As the Iowa Board of Regents Study Committee prepares for its Oct. 22 hearing on the future of both the Iowa Braille School and Sight-Saving School in Vinton and the School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs, area residents are working together to ensure that the committee members know how much support that IBSSS has among Vinton area residents. 

The Regents are considering a system of regional centers, and some area residents are concerned that a significant reduction or even closing of all Vinton facilities may be possible.

More than 30 people attended the second of two area meetings Wednesday evening, at the Kirkwood Vinton center. Vinton-Shellsburg Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock was one of those who attended the meeting. We asked her to share her thoughts about the relationship the school district has with IBSSS. 

 

"Our community and school district have a long history of partnering with the Braille School," said Hainstock. "We are dedicated to continuing that partnership; it would be disappointing if the Regents decide to move a program that has developed strong partnerships and has evidence of success to another area." 

 

Hainstock continues:

"As I have read items about the study group and the comments others have made, I have been impressed by the work staff does locally to support students all across the state and their vision and learning needs.  The staff who use the Braille school as their home base are able to work with Area Education Agencies and school districts across the state. 

 

"Even though there are no students residing at the Braille school on a full-time basis, we continue to work with the school to provide a bus when they want to transport students to camps, trainings and other events.  We have offered to support their work in other ways such as providing classroom space (as we have done in the past), discuss ways to coordinate services, and are open to other ideas and suggestions.  Our history includes integrating students with our students and classrooms, providing space for IBSSS staff and students, and sharing their facilities for our swimming athletes and other programs.

 

"We have not looked at the specific economic impact if the Braille school would close completely.  There would be a significant impact to both our girls’ and boys’ swim program; we have soccer teams who practice on their grounds; we use their space for meetings and trainings; and there are other items as well."

Click HERE for a summary on the IBSSS page with a variety of links to documents about this process.

Click HERE for a summary on the School For the Deaf page with a variety of links to documents about this process.