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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Related<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hundreds turn out to support Eastern NC School for the Deaf in...<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Steve Sbraccia<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Published: September 28, 2011<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>» Comments<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>|<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Post a Comment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>RALEIGH, N.C. --<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Frustration and anger dominated a hearing over whether to shut down a school for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the blind in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Raleigh<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Wednesday night.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The newly enacted state budget requires<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>North Carolina<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>to close either<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the Governor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Wilson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>or the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>North Carolina School for the Deaf<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in Morganton.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>closed school<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>would then have its students sent to one of the two remaining schools.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At the public hearing, there were a lot of people furious that blind and deaf students<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>are being pitted against each other.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“This is an abominable act,” said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>James Benton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, a 1978 Graduate of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Morehead School<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>. “To be quite frank, the state of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>North Carolina<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>ought to be ashamed at having put us into this position.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The process that pits the interests of blind students against deaf students is repellant<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>and repugnant to me,” said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>John DeLuca<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, who wants Morehead kept open.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Many at the meeting rejected the General Assembly’s contention that the state can<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>consolidate schools for the blind and deaf.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Who would mix the deaf and blind community? There is no justification for that,”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Shane Faircloth<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, who graduated from the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Morehead School<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in 2008.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For those who’ve attended the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>school<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, it’s more than a place to learn.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The teachers there and the staff there are like your mom and dad,’’ said student<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Wanisha Richardson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>. “I have a dad there, I have moms, aunts and uncles - I have a family.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>But the public hearings are just part of the process.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The public hearings are not a vote, they are not a rally,” said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tom Winton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, who is with the Department of Public Instruction’s committee that will have to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>decide which school will be closed. “We don’t sit around and tally how many people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spoke on behalf of this school or that school.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Winton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>also says it’s hard for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>him<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>to be involved in closing a school.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“I’ve been<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>a teacher<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>of the visually impaired; I worked with teachers who are deaf. I have friends, colleagues<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>who are deaf or hard of hearing,” he explained. “It is an emotional thing; it just<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>is.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Even so,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Winton<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>must help draft a report by Jan. 15 that will recommend which school to close.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Raleigh school was established in 1845<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>and is the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>eighth-oldest school<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>for the blind in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>United States<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>. It has been at its present location in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Raleigh<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>, not far from N.C. State, since 1923.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>