More than one student would take advantage of bus to Anchorage

I wanted to share some of thoughts on this matter with you as I have shared the following letter with our senators and the governor;

Here are some of the highlights:

• Katelyn is not the only child who will want to ride the bus, there is two others who are willing to join as well.

• The Valley does not have an adequate program. Mediocre at best. It may sound good on paper, but when you tour it, It leaves you wanting.

• Why is it OK to bus the two or three elementary students, but not the two or three secondary students? Isn’t that discrimination?

• You don’t ask other middle and high school students to move away from home so they can get the education they deserve. Why should I have to waive my rights to my child just because he is deaf and I want him to actually have an education?

My son is a sophomore at Anchorage State School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH) and he is hearing impaired. We live in the Meadow Lakes area. When we moved up here from Homer, the very first time I met with the school to enroll him (Houston Middle), I was told they will not transport him to Anchorage and they would not give him an interpreter unless he went to Colony High in Palmer — 30-40 minutes away — and the person representing the school board recommended for him to live in the Student Living Center in Anchorage — 45-50 miles away — and go to the deaf school.

At that time I was dead set against the idea of my son living away from home. Thank goodness the resource room teacher has a sign background. He was able to sign and teach my son and he did very well.

However, when my son switched the next year to Houston High School this was not an option anymore. My son chose to try it without an interpreter and we discovered it was not working for him.

So this year we toured both the Alaska State Deaf and Hard of Hearing School and the program at Colony. We came up with the following:

• The deaf school has full-time teachers to sign and speak to the children to ensure they are understanding what they are learning.

• The students get to meet other deaf students and get to see new personalities.

• They have more one-on-one care.

• They understand that in order to know if the child is learning, they might need to sign things back to them.

On the other Hand;

• Colony has a part-time deaf ed teacher who has an office not a class room.

• The teacher is there if they need her, but does not ever instruct them as we were told by the teacher when we were on tour.

• The teacher is not real fluent in sign. While we toured, she had to ask the interpreter a three or four times how to sign something.

• The interpreters are shared between the two boys: one is a senior and I think is moving to the Correspondence Course, and the other is a freshman.

Based on what I saw and experienced and what my son experienced, we chose to have him switch to the deaf school,

He started last January. Since Jan. 5 we have been carpooling with the Reeses. The first thing the school district wanted to make sure I knew was that they would not transport him and again they suggested the Student Living Center.

We also toured the center. It appears to be a nice and comfortable place. But it is not our home and I feel I should not have to give up my child because the school district might be inconvenienced by driving him to school. Why should he not be able to at least see his family in the evenings and weekends?

If it is so much money for one child, how about asking the parents of the other deaf students if they would use the bus if offered to them? That would minimized the cost when it is split between more than one child. I personally know there is one other high school child who will switch if transportation is available.

One of the questions that keeps coming up is why Anchorage School District should pay for this transportation? Well they are already paying for the elementary bus.

Why discriminate against the secondary students? We really are not talking one child, there are 19 deaf students out here and I am sure more than just Katelyn and my son would be willing to go to ASSDHH if the bus is there. I mean there is only a couple of the younger students riding the bus, why should it be an issue for only a couple of the older students?

This is not just a one-child situation. It is one that effects all of the deaf students in the Valley. I can understand it if we were asking them to pick up the children at home, or even if we lived in Willow. I live less than one hour from my son’s school. I think there should be some way to get him there.

What happened to the No Child Left Behind law? Or does that not apply to the deaf or disabled?

Patty Rodgers is the mother of a deaf son and advocate for those who can’t.