[Nfbkabs] FW: NFBK - CJ Article: State cancels enrichment program for blind youth

Wed Apr 22 02:42:57 UTC 2009

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Subject: NFBK - CJ Article: State cancels enrichment program for blind youth

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State
<http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904210344>
cancels enrichment program for blind youth.

April 21, 2009.

By Deborah Yetter.
dyetter at courier- <mailto:dyetter at courier-journal.com> 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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