[nfbwatlk] Advocates concerned as Oregon School for the Blind nears end, OregonLive.com, August 25 2009

[Nightingale, Noel]

Link:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/advocates_concerned_as_oregon.html

Text:
Advocates concerned as Oregon School for the Blind nears end
by The Associated Press
Tuesday August 25, 2009, 12:03 PM

SALEM -- The Oregon School for the Blind will close its doors in less than a week.

The decision to shut the school means 28 students are trying to adjust to life elsewhere.

Advocates for the students are worried the services they receive at other schools won't compare to what School for the Blind offered.

The process for disbursing a $3 million trust to help provide those services hasn't been established yet. And some district staffers say the transition has been rushed.

Salem-Keizer's special-education department, however, is ready for the six blind students headed there.

The district already has physical and occupational therapists and Braille specialists on staff, and the students will be added to their caseloads.