LSD community concerned over firings of deaf leaders; future of school
The Louisiana School for the Deaf was once led by a deaf superintendent, Dr. Ernest Garrett III and a Deaf Director/Principal Dr. Heather Laine, but both leaders were fired in a four-month span. Dr. Garrett was fired in July and Dr. Laine was fired two weeks ago.
It came as a shock to people in the LSD community because LSD improved its “F” grade, which was the school grade for over 10 years, to a “D” grade. LSD was also working to be re-accredited by CEASD.
Now there are many in the LSD community who feel there is an existential threat to the school and its place in the Deaf world.
There was a protest in front of the campus on Wednesday afternoon.
[Clips of protest from LAD Facebook page.] Credit: Facebook/LAD1908
LSD’s current leader is Acting SSD Superintendent Katherine Granier, a hearing person who was the school’s Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Administrative Services. The school is overseen by the Special School District (SSD), which also oversees the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired and 17 other Special School Programs.
The Louisiana Association of the Deaf and its President Jimmy Challis Gore said they have tried to get the SSD Board to answer concerns they raised since the beginning of June, at a time when Dr. Garrett was on a paid administrative leave, but their three letters — sent on June 3rd, July 8th, and August 8th— have been ignored. The LAD said their latest attempt to communicate with the SSD Board and Granier, which was a letter sent by certified mail, was refused and sent back.
The LAD said in an open letter on October 17 that Granier is acting in an oppressive manner and giving the appearance of “attacking in a systematic way to all who use ASL.” Here is a clip of their letter, which is signed by a Certified Deaf Interpreter.
[Clip]Credit: YouTube/Louisiana Association of the Deaf, Inc
“The actions of Ms. Granier, especially towards faculty and staff who are deaf, give the appearance that she is attacking in a systematic way all who use ASL…”
The LAD said they want the SSD Board to terminate Granier and the Chief Academic Officer because “neither administrator possesses academic certifications in Deafness, Blindness, or any area of Special Education.” The LAD said they want to see Dr. Laine be reinstated as Director of LSD.
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On Wednesday, the Louisiana Commission of the Deaf (LCD), which is a commission under the Louisiana Department of Health, held a Special Session at the state capitol in Baton Rouge to open their platform to hear concerns from the community due to concerns that the SSD Board meetings were filtering or limiting public comments. The session was presided over by its Vice Chairperson, Jay Isch, who is Deaf. It was live-streamed.
Isch said in his remarks that he received concerns that there was a “hostile” work environment at the time since Dr. Garrett was fired. He revealed that “…Dr. Laine was terminated after filing two grievances directed to the special school district board administration…”
[Clip]Credit: Louisiana House of Representatives
“Dr. Laine was terminated after filing two grievances directed to the special school district board administration…”]
Here are some clips of public comments.
[Clips] Credit: Louisiana House of Representatives
Commenter #1: The school is almost 170 years old.
Commenter #2: We need someone who is an expert in Deaf education.
Commenter #3: I’m very concerned about two deaf leaders being gone.
Commenter #4: Is SSD planning to keep the school open?
At the end of the LCD Special Session, a vote was passed to send a letter from the LCD Board to the SSD Board to outline the concerns that were raised at that meeting. The letter outlines 11 areas of concern and makes a request for the LCD Board to have a joint meeting with the SSD Board of Directors. The letter was signed by Isch with its final sentence, “There is nothing about us, without us.” This letter was endorsed by several Deaf organizations and the Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council.
The SSD is going to have a board meeting this Tuesday, November 1. It is expected that there will be many concerned people from the LSD community present.
In separate but related news, two Louisiana state legislators said they are calling for a performance audit of the SSD as it relates to their oversight of the LSD.
I was able to meet with some people familiar with the situation at the school who shared some insights and prefers to remain anonymous. They said a lot of the controversy is political in nature and that generally, Louisiana is not ranked high in education, and that is because of political infighting. They said there is a clear pattern of intimidation and oppression against deaf leaders and staff that goes back to the firing of Dr. Garrett. They said they think this situation warrants the intervention of national Deaf organizations to step in and support deaf staff and students’ rights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT30iNZ7iKc
https://www.facebook.com/LAD1908/videos/794615534977456/
https://www.ssdofla.org/about/administration
https://house.louisiana.gov/h_video/VideoArchivePlayer?v=house/2022/oct/1026_LACFTD