WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
November 17, 2017
Vancouver, Washington
Board Members Participating: Dennis Mathews, Michelle
Farrell, Yang-su Cho, Cindy Bennett, Lorna Walsh, Ed Snook, Jim Kemp, and Berl
Colley.
Board Members Absent: Nancy McDaniel and Keri Clark
Ex-Officio Members Participating: Denise Colley (Washington
Council of the Blind), Jennifer Butcher (Teacher Representative), Marci
Carpenter (National Federation of the Blind of Washington), and Krista Bulger
(Parent Representative).
WSSB Staff Members Participating: Mr. Scott McCallum
(Superintendent), Jennifer Langley (Director of Curriculum and Instruction), Sean
McCormick (Director of On-Campus Programs), and Janet Kurz (recording
secretary).
Special Guest: Erma Kemp
November
17, 2017 – 11am-1:30pm
Dennis called the meeting to order at 11:00am.
Business Meeting:
Department
Highlight:
Jennifer
Langley, Director of Curriculum and Instruction (Data)
·
Jennifer
reported on the importance of data.
Jennifer believes that without data to know where our students are, we
won’t know how to help our students succeed.
Jennifer sent home practice tests with students and involved the parents
with this activity. Jennifer shared
information with the Board showing great progress for our students. The WSSB was able to determine which
assessment was appropriate for each student.
In addition, during the state testing week, classes were adjusted and
students were given the tests for a maximum of 2.5 hours per day with a 1:1
proctor in their appropriate medium.
·
During
the 2016-2017 school year, students had to create their own business that
included a business plan, business cards, etc. Presentations by the students were done in a
“shark tank” style.
·
Jennifer
ended her report by sharing a story regarding a WSSB student who strived to
improve his Certificate of Individual Achievement (CIA) upon graduation to a
Certificate of Academic Achievement (CAA).
Through hard work and perseverance, the student improved and was able to
receive the CAA. ; Jennifer remarked
that WSSB is teaching strategies to succeed in passing the state
assessments. Jim said that the WSSB is
lucky to have Jennifer.
Old Business:
Approve board meeting minutes of September 22,
2017. Jim moved to approve the minutes as submitted; Lorna seconded the
motion. The minutes were approved
unanimously.
New
Business:
Superintendent’s Report
Scott reviewed the following:
Scott attended the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Washington Council of the Blind (WCB)
conventions in October and November, respectively.
Scott met with our
new Policy Advisor, John Flanagan. Scott
and John discussed the possibility of not requiring school districts to have to
pay for braille textbooks. Scott also
met with our new Fiscal Analyst, Cynthia Hollimon, and mentioned the same
goal. Scott reported that the cost to
braille a textbook could run $20,000-$30,000 if the book has not been brailled
before. Scott is thankful that both
policy analyst and fiscal analyst are supportive of the proposal for this.
Scott attended an Executive
Cabinet meeting in Olympia. The meeting
focused on sexual harassment and each director was encouraged to be mindful of this
topic within their respective agency.
Scott and Sean
McCormick, Director of On-Campus Programs met with a videographer discuss the
creation of a video that could be used to reach out to parents, Special
Education Directors and Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI’s) to build
awareness regarding what the school can offer.
The cost for the video will be between $12,000-$15,000.
Scott was recently
elected as the chair of the Oregon Commission of the Blind Board of Directors.
Scott is applying to
a doctoral program for education leadership through the Washington State
University-Vancouver campus. Scott plans
to focus his program on research on education for blind and visually impaired
students. Scott reported that this will
be a 3-5 year process and feels it is the right thing to do for the
school.
Committee Reports:
Education Committee:
o
Michelle spoke to Sean and learned that the WSSB
Short Courses that have been offered have been filled to capacity. Michelle and Sean discussed the challenges of
having a student from a school district miss school for a week. Discussion was held regarding the possibility
of taking the Short Course to different regions of the state and/or offer the
Short Course after school at the school district. Scott said he is a big fan of the short
courses and they are gaining traction.
Scott stated that Short Course TVI Jeff Bowler is doing a fantastic
job. Jennifer Butcher reported that
there is time set aside each day for the students to complete their homework.
o
Sean felt that on a case-by-case basis, that the para-educator
could attend the short course with the student and stay in the WSSB
modular. Michelle felt that would be
very valuable. Scott felt this would be
a great option so that the para-educator would receive a very rich experience
and could benefit from working with other students.
Buildings and Grounds Committee:
o
Jim reported that he did a walk-through of the
campus and said things look very good.
Jim felt that the dedication of the Stenehjem Fitness Center held in
September went very well.
Management Committee:
o
Lorna said Ed would be doing the superintendent’s
evaluation since this will be Lorna’s last meeting.
o
Ed said there are no issues that have come up so
he has no report at this time.
Legislative Committee
o
Berl stated that the legislature will be in a
short session this year that begins on January 8. Berl feels that the legislature will be
focused on the McCleary issue. Berl
stated because of that, the schools request is primarily for the schools budget
and WSSB has received a favorable response from the Governor’s office. Scott feels that WSSB has been very well
supported.
Ex-Officio’s Reports:
WFSE Local #1225 (N/A):
Washington Council of
the Blind (Denise Colley):
o
Denise
reported the WCB convention was held in October at the Red Lion in Pasco. Denise
was unable to attend as she and Berl were attending the American Council of the
Blind board meeting. DeEtte Snyder, Birth-3
Statewide Coordinator and Emily Coleman, Director of Outreach/Statewide Vision
Consultant presented about outreach services and programs and Denise heard
nothing but high praise about their presentation. Denise was elected President of the WCB. Denise will officially take over in January
2018. The WCB is working towards having their
next fall convention in Vancouver at the Hilton Hotel.
o
Scott
asked if the two consumer groups would consider having an information table at
the upcoming track meet for information for parents and families. The track meet will be held on May 17, 2018
from 10am-2pm. Jennifer reported there
are usually around 130 students in attendance.
National Federation
of the Blind (Marci Carpenter):
·
The
NFB of Washington held their convention in November at the Hotel RL in Olympia.
Marci reported that Scott attended the
convention and assisted in several areas including door prizes. Marci remarked
that Scott is truly a part of the blind community and feels he is blind at
heart. During the convention, two
scholarships were awarded. Marci stated
that this was the first fall convention without Mike Freeman, who passed away
last December and he was missed. Marci
feels that their convention will likely be held at the Hotel RL in Olympia
again as they received a lot of positive feedback about the hotel.
·
The
NFB of Washington and Oregon are going to cohost the BELL Program (Braille Enrichment
for Literacy and Learning) at the WSSB in August 2018, for children ages 4-12. This will be a day camp for 10-12 students
that will last two weeks. There are a
number of activities including an introduction to braille, using learning/sleep
shades, decorating canes, field trips, etc. Krista remarked that her oldest son
attended the first BELL program in Baltimore, MD. Marci hopes that this program
grows and expands in coming years.
Parent Representative
(Krista Bulger):
·
Krista said that she reaches out to parents via
email in an attempt to connect with them and provide them information regarding
events and activities. Emily Coleman and
Krista both post information on a Facebook sight called “Blindsided in WA”.
·
Krista stated that she has provided information
to parents of students she serves regarding Short Courses and they have asked
if the courses could be completed in a shorter length of time.
·
Krista would like to assist in disseminating
information regarding the BELL program when it is published.
·
Michelle reported that the Seattle School
District is hosting an event on January 25, 2018 at 6pm. The event is geared for families of BVI
students and will focus on independence, fostering self-sufficiency, letting
go, etc. Cindy Bennett will be on a
panel with relatively younger adults who are in varying degrees of blindness
and some parents who have raised VI children.
At the same time, Jack Straw Recording Studio will be running a kids
event in another room. Michelle will forward the information to Krista to
disseminate. Dennis suggested that
Michelle invite the Seattle Superintendent to the event.
Teachers
Representative (Jennifer Butcher):
·
Jennifer
said the teachers are working hard on collecting data and to educate students
to meet their individual needs. There is
an Iron Man competition occurring with students, staff and parents to encourage
them to help them and help them along the way.
The competition includes swimming (2.4 miles), biking (112 miles) and a
marathon. This can be completed over 8
weeks and every time a student completes a mile, they put a sticker on their
sheet. Jennifer also provides awards for
progress and completion. WSSB math
classes are assessing the logs each week and do stats on the progress.
Miscellaneous:
Marci attended an
event (bowling and pizza) with the local NFB and WSSB students. The local chapter is doing social events with
students a couple of times per quarter and the next event will be a talent show
at the WSSB.
Scott reported that
before Dean Stenehjem retired, the school had a 10-year strategic plan that
spanned from 2015-2025. Scott has
learned that best practice in state government is to do a strategic plan every
2-3 years. Because Scott is new and
wants to embrace and have ownership in the strategic plan, the next planning
session will be held this spring. Scott would
like to have a wide range of representation of stakeholders. Scott stated we are looking at a date around
the March, 2018 Board meeting. Scott
would like a statewide perspective, not just on-campus programs. Dennis would like to be involved in the
process and would like to ask two more board members to be included. If there is an interest in participating, let
Janet know.
Yang-su asked what
the enrollment was in the Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT)
program; Scott said there are three enrollees this year. Scott stated all LIFTT students are placed in
the program through the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) and they have
to be high school graduates. Yang-su
felt information can be shared with DSB counselors to assist with this.
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 1:30pm. The next Board
meeting will be held on January 17 at 7:30pm via conference call.
Dennis Mathews, Chair Scott McCallum, Superintendent
Outreach
We
continue to enjoy working with our Outreach students every day. It has been a
great year so far! Here are some of the
best parts:
·
Our
Outreach providers are serving students in 53 school districts.
·
We
have three (3) braillists, 10 Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI), one (1)
Orientation and Mobility specialist (O&M), and five (5) dual certified
(TVI/ O&M) staff.
·
Pam
Parker continues in her role as half-time mentor. She has been observing TVI
candidates throughout the state and assisting our Outreach staff with
complicated evaluations. She will be attending a mentor training at the Texas
School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in December, which will continue to
strengthen her mentoring skills.
·
On
September 20, I attended the SPED Director meeting at ESD 105 discussing the
needs of our students and caseload management tools.
·
September
21 was the first Unified English Braille (UEB) committee meeting of the year.
We continue to evaluate our statewide test and the implementation of UEB in WA.
·
On
October 10, Sean McCormick, Director of On-Campus Programs, and I visited the
Ohio School for the Blind in Columbus.
We met with administration, toured the campus, and researched their
programs and services.
·
October
11–14 was the Annual Meeting at the American Printing House for the Blind
(APH). This included the Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB)
leadership institute, which encouraged networking and mentoring among leaders
in our field.
·
I
continue to be the Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS) liaison
within my role as State Vision Consultant.
This included WSDS meetings on October 18 and November 1.
·
On
October 19, we had our quarterly Outreach department meeting in Tacoma. Topics included leadership, APH updates, tech
updates from Bruce McClanahan, evaluation templates from Pam Parker, and
introduction of new products we have acquired to provide functional vision
assessments.
·
October
20 provided an opportunity to meet again with the Outreach from the Center for
Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL). We had
a half-day presentation from Greg Abell at Sound Options about partnering with
teams and conflict resolution. Participant evaluations proved this was valuable
and well received.
·
I
continue to visit Outreach teachers for their fall observations and am met with
exciting lessons and engaged students. I will be continuing this through the
first week of December.
·
On
October 27, I attended the Washington Council of the Blind (WCB) convention in
Pasco. DeEtte Snyder, State Coordinator,
Birth to 3, Blind/Visual Impairment (BVI), and I were together on a panel
discussing the education of students in our state through our Outreach
programs.
·
October
30 was this year’s first regional “Round-Up Meeting” for vision professionals
in Yakima. We had about twenty-two participants and much meaningful discussion.
·
I
attended the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) convention on November 4,
which was beneficial to connect with NFB members and learn about their advocacy
efforts.
·
Finally,
I have been working closely with Mike Sivill, WSSB Braille Proofreader, and the
Ogden Resource Center (ORC) to coordinate our statewide online braille
course. We have about 50 people signed
up and look forward to their successful certification this spring.
On Campus
Enrollment
Total
on-campus enrollment September – November: 62
Comprehensive
programs: 44
Short
Course: 9 (2 short courses year to date)
Distance
Learning: 6
Part-time
Vancouver School District: 3
WSSB’s
on-campus programs will be focusing on gathering input, creating awareness, and
ensuring the enrollment process is accessible to students that may qualify and
benefit.
Celebrations
Two
WSSB staff members were honored at the annual COSB awards banquet. This awards banquet includes awards given by
the Principals of Schools for the Blind (POSB).
Jennifer Butcher received recognition for Outstanding TVI, and Catherine
Orr was recognized in the category of Outstanding Residential Staff. This is one of the few national awards for
the work of incredible professionals at schools for the blind.
WSSB’s
girls goalball team competed at the USABA High school National Championships in
Austin, Texas. The WSSB Lionesses placed 5th place overall and
received the Sportsmanship Award.
Supporting the
Whole WSSB Student
Academics
and independence are the core elements that make up the educational program at
WSSB. There is a range of activities
that contribute to student growth in these areas such as the word of the day, classroom
instruction, specially designed skill training, enrichment classes, and
increase in the focus of independent living skills in the cottage. These areas are critical to the current and
future success of students. Instruction
is only viable for students when they are ready to learn and in a place that
they can truly trust.
WSSB
has been focusing on improving the support for students and ensuring that staff
have the tools and a consistent philosophy to providing trauma informed care in
our practice in the classroom and the cottages.
The residential staff and para-educators at WSSB continue to receive
training through the Culture of Care framework.
Students have also been exposed to this framework through bi-weekly
activities and discussions derived from the Culture of Care curriculum. Separately, residential life staff will be
participating in Mental Health First Aid; an 8-hour training that focuses on
how to help youth in crisis and non-crisis situations.
WSSB
welcomes the opportunity to work with Sandi McQueen from Real Life Counseling
to provide additional therapeutic supports for students that need it. Sandi is a certified as a social worker,
child health mental health specialist, and several other areas, including
horticulture therapy. Sandi currently
meets with students 2 days per week at WSSB.
Technology
Students
are accessing their coursework and materials more and more through digital
means. Most middle school students use
an iPad for access and most high school students are using a Windows based
laptop. There are many variations to
student technology setup, but we are utilizing a 1 to 1 model to increase the
mobility and access for students to anywhere learning. The school recently acquired a number of 40
cell braille displays to increase the availability of braille to students while
they are accessing materials digitally.
With technology changing so quickly, continue to learn the skills with
devices that area readily available and use the most current adaptive software
and tools to build their skills for digital access and communication to enhance
their learning now and in their future.
Community
Partnerships
Students
recently participated in a fire safety training from the Vancouver Fire
Department at WSSB’s campus. Deputy Fire
Marshall Mike Lackey taught students about the fundamentals on fire safety and
then a practical session. The hands on
experience included climbing out of the cottage windows, and then students
participated in using fire extinguishers to put out a real fire staged in the
Watson Cottage parking lot.
Like
this new partnership with Vancouver Fire Department, WSSB partnered in
activities this fall with support from:
Northwest
Association for Blind Athletes
National
Federation of the Blind
Vancouver
Lion’s Club
Northwest
Children’s Theater
And
many other community volunteers
Transition
Services
Health Center
We have had a good
start to the new 2017-18 school year. We continue to have students with
complicated medical conditions, requiring health center nurses to provide
additional staff training.
Nurses recently
performed hearing exams on new WSSB students.
Nurses will begin the
Self Directed Medication Program soon; we have several new students we hope to
have participate this year.
We currently have
four on call nurses in addition to two (2) full time nurses. Because all the
on-calls have full time jobs elsewhere and are not always available when
needed, another on-call nurse will likely need to be hired in the next few
months.
An updated medication
administration policy has been approved. The Health Center staff have a goal to
review and update all other policies and procedures by the end of the school
year. All other medical policies are currently being reviewed and re-written if
needed.
Health center nurses
will both maintain registration as nurses in both Oregon and Washington to meet
the needs of students.
The Health Center is
hosting a nursing student from Washington State University (WSU)-Vancouver this
term. The student will be given a specific project to complete that will
benefit the health center.
Nurses Robin, Justine
and fitness TVI Jennifer Butcher have switched from American Heart Association
to American Health and Safety Institute (ASHI) 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.
Nurses are actively
preparing emergency care plan information for students with special health care
needs in a more accessible format for our BVI staff.
The current medical
directors are Dr. Katherine Vaughn and Dr. Laurie Metzger from the Vancouver
Clinic.
Youth Service
Specialist (YSS)
The WSSB YSS, Marcie Ebarb, continues to coordinate
the Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) funded contract with Partners
in Careers (PIC) to provide weekly soft skills training, supported
internships/job shadows and integrated community career focused events for WSSB
students. Four (4) juniors and five (5)
seniors will participate in the program during the 2017/18 academic year. YSS will meet regularly with other WSSB and
PIC staff to coordinate activities. She
continues to participate in the Center for Change in Transition Services
(CCTS) Transition Learning Community (TLC) leadership team. Increasing community work based learning
opportunities and preparing students for 21st century work will be
the focus of this year’s TLC.
The WSSB YSS regularly attends networking meetings
with WorkForce South West Washington’s Emerging Workforce Committee and
WorkSource’s Business Partner Outreach Group in order to gain
information about local employment services/programs and highlight the
importance of making these services accessible. She meets at least quarterly
with DSB youth services and DSB south region staff, at least monthly with DSB
YSS staff for planning and reporting.
She updates DSB’s business management database with pre-ETS activity
documentation as required. She made a
presentation to the State Rehabilitation Council about the 2017 YES 1 program
on September 15.
The WSSB YSS accompanied a student to a volunteer
appreciation lunch at the Salvation Army on September 7. While there, Salvation Army staff proposed
additional volunteer opportunities for WSSB students teaching musical
instruments in their afterschool program.
She is working 1:1 with students referred by the WSSB transition
coordinator, to assist in job search and volunteer job placement goals. She began working 1:1 with students in the
WSSB GOALS class 2 days per week on October 11, to establish Career Cruising
program accounts and facilitate work readiness activities.
The
WSSB YSS attended the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
(APRIL) conference with a WSSB student, four (4) other DSB participants and the
DSB YSS staff from October 19-23 in Spokane, WA. The youth were able to
participate in an all-day youth conference and multiple youth focused breakout
sessions with youth who have a variety of disabilities from around the country. The focus of the conference was self-advocacy
and independent living. Interaction with
staff from Centers for Independent Living and State Independent Living Councils
from around the country was informative for both the YSS and the youth who
attended. The WSSB student who attended
had the opportunity to meet with his DSB counselor in person for the first time
during this trip.
WSSB
YSS attended the first of six Washington Initiative for Supported Employment
(WISE) trainings on October 24.
Presentations were made by Vancouver SD middle school, high school and
GATE program teachers about their transition programs and job placement
activities. These teachers, and the Partnership for Action Voices for
Empowerment (PAVE) southwest office representative who she met at the event,
will be potential community resources.
Future training topics include adult systems, building independence,
Social Security, guardianship and employment.
Learning Independence
for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT)/Transition services
There
are three students in LIFTT currently. One received his BS from WSU-V in May
and has a paid internship doing accessibility testing. Two are attending Clark
College. One of those is seeking part time employment and working with Goodwill
Job Connections program, and one is seeking volunteer work. We continue to seek
new/additional students for the program.
Students
have settled in and are through the assessment phase, and goals are in place
for each. Besides their vocational pursuits, they are focused in general on
mastering independence in basic household care, meal planning, shopping and
cooking skills, as well as community access skills.
Steve
Lowry, WSSB TVI, and I recently returned from a trip to Boston to visit the
transition programs at Perkins School for the Blind. This trip was funded
through a grant from the Pacific Foundation for Blind Children (PFBC). We
gathered a lot of great information about how they approach providing
transition services to their students, and we look forward to using this
information to strengthen our transition services. We engaged in great
conversation with Perkins staff about the root causes of continued low
employment rates for BVI adults in spite of our efforts in providing transition
services to our students, and plan to further explore the issue as a national
community.
Business
Office
1.
2016-17
Operating & Capital Budget
September books did
not close in time for this report.
2.
2017
Supplemental Budget Requests
Operating: Following is the summary text on each of the
submittals:
Digital Braille Literacy Access - $78,079
Funding is requested to enable the WSSB to
provide electronic braille display technology.
Electronic braille technology will provide 100% of braille readers with
computer access to classroom materials and assessments supporting greater
independence and digital literacy skills comparable to their sighted
peers. Curriculum and assessments have
begun shifting to digital formats, and without access to assistive technology
for braille readers, a distinct opportunity gap will negatively affect the
education of BVI learners.
Reasonable Accommodation - $48,900
Funding is requested to enable WSSB to
provide reasonable accommodation to allow employees with disabilities to do
their jobs as mandated by ADA and in support of the Governor’s Executive Order
13-02 Improving Employment Opportunities and Outcomes for People with
Disabilities in State Employment.
Currently, 20% of WSSB employees require some form of reasonable
accommodation. This request is based off historical data. In FY17, WSSB spent $36,087 to provide
reasonable accommodation to allow employees with disabilities to do their
jobs.
Transportation - $104,737
Per chapter 28A.160 RCW and the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (currently enacted as the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the WSSB transports students with
disabilities as mandated by both state and federal law. Most states have a method to address
transportation funding based on changes in student population. In Washington, this system exists within the
local public schools, and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
(OSPI) covers the costs. WSSB is not included in OSPI’s transportation
system.
The funding the state provides is not
sufficient to keep up with costs. WSSB’s costs in 2015-17 biennium were
$575,825. When 2017-19 proposed budgets
were due, transportation contracts for school year 2017-18 were not in
place. The contract increased by
18%. WSSB cannot continue to absorb
unfunded transportation costs without affecting the quality of services
necessary for students to succeed.
Technical Correction-WFSE General Government
- $82,000
A technical glitch occurred in the system
when the final version was created. G09
WFSE General Government compensation for the first year was inadvertently
dropped off the schedule. Therefore, a
correction of $82,000 to WFSE General Government funding is being
requested.
Capital
As you are aware, the legislature did not
pass a 2017-19 capital budget. In the
last legislative session they only approved re-appropriation requests. Ours was approved for $123,553. We re-submitted our entire original capital
request as a supplemental as follows:
Roof Replacement and Rejuvenation $250,000
Security (cameras, card locks, fencing, etc.) $ 50,000
Safety (Fire protection, health & safety) $100,000
Minor Campus Buildings Remodeling (interior) $140,000
Campus Preservation (sidewalks, paving, bldg.
ext.) $ 30,000
$570,000
3.
Performance
Measures. We reported on the following
measures for quarter ending September 2017:
#1585 Percent of WSSB high school students
enrolled in online classes: 5%
#1586 Braille Distributed on time: 85%
#1590 Pages of Braille Transcription: 57,884
#1591 Training opportunities accessed by
individuals: 10,826
#1592 Number of teachers/paraprofessionals
taking Braille exams: 37
#1593 Number of students on campus: 75
#1594 Off-Campus Services: 811
Human
Resources
New
Hires:
·
Angie
Sheron – On-call Teacher’s Aide (TA)
·
Rachel
Blanco – On-call Residential Life Counselor (RLC)
·
Emily
Owens – Substitute Teacher
Open
Recruitments:
·
TVI
– Math
·
School
Psychologist
·
On-call
RLC
·
On-call
Teacher’s Assistant
·
On-call
Custodian
·
On-call
Cook
·
Substitute
Teacher
Trainings/Functions
Attended:
·
HR
Managers Meeting – Facilitated by Franklin Plaistowe and Marcos Rodriguez
·
Labor
Relations Roundtable – Facilitated by Office of Financial Management (OFM)
·
Safe
Schools Task Force
·
State
Whistleblower
Ogden Resource Center (ORC)
Jennifer
Fenton attended the APH Annual Meeting in Kentucky and learned a lot about
what’s happening nationwide and changes to Quota Registration.
Here
are some things that learned at APH:
·
There
are now 42 Prison Braille Programs around the nation.
·
The
focus on electronic tactiles is growing nation-wide.
·
Accessible
media for low-vision students is moving away from traditional large print
towards digital.
·
Over
1,500 families are receiving free braille books for preschoolers through the
Braille Tales program.
·
Braille
Blaster is now available! It is a free braille transcription program available
for download at http://brailleblaster.org/.
·
APH
and many other vendors now offer UEB Math.
·
APH
has a FREE Tactile Graphics Library that has images for the Tiger embosser as
well as 3-D images for APH product replacement parts.
·
APH
released 44 new products last year!
The
biggest news at APH for the ORC is that Parent Permission is now required for
students to be counted in the annual census. The ORC is working on procedures
for gathering and tracking parent permission.
Buildings
and Grounds
Campus:
·
The
legislature in Olympia is trying to put something together for capital projects
to proceed. The timing on this is important as we will need time to draft and
bid projects so that work can begin as soon as school is out. Priority for the
projects will be replacing the cottage roofs and rerouting the sewer line
behind Watson and Clarke Cottages.
·
The
company we are working with to make the tree identification signs for the
Freeman project sent its first mockup of what they will look like. We are
waiting for their actual print outs for the Braille before we proceed further.
·
We
currently have a cracked circulation line from one of the pool circulating
pumps and a failed salt cell chlorine generator. Both items require outside
help and we are waiting for parts and scheduling to correct these problems. We
are able to maintain operations with these issues due to some redundancies in
the system.
Capital:
·
We
are moving forward with relocating the middle array of lights in the gym. The
center banks of eight will split in half with the outside banks remaining at
the top of the basketball key and the center ones moved closer to the basket.
These lights will be replaced with LED fixtures.
·
Our
Department of Enterprise Services (DES) project contact person was reassigned
due to no capital budget and the resultant reduction by 50% of that department.
We still were able to get the sealcoating of the southeast parking lots signed
off and will now just need to coordinate between the contractor, the weather
and campus activities.
·
We
were able to finish replacing the lawn behind Hall and Chapman cottages. This
area was dug up when the sewer lines to the North West were replaced. WSSB
staff rototilled, raked and rolled the 1700 square foot areas and then had it
hydro seeded. The grass is still filling in but it will look very nice by
spring.
Birth-3
Updates
since September 2017:
·
Referrals
for new infants/toddlers continue to come in!
We have procured a contract with South Sound Parent to Parent Program
who serves a tri county area of Grays Harbor, Thurston, and Mason
counties. Previously school districts
were providing Early Intervention (EI) services, but are not since July except
for North Thurston and Olympia School Districts. Since we now have an EI Visual
Impairment Specialist (EIVIS) in the eastern side of the state, her caseload is
growing with new contracts in Spokane county.
She also provides the vision services to ESD 123 who serves Benton,
Franklin, Columbia and Walla Walla counties in addition to Whitman and Garfield
counties. We will be presenting at the
Spokane county ICC meeting this month on vision services so we hope to increase
our services to all five early intervention agencies, as currently we serve two
(2).
·
Currently
the B-3 Program has 18 contracts serving 15 counties for a total of 48
kids.
·
The
redesign of the Department of Early Learning (DEL) and Early Supports for
Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) has been a positive process for us as it has
allowed us to centralize and coordinate our services. We have begun to discuss additional and
expanded partnerships with ESIT in order to create equitable services to children
with visual impairments across the state and are excited for the future!
·
DeEtte
continues to work statewide to provide support for the state's Part C agency
Early Support for Infants & Toddlers (ESIT) through the Department of Early
Learning (DEL), especially with the new move to the Department of Children,
Youth, and Families (DCYF). She was
appointed to a subcommittee of the State Interagency Coordinating Council
(SICC) called Personnel & Training Committee. She also participated in a
small workgroup to create the state’s personnel competencies for all EI
providers, including TVI’s or EIVIS.
·
The
Parent Infant Playgroup (PIP) has seen an increase in participation with about
seven (7) families attending the playgroup every other Friday at the Irwin
Library. Also, a group of parents went
on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and fun was had by all.
Superintendent
I
am trying something new with my board reports this year. I will provide, in bulleted format, a list of
the more significant activities of the Superintendent’s office. For each month, I will describe a highlight
or two in more detail. If at any point you would like more information or have
questions, please do not hesitate to call, email, or schedule a time to meet in
person. I want to make sure that you
have the information that you need to advise and guide what we do to meet the
needs of students who are BVI throughout Washington State.
September
25: Meeting with the Center for
Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss (CDHL)/WSSB and Kate Davis/Cynthia Hollimon,
OFM Budget Analysts regarding budget needs
September
28: Featured speaker at annual NWABA
fundraising breakfast
We
have a new budget analyst from the Office of Financial Management (OFM). Her name is Cynthia Hollimon. Kate Davis, our previous OFM budget analyst,
will continue to provide guidance and mentorship to Cynthia. Cynthia is new to the state of Washington,
but was in a similar role in the Montana Governor’s Office. Rick Hauan (Executive Director, CDHL) and I
had the opportunity to sit down with Kate and Cynthia to provide an overview of
our agencies, discuss our anticipated supplemental requests, and review future
needs and/or ongoing concerns for each agency. We are excited to work with
Cynthia.
October
2: Final Piano Hospital Board meeting
October
4: Attended Camp Magruder
October
6: Oregon Commission for the Blind (OCB)
meeting (Voted as board chair)
October
23: Access
for All conference call (Computer Science grant with University of
Washington, UNLV, other partners)
October
24: UMCC meeting with WFSE
October
24: Executive Cabinet/Small Agency
Cabinet meeting
October
26: UMCC meeting with WPEA
October
26-28: WCB convention in Pasco
October
30: Meeting with Johnathan Flanagan, new
Policy Advisor
October
30: Tour with Guide Dogs for the Blind
interns
October
31: AWSP (Principal evaluation) training
in Yakima
October
was a very busy month that included a long awaited personal vacation. Just before I left for vacation, I had the
opportunity to visit Camp Magruder to spend time with WSSB students and faculty
on the Oregon Coast. We were fortunate
to have beautiful weather that did not discourage those who were interested in the
polar plunge. I witnessed several
students and staff taking a late-fall plunge into the lake near Camp
Magruder. I had the opportunity to enjoy
lunch with the kids and participate in teaching several students to rowboat and
eventually challenge each other in rowboat races. Any opportunity that I get to spend time with
our wonderful students is highlight worthy.
I spent the next two weeks on a long-planned vacation. After returning from my vacation, I
immediately hit the road for meetings, trainings, and consumer group
conventions. Near the end of October, I
enjoyed spending time with members of the WCB at their Annual Convention in
Pasco. Emily Coleman and DeEtte Snyder
both presented to the WCB membership about student services, programs, and
opportunities facilitated by WSSB. I had
the opportunity to present an overall update on the agency. I presented on a panel with my peers from the
DSB and the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library. Together, we are known as “The Big
Three”. I always appreciate an
opportunity to get to know our stakeholders.
The stakeholder conventions allow me the opportunity to hear from
Washingtonians who are blind, listen to their challenges and success stories,
and get to know many people once associated with WSSB.
November
1: WSDS meeting in Renton
November
2: Tour with Executive Assistants’ Group
members (Accessibility Workshop)
November
3: Clark County Superintendents
Meeting/ESD 112 Regional Superintendents meeting
November
3-5: National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
convention in Olympia
November
6: Results Washington Meeting (World
Class Education)
November
7: WSSB Video Project meeting with Sean
McCormick and WATech
Each
year I have the wonderful opportunity to spend time with both the WCB and the
NFB of Washington. The first Friday in November marked the start of the NFB of
Washington’s Annual Convention in Olympia.
I spent the weekend with NFB and had the opportunity to speak about
educational options for students who are BVI in Washington. During my address
to both the WCB and the NFB, I had an opportunity to request the assistance of
their members in providing feedback about the accessibility and usability of
our WSSB website. I remain hopeful that
WCB and NFB members will take the time to provide feedback so that we can
continue our quest for a state agency website that serves as a model of
accessibility for other state agencies.
Thank you to both WCB and NFB for inviting me to participate in their
annual conventions. I thoroughly enjoyed
the opportunity and look forward to ongoing collaboration and partnership.
Meetings
with department managers and administration team
PFBC
meetings
Executive
Cabinet meetings
Goal
Council meetings
Clark
County Superintendent meetings
NWABA
Board meetings
UEB
committee meetings
Oregon
Commission for the Blind Board meetings
As
you may be aware, I serve on several boards and commissions. Currently I am the vice president of the
board of directors for the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA). I have been serving in this capacity for
quite some time now and have been a member of the board since 2010. I am also on my second term, appointed by
Oregon Governor Kate Brown, as a commissioner for the Oregon Commission for the
Blind (OCB). At our October OCB board
meeting, I was elected by the board to serve as the board chair. I am honored to serve in this capacity for
the OCB. OCB is very similar to
Washington State’s DSB. My role on the
board provides me valuable insight into the workings of a state agency to
provide services, supports, and opportunities to adults who are BVI.