Deaf school in UK facing cuts; April McArthur is CSDR’s new superintendent
Here are two quick news briefs related to education.
Deaf school in UK facing cuts
The first news brief is about Laycock Primary school, located in the United Kingdom. Laycock Primary school is a mainstream school that has a deaf unit with 64 deaf children and more than half of them are deaf with additional needs. Parents and their deaf children in that unit are protesting over a proposed plan of budget cuts that will severely impact deaf children in that unit.
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With the increase in costs and the number of enrollments failing, Laycock school is making some budget cuts with the primary focus on the deaf unit and their key specialists and staff. The leader of that deaf unit is Sue Brownson and she has been head of that unit for 32 years. She would be among those affected. There was a petition circulating that had over 2,000 people sign and that petition is now closed.
Based on the community’s response, it seems that the deaf unit at Laycock is one of the best provisions for deaf children in the U.K. According to The Guardian, the article shared that a council spokesperson mentioned that the feedback from the community has been received and the council will carefully consider them as they continue to discuss before making a final decision. The consultation with the council has been extended to January 20th. A different article mentioned that there is a working group that has been set up that includes deaf specialists and service users to make sure that high-quality education for deaf children is still provided. We have included the articles in this transcript if you want to know more about what is going on.
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April McArthur is CSDR’s new superintendent
The second Deaf News is about California School for the Deaf Riverside’s new superintendent. For the past 6 years, Dr. Nancy Hlibok Amann has been the superintendent. She has now moved up to the California Department of Education State Special Division Director position. The newly appointed superintendent is a Deaf woman named April McArthur. Prior to moving to CSDR, she was the elementary school principal and ASL-English bilingual director at the Washington School for the Deaf/Washington State Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth. This August, she got the position as the Alternative Curriculum Education principal at CSDR. April will begin her duties as a superintendent on January 2, 2023. We reached out to April for a comment.
“I am humbled and honored to be the next superintendent of California School for the Deaf Riverside. This phenomenal community has already welcomed me with open arms (or should I say paws) and I can’t wait to serve in this new capacity. Go Cubs!” - April McArthur
Thank you, April. On CSDR’s Instagram, they shared that April is the 8th superintendent to serve at CSDR.
Articles:
UK:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmR338foBgD/
https://www.laycock.islington.sch.uk/our-school/the-history-laycock
CSDR: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl9nWoGMaI6/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFmgUCIpsM/
https://www.facebook.com/csdriverside/photos/a.180975458650089/5582830998464481