within lesson planning. Addressing the needs of the English Learners
is included as a component of basic education; however, the strategies used to
support students with limited English proficiency are effective principles of
special education instruction.
Transition
Services
Youth Service Specialist, Transition Services
The WSSB Youth Services Specialist, Marcie Ebarb,
facilitated the development of a Department of Services for the Blind (DSB)
funded contract with Partners in Careers to provide weekly soft skills
training, 8 hours per week supported internships and integrated community
workshops and mentor events for 11 WSSB seniors that began February 1, 2017. She continues to participate in the Center
for Change in Transition Services (CCTS) Transition Learning Community
leadership team. The team’s focus is to
increase work based learning opportunities for WSSB students. She is on the WSSB Career Fair planning committee. WSSB middle school students will attend
Junior Achievement’s Biz Town and high school students will attend the Portland
WorkForce Alliance NW Youth Career Expo.
The Youth Services Specialist will be involved in the planning of the
Youth Employment Solutions (YES) 1 and SKILLS Vancouver summer programs.
Marcie attends networking meetings with WorkForce
South West Washington’s (WSW) Youth Providers, WSW’s Emerging Workforce
Committee and WorkSource’s Business Partner Outreach in order to gain information
about local employment services/programs and highlight the importance of making
these services accessible. She also
joined a SW Washington Community Human Resources Group meeting to hear a
presentation about supported employment services provided by Employers
Overload. The Youth Services Specialist
has begun working with the Salvation Army to determine volunteer opportunities
they may have for WSSB students.
Health Center
The
health center continues to be busier than ever this school year. Several students’ medical conditions have
become more complicated, requiring some changes in health center planning,
staffing and procedures. Additional staff training has occurred to enable the
health center meet student needs and requirements. Both nurses will maintain
Oregon nursing licenses in addition to their Washington licensure. The medical
administration policy is in the final stages of being updated and will reflect
the medication administration changes that are now required.
Health
Center nurses and fitness teacher Jennifer Butcher are
certified to teach students and staff CPR and first aid. Approximately
80% of WSSB staff are certified to perform CPR and
first aid.
Nurses
Robin, Justine and fitness teacher Jen will switch from American Heart Association
to American Health and Safety Institute for CPR instruction. ASHI is less
expensive for the school.
The
Health Center Nurses are partnered with Clark Regional
Emergency Services Agency as a “Point of Distribution” or POD in the event of a
health crisis that required medication be delivered to large numbers of people
in a short time period. WSSB Nurses have agreed to distribute emergency
medication to students, student’s families, staff, staff families and local
blind and visually impaired community members.
Learning Independence
for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT)
LIFTT
gained two more students after the winter break, one from Washington and one
from Oregon. Through the trial partnership with the Oregon Commission for the
Blind (OCB), we now have three participants from OCB in our program. Blending
services and support in both programs is providing our students with a good
base for successfully proceeding with their adult lives.
We
are more than halfway through the second term of the program year, and students
continue to gain skills and confidence. In addition to the three students
working and learning in the OCB program, two students attend Clark College (one
full time, one part time). One student has completed a medical certificate
program and has been employed part time since October.
Others are receiving Pre Employment Training services, participating in a Job
Club, working with a Job Developer, and doing volunteer work. All are advancing
in their independent living skills; community access, cooking, cleaning,
socializing, time and financial management.
Business
Office
2015-17 Operating
Budget
We
closed the month of January with a 4% variance.
Most departments are staying within their allotted budget and we are
projecting to end the year on target.
In
Fund 19B to date, revenues are keeping up with expenditures. We ended January with a 2% variance. Balance ending January, 2017 was $1,042,677
2015-17 Capital
Budget
We
have submitted a request to re-appropriate $117,000 of funding from this
biennium to 2017-19. The lack of
qualified swimming pool contractors and the timeline necessary for the repairs
created delays which caused a domino effect in
scheduling other projects.
2017-19 Biennium
The
legislature is in session and we have received two fiscal note requests. HB1717-Biometric Identifiers,
deals with how the biometric data is collected and stored. WSSB is not impacted,
as it does not collect eligible data. 5605 S SB-OSPI Background checks, does not impact WSSB as
our policies and procedures already comply with the proposed changes.
Safety Net
We
are working on the 2016-17 safety net grant application. The due date is March 17 and the plan is to
submit an application for funding for three students. We don’t have a
grand total yet but it should be in the same general area of last year. Last year we submitted an application for
$248,603. Receiving this grant is critical.
These students are receiving services without funding. If funding is not received,
these costs have to be absorbed by fund 19B.
Biennium Close-out
This
is the last year in the biennium and we will be preparing to close out not just
the year but the biennium ending June 30, 2017.
Human
Resources
New Hires:
·
Cook
– William Carroll
·
On-call
RLC – Matthew Hines
·
On-call
RLC – Ashley Woodruff
·
Substitute
Teacher – Kendon Kraska
·
Temporary
Administrative Assistant – Amanda Pizzo
Open Recruitments:
·
Communications
Consultant (Braille Proofreader)
·
Short
Course Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI)
·
On-call
RLC
·
On-call
Teacher’s Assistant
·
Substitute
Teacher
Trainings/Functions
Attended:
·
Human
Resources (HR) Managers Meeting – Facilitated by Franklin Plaistowe and Marcos
Rodriguez
·
Labor
Relations Roundtable – Facilitated by Office of Financial Management (OFM)
·
Safety
Committee Meeting
·
Benefits
Workshop – Facilitated by Health Care Authority (HCA)
·
Office
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Equity and Civil Rights
Workshop presented by Civil Rights Office
·
VEBA
for 2017 will remain turned “on”
·
Interagency
Continuity of Operations (iCOOP) Committee Meeting resented by Department of
Labor and Industries
·
ADA
& FMLA for Schools presented by Tracy Miller of Kar, Tuttle and Campbell.
Ogden Resource Center (ORC)
Braille Production:
Mike Sivill facilitated a Unified
English Braille (UEB) committee meeting on February 24.
Adrienne
Lattin has joined the ORC team. Adrienne has been doing contract proofreading
at the ORC since April of 2016, and just recently joined the team as the newest
full-time proofreader. She loves to read, which drew her to proofreading. When
she is not reading, Adrienne is captain of a dragon boating team that practices
on the Willamette River year-round and races throughout the region during the
spring and summer. She also loves playing music, baking, and meeting new
people. She is excited to start this new position and get more involved at
WSSB.
Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW)
Partnership:
Our prison program is
going strong with 15 full-time transcribers, 1 tactile specialist and 3
apprentices. Management of Correctional Industries (our partner for the
program) is still waiting for a final approval to extend our current
transcribers beyond their expiring 7-year terms, which will impact
the program in a few months if not approved.
We are very fortunate to
have a highly braille-certified group; here is our current count of braille
certifications for our transcribers at WCCW and our in-house WSSB staff:
·
16 National
Library Service (NLS) Literary Certified (UEB)
·
11 National
Braille Association (NBA) Textbook Formatting
·
8 NLS Nemeth
Certified
·
7 NLS Associate
in Music
·
4 NLS Music
Certified
·
4 NLS Literary
Proofreading
Total of 50 national
certifications between all our team members! And we
have more certifications that are being worked on at this time. Our Nemeth and
Music transcribers are a rarity and we pleased to have such a robust program
that can produce many types of braille including music and foreign language.
In addition, we have 24
individuals who have Washington State certification in UEB.
WSSB ORC staff Kandi
Lukowski and Angela Vargas coordinate the work of our inmate transcribers and
work with our proofreaders to assure that our customer receive accurate braille
volumes. This past school year, they coordinated over 100 textbooks between
them!
UEB Exam:
The new UEB Exam (which
has now officially replaced the B.L.U.E.) is ready and people are taking the
exam. The application is available at https://www.wssb.wa.gov/wp/departments/orc/.
Instructional Resource Center (IRC) Update:
Due to high demand using
up a significant percentage of our quota funds, the IRC is limiting American
Printing House for the Blind (APH) orders to curriculum support, assessment and
stock on hand at the ORC. The census, part 1, is complete in thanks to Justin
Raner.
Buildings
and Grounds
Campus:
Exterior
repairs to the boiler house are complete. Brian Kindblade, Plant Mechanic,
removed a portion of the brick support column and replaced the mortar between
the joints. He also reset the brick to eliminate the need for a surface
coating. In the summer, we will seal the inside of the exposed brick to stop
the water penetration from attacking the mortar.
We
have replaced a condensate return tank in the tunnel. Once the steam going to
the cottage heating systems turns back to water, this unit pumps it back to the
boiler house for reheating. This repair was delayed
after it was discovered that the insulation consisted of asbestos elbows. A licensed contractor removed the asbestos
and we then replaced the unit.
The
sewer line problem between the modular cottage and Watson cottage has been
evaluated and it has been determined that the best way to correct it is to line
the inside of the existing pipe. Lining will not remove the low spots but will
increase the line flow because of the smooth inner lining. We are waiting to
hear from the city plumbing inspector if they will accept this repair solution.
Hall
Cottage drainage system developed problems when water started to back up
occasionally from the laundry room floor drain. We
discovered that a secondary line was bypassed when the
new line was installed. This has been corrected and
the system is now fully functional.
We
have chosen the flooring for the cafeteria. Staff and students reviewed the two
color choices and decided that the darker one gave better contrast for the low
vision students. It is
scheduled to be installed over spring break. This project will also
replace the vinyl flooring in three of the third floor bathrooms as well as the
entry way carpeting.
We
have had the gym lighting evaluated and determined that the existing fixtures were installed according to the original design. However,
when the design changed during a value engineering process, the lighting
fixture layout was not adjusted to compensate. We are
now working with Department of Enterprise Services (DES) to have the fixtures
relocated and changed to LED lighting.
Birth-3
The
WSSB Birth to 3 Program continues to grow! Early
identification and early referral continue to be our main goals.
We
have recently added 1 new contract in the Whatcom County and referrals continue
to come in from all over the state.
DeEtte has even received a few referrals directly from pediatric
ophthalmologists and neurologists for their clients.
The
Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) Registry includes 180 children between the
ages of birth to 3, as of February 1, which is an
increase of 30 babies since the last board meeting. DeEtte continues to work
with agencies to complete registry, in addition to the APH registry, and the
requirement to register children who are BVI is a part of all local lead
agencies contract with the Department of Early Learning (DEL)/Early Support for
Infants and Toddlers (ESIT). In February,
DeEtte presented, with Kris Ching from the Washington State Center for
Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL), the registry data to DEL/ESIT local
lead agencies. Training of the purpose
and implementation of the registry is ongoing.
The
DEL/ESIT program is in the process of a statewide system restructure due to the
passage of SB 5879. A proposal has been presented to the state legislature and is currently
waiting for approval for implementation.
However, the WAC establishing DEL/ESIT as lead agency for IDEA Part C
services to establish authority is in effect.
This new WAC does have implications for the Office of the Superintendent
of Public Instruction (OSPI) and school districts as it limits administration
withholding. As mentioned previously,
the more coordinated state system should align nicely with WSSB’s view for our
Birth to 3 program and consolidate contracts. DeEtte continues to work very closely with
DEL/ESIT in improving supports for our infants with BVI, including embedding
the registry within their new data management system as well as participating
in the personnel competency workgroup.
Parent
Infant Playgroup (PIP) Fridays continue two times a month here at WSSB and in
Seattle one time a month (PIP Mondays), in collaboration with the Washington
Talking Book and Braille Library (WTTBL).
Superintendent
January
and February have been highlighted by ongoing
collaborations, establishing relationships, and building awareness of the many
programs and services offered through the WSSB. As was mentioned in my last
report, I did have the opportunity to present to the House Education
Committee. I was asked
to provide an overview of the agency and address how WSSB interacts with the K12
public education system. The brief presentation, they only give us about three
minutes, seemed to satisfy their need for information and did spark a couple
questions from legislators on the committee. I have provided similar
presentations, using the same information, to special education directors at
meetings at ESD 101 in Spokane (2/16) and at ESD 123 in Pasco (2/17). Next year I hope to continue these outreach
efforts at special education director meetings hosted by each of the ESDs in
Washington. I continue to actively participate in the Washington Sensory
Disability Services (WSDS), a State Needs Project through OSPI
which includes representatives from OSPI, CDHL, WSSB and the Washington
Deaf-Blind Project. On January 26, WSSB hosted the first ever
collaborative outreach meeting to connect and learn from outreach
departments from each entity who are part of the WSDS umbrella. This meeting was deemed extremely successful by participants.
While in Spokane for the special education director meeting, I also spent an
entire day with leadership from Spokane Public Schools learning about their
efforts to serve students who are blind or visually impaired as well as
identify potential future collaboration opportunities. The highlight of the
past two months was my trip to DC. My
purpose for the trip was two-fold, attending the American Foundation for the
Blind’s annual Leadership Conference and meeting with our state Senators and
Representatives during the Advocacy Day on the Hill. The DC experience began with a series of
meetings with staff from Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers office, then
coffee with Senator Maria Cantwell, then meeting with Representative Jaime
Hererra-Beutler, a meeting with Senator Patty Murray, and finishing up with a
meeting with Sam Rickets from the Washington state Governor’s office. Having the time to represent WSSB in
Washington DC was wonderful, but the real highlight was meeting our Senators
and Representatives with two of our awesome students, Tanner Deck and Oryann
Fitim. The students were in DC as part
of the Close-up program to learn about our federal government along with a
fabulous teacher from WSSB, Jessica Bolt. I did my best to represent the school
in a positive light, but the students stole the show. I was beaming with pride as we made our way
around the Capitol grounds and each of the students spoke confidently and
eloquently about the positive impact that WSSB has made on their lives
currently and in preparation for the future. We shared this experience with
students and leadership from the Washington School for the Deaf. I am so proud to be associated with such
amazing students, staff, our school and the good work being
done in the great state of Washington.
Finally,
I wanted to provide you with a brief update on a behind-the-scenes effort that
we are working on in honor of our late board member, Michael Freeman. We have come up with a special project on
campus that would incorporate braille, service to the community, and an educational
opportunity for the students of WSSB. As
you are aware, we have a very beautiful campus thanks to the efforts of Rob
Tracey and our wonderful facilities crew. Our campus has several examples of
unique and beautiful trees. We are
working on a special project, The Freeman Project, in which we will place print
and braille signage near specific examples of some of the unique trees on
campus. Rob has identified ten unique
trees that just happen to follow the path along the south side of the track and
the bioswale. We are currently identifying a vendor and cost for appropriate
signage as well as considering exactly what information should be included
about each tree that makes up the Freeman Project.