[nfbwatlk] FW: [Wcb-l] Fw: [acb-l] Fw: [save-ksb] CJ: State cancels enrichment program for blind youth

[Alco Canfield]

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Jarvis <carjar82 at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:02 AM
To: wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
Subject: [Wcb-l] Fw: [acb-l] Fw: [save-ksb] CJ: State cancels enrichment	program for blind youth


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carla Ruschival" <adamcarla at bellsouth.net>
To: <acb-l at acb.org>; <leadership at acb.org>; <board at acb.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 7:13 AM
Subject: [acb-l] Fw: [save-ksb] CJ: State cancels enrichment program for 
blind youth


We also had TV coverage; about 75 people were there altogether throughout 
the evening.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: yountaqua at aol.com
To: save-ksb at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 7:22 AM
Subject: [save-ksb] CJ: State cancels enrichment program for blind youth






      April 21, 2009


      State cancels enrichment program for blind youth

      By Deborah Yetter
      dyetter at courier-journal.com
      For the past three years, Annmarie Aqua, 11, has attended a summer 
enrichment program at the Kentucky School for the Blind, and every year, her 
mother said, the girl's confidence and skills have grown.
      "It's just been awesome," Kathryn Aqua said. "For my daughter, I just 
see a big jump in maturity every year she goes."
      But citing a funding shortfall, the state Education Department has 
canceled this year's four-week summer program that serves about 100 students 
in kindergarten through 12th grade at the school on Frankfort Avenue. 
Parents were informed about two weeks ago.
      Yesterday, Aqua and other parents, graduates and supporters of the 
school met to try to find out more about the state's decision to cancel the 
program and the possibility of finding the more than $200,000 needed to pay 
for it.
      "To me, this is important enough that we need to fight for all of the 
students," Aqua said. "This is really an essential program."
      State officials who attended the meeting at the American Printing 
House for the Blind weren't able to promise anything.
      "We in no way made this decision lightly," Barbara Kibler, an official 
with the state Education Department, told about 50 people at last night's 
meeting. "We simply do not have the money."
      But state Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, and the only lawmaker to 
attend the meeting, said he will urge the administration of Gov. Steve 
Beshear to try to find money to fund the summer program.
      "I'm confident we can get past this," he said.
      The program, which has operated for about 20 years, is free except for 
a small activities fee.
      Earlier yesterday, Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Education 
Department, said in an interview that the School for the Blind and the 
Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville each are running a deficit of about 
$600,000, and state officials have been forced to cut costs.
      The Danville school has canceled a similar summer program.
      "It's literally a function of the budget," Gross said. "The bottom 
line -- and it's unfortunate -- is it that it is one of those things that 
have to go by the wayside."
      But supporters of the summer program say it provides an important 
service to blind and visually impaired children from around the state, many 
of whom don't attend the school year round.
      Summer program students live on campus in residence halls and receive 
extra help with tutoring, studying and reading Braille, and with skills to 
help them become more independent, such as cooking and household chores.
      Students also have recreation time, field trips and a chance to 
socialize with other blind students, an opportunity many don't get in their 
home communities, supporters said.
      The program also includes a summer job project for older teens, who 
operate a sandwich shop at the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom amusement park. 
That also will be canceled, to the disappointment of Carla Ruschival, 
president of the Greater Louisville Council of the Blind, whose 17-year-old 
granddaughter participated last year.
      The sandwich shop is equipped with a special "talking cash register" 
that guides a student through a transaction.
      "For her to be able to run that cash register and make change and deal 
with the public was a tremendous step forward," said Ruschival, herself a 
graduate of the school and a member of the board of its alumni association.
      The summer program also serves another key function: The University of 
Louisville uses it to help train teachers seeking to specialize in teaching 
blind and visually impaired students, said William Penrod, an education 
professor at U of L.
      He said Kentucky already has a shortage of such teachers, and the 
state's abrupt decision leaves U of L without a place for students to get 
much-needed practical experience.
      "They pulled the rug out from under us," he said.
      As word of the program's cancellation spread, parents were calling to 
find out what they could do to try to get funding restored, said Darrell 
Buford, president of the Kentucky School for the Blind alumni association.
      "The parents are really upset," Buford said, "They see it as a 
necessity."
      Aqua said her daughter can't understand why she can't go to the 
program this year, one of the few summer activities available for her.
      "She's been extremely upset," Aqua said. "There aren't many options 
for blind children."
      Reporter Deborah Yetter can be reached at (502) 582-4228.

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