SSD votes to retain and increase pay for controversial acting superintendent of LSD
There was controversy at the Louisiana Special School District Board meeting on Tuesday after the Board decided to continue to retain its Acting Superintendent Katherine Granier, who oversees the Louisiana School for the Deaf, and provide her with a stipend of over $2,000 a month in addition to her salary — despite calls from the Louisiana Deaf community and organizations for her termination.
As soon as the SSD Board announced the increased pay, Jay Isch, the Vice Chairperson of the Louisiana Commission of the Deaf, walked up to the SSD Board and said, “Shame on you!” Here is a clip of a livestream that was provided by the Louisiana Association of the Deaf.
[Clip] [Credit: YouTube/Louisiana Association of the Deaf, Inc]
Interpreter: You want to give her more money? That’s what it says.
Whoa, wait. Are you calling me stupid?
Jay Isch: You should be ashamed of yourselves! Especially you and Mary! You should be ashamed of yourselves!
Alex: The president of the LAD also came forward and said the decision was a slap on the face.
[Clip] [Credit: YouTube/Louisiana Association of the Deaf, Inc]
Jimmy Challis Gore: To the community here, are you happy? Show of hands? You can see many are very unhappy. It feels like a slap on the face! Giving her money? Shame on you! Shame on you all. Don’t do that. Shame! Shame!
Alex: A member of the LSD community, Nigel Burkhalter, came onstage and said it was a “spit in the face.”
[Clip] [Credit: YouTube/Louisiana Association of the Deaf, Inc]
Nigel Burkhalter: Now you’ve decided to increase her pay after the fact. Even after grievances were issued, complaints from the community, you’re still giving her an increase? That’s like spitting in the community’s faces.
Alex: Granier is a hearing non-signer who was LSD’s top financial officer and was elevated to the acting superintendent position after the school’s previous deaf superintendent, Dr. Ernest Garrett III, was fired in July by the SSD Board. About three weeks ago, LSD’s deaf director/principal, Dr. Heather Laine, was fired under Ms. Granier’s administration.
There was a protest on the LSD campus last week that coincided with a series of meetings and statements from the LAD and the LCD that criticized the SSD Board and Ms. Granier.
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The SSD said during the meeting on Tuesday that the stipend for Ms. Granier is reasonable because she is doing two jobs at the same time being the school’s financial chief and the acting superintendent. The SSD currently has a job opening for a permanent superintendent and is accepting applications.
A Deaf Board Member of the SSD, Kenny Davis, said the SSD Board has received numerous concerns from the state and nationwide. Here is a clip.
[Clip] [Credit: YouTube/Louisiana Association of the Deaf, Inc]
Kenny Davis: We’ve received many emails from all over the community and all over the U.S. Wow! We also received a request from the LCD with certain items. We have talked about it and it is very serious. We want to continue to engage and keep on collaborating with the community. We are willing to have a meeting between the SSD Board and the LCD to discuss various needs from the community. We are willing to meet and I’m looking forward to it.
Alex: He is one of three deaf people on the SSD Board, which also has a DeafBlind representative and 8 other members who are either hearing or Blind.
The National Association of the Deaf wrote a letter to the SSD on Wednesday saying it has “learned that the SSD convened a meeting (on Tuesday) that failed to address any of the concerns of the Deaf Community. The NAD said it is “…alarmed at the termination of Dr. Heather Laine as principal as well as allegations regarding the treatment of deaf staff.” The NAD also said it received concerns that the new LSD administration is “insisting on spoken language approaches rather than adhering to the specific plan of services set forth in each child’s IEP.” The letter was signed by NAD President Jenny Buechner and CEO Howard Rosenblum.
LAD Livestream: https://youtu.be/VGtM6x4vW5o
Previous coverage: https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/lsd-community-concerned-over-firings-of-deaf-leaders-future-of-school