Rally for Deaf Education in Kentucky
Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: Next Monday, February 12, the Kentucky Deaf community will hold a rally related to Deaf education in Kentucky. I will show an interview with two of the task force committee members on what’s going on.
[Full-screen image of a flyer about the rally. It says,
“Rally for Deaf Education in Kentucky. Monday, February 12th. Capitol Rotunda, Frankfort. 2:00-3:30 pm. The description reads, “Calling all KSD alumni, retired educators and staff, parents of DHH children/students, and all supporters and allies for Deaf Education In Kentucky to join us to rally! There are several bullet points that read, “Importance of ASL in the language development of Deaf and Hard of hearing children, Legislative support for KSD to once again have an on-campus superintendent, More autonomy in the governance of the school, including requirements of Deaf Education background and sign language skills for those leading the school, Speakers, petitions, information.”]
[Begin interview]
Renca: Hello! Thank you for meeting with me tonight. I saw the flyer and the buzz in the Deaf community related to what’s going on in Kentucky and the rally on February 12. You are two of the four members on the task force. I want to interview you both and do you mind quickly introducing yourself and your relationship with Kentucky Deaf School? What is the rally about?
Clyde Mohan: I’m Clyde Mohan. My relationship with KSD goes back 40+ years. I started out as a houseparent, then became a teacher, then a sub. I was on the board. I did various things over time.
Wilton McMillan: I’m Wilton McMillan. My relationship with KSD goes back 28 years. I moved to KSD to try and make a difference for a smaller school. I used to work at MSSD. You’re talking about a night and day difference. We are here to not only represent KSD, but also many other small Deaf schools in the U.S.A.
Renca: Yeah, it’s important to also support small schools that need our support. This is a good example of how we can rally to show support. For this rally, there seems to be three points. Can you explain what they are?
Clyde: The first point is about ASL. Why? It’s about direct instruction. Direct communication from people on campus. Even though the state of Kentucky recognizes ASL as a language, one of the world languages, we’re talking about the campus itself. They are constantly hiring people who don’t know ASL, so an interpreter has to be hired for them. I want to see direct instruction in ASL instead. That’s the bottom line.
Wilton: The second point is to get legislative support for an on-campus superintendent. We haven't had one for the last 22 years. Basically, some schools replaced a former superintendent with a director but it’s the same thing. We don’t even have a director. Yes, we do have a state-level director for two schools, KSD and the other one. It’s a long story and I’ll spare you all that. The point is that we have seen enough evidence of where it’s obvious that we need a superintendent on campus. We are not getting the attention and support that we need. I want people to understand that we are not fighting just for KSD and its students, we are fighting for the entire state of Kentucky because we are a statewide educational resource center on deafness. So only a superintendent like we used to have would have the ability to run that as well, with a director of outreach under him. Things like that. Really, they don’t even know what’s going on.
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Clyde: The third point is on the governing board. I want to see if it’s possible for KSD to have its own board with teeth. Not just an advisory one. I used to be the chair of the advisory board and we could only make recommendations without any real… I want it to make decisions on what’s right and what can be done. I know of two Deaf schools that have a board that operates the school. I want Kentucky to have the same thing. It would benefit to have oversight to fix problems. That’s where a governing board comes in.
Wilton: Really, the key word here is autonomy. Empowering people to run Deaf education by themselves. Because that’s what we specialize in. We’ve been fighting. The task force has been working for five years this month. We finally decided that after all the efforts to follow the protocol, chain of command, and all of that – we are done. We are done. Enough is enough. That’s it.
[End interview]
Renca: Thank you for your time. You can check out the Kentucky Association of the Deaf’s Facebook page for more information on the rally.