Public Hearing Monday on Braille, Deaf Schools Study

By Diane Heldt, Reporter

Damage to the Iowa Braille School after an early morning storm blew through the area Monday, July 11, 2011, in Vinton, Iowa. (SourceMedia Group News/Jim Slosiarek)

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By Liz Blood

Story Created: Oct 19, 2012 at 2:54 PM CDT

Story Updated: Oct 19, 2012 at 2:54 PM CDT

JOHNSTON, Iowa - A public hearing to gather input about the future of services in Iowa for students who are blind or visually impaired or deaf or hearing impaired will be held Monday at several sites around the state, including Vinton.

A Feasibility and Planning Study Committee has been meeting monthly since June to look at the services and programs that serve Iowa's blind and deaf students. The state Board of Regents oversees the state's two special schools, the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, which no longer has a long-term residential program.

The committee will meet Monday in Johnston, followed by the public hearing beginning at 5 p.m. Public hearing participants can gather at seven Iowa Communications Network locations around the state, including at the Iowa Braille School in Vinton and at Keystone Area Education Agency in Dubuque.

The study committee, which includes parents, educators and state agency officials, hopes to make recommendations to the regents in the next several months. Options under consideration include consolidating services at one site, such as Vinton or Council Bluffs; keeping services as they are; or establishing four or five regional sites around the state to serve those populations.

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