GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
H	1
HOUSE BILL 1137
     

 
Short Title:	Deaf Schools Changes.	()	
Sponsors:	Representatives Arnold; and Fitch.	
Referred to:	Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.	
April 12, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make changes to the operation and structure of the schools for the deaf, to require further study into the organization of the schools for the deaf, and to appropriate funds for these purposes.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Health and Human Services shall close the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro prior to the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year.  The Department shall immediately begin to formulate transition plans for the students who are currently enrolled at the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro.  In formulating transition plans, the Department shall first consider whether the student should be integrated into the local school administrative unit where he or she is eligible to attend or whether the most appropriate placement for the child is in a residential setting.  No new students shall be enrolled in the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro.  Funds allocated to the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro for operations after the 2000-2001 school year shall be reallocated to the remaining schools for the deaf and shall be used only for instructional purposes.
SECTION 2.  The Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee shall study the organization of the schools for the deaf.  The Committee shall hire an outside consultant to assist in this study.  The consultant shall consult with the directors of the schools for the deaf and other interested parties in completing this study.  The directors of the schools for the deaf may submit their own plans either to the consultant or directly to the Committee.  The Committee shall make a final report prior to the beginning of the 2002 Regular Session of the 2001 General Assembly.  Funds for this study shall be provided by the Department of Health and Human Services.  Specific issues to be addressed by the Committee include:
(1)	The overall mission of the schools for the deaf, including whether each of the individual schools should have a specialized focus within the overall mission.
(2)	An overall reorganization plan for the remaining schools for the deaf.  Specifically, this study shall address issues related to the governance and administration of the schools for the deaf, such as the following:
a.	Whether the schools for the deaf should remain under the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services.
b.	Whether authority for the schools for the deaf should be transferred to the Department of Public Instruction.
c.	Whether the individual schools for the deaf should be treated in a manner similar to local school administrative units or charter schools.
(3)	A reevaluation of the staffing needs of the remaining schools for the deaf based upon the closing of the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro, the overall and specific missions of the remaining schools, and any reorganization plans.  This reevaluation shall include a plan to reclassify positions at the remaining schools and to hire new personnel based upon the results of any reclassification.
(4)	The best use of savings realized through the closing of the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro.  Specifically, the Committee shall consider whether savings resulting from the closing of the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf at Greensboro should be redirected to the remaining schools for the deaf or used to help transition students into mainstream educational settings, or both.
(5)	Whether the Department should revise the manner in which funds are allocated to the remaining schools.  Specifically, the Committee shall consider whether the funds should be allocated according to funding allotments similar to those used for public schools.
(6)	The logistics and costs involved with transitioning the remaining schools for the deaf to an extended school calendar of at least 200 instructional days.
(7)	The need for formal direct links between the schools for the deaf and the Department of Public Instruction so that administrators at the schools for the deaf may directly request and receive assistance from the Department of Public Instruction.
(8)	The extent to which independent living facilities are maintained by the schools for the deaf and the need for new facilities, the extent to which these facilities are utilized by students, and the feasibility of allowing recent graduates of the schools to reside in portions of these facilities that are not being utilized by current students.
(9)	A review of other states' policies and procedures regarding the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
SECTION 3.(a)  G.S. 143B-146.21 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-146.21.  Policies, reports, and other miscellaneous provisions.
(a)	The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consult with the State Board of Education in its implementation of this act as it pertains to improving the educational programs at the residential schools. The Secretary also shall fully inform and consult with the chairs of the Appropriations Subcommittees on Education and Health and Human Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on a regular basis as the Secretary carries out his duties under this act.
(b)	The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall adopt policies and offer training opportunities to ensure that personnel who provide direct services to children in the State schools for the deaf become proficient in sign language within two years of their initial date of employment.  The director of each school for the deaf may require residential school personnel who are not proficient in sign language to receive a specific amount of instruction each month in sign language. This subsection shall not apply to preschool personnel in any oral, auditory, or cued speech preschool.
(c)	The Department of Public Instruction, the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, and the State Board of Community Colleges shall annually offer and communicate the availability of professional development opportunities, including those to improve sign language skills, to the personnel assigned to the State's residential schools, particularly the Governor Morehead School and the schools for the deaf.
(d)	The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall adopt policies to ensure that students of the residential schools are given priority to residing in the independent living facilities on each school's campus."
SECTION 3.(b)  Pursuant to G.S. 143B-146.21(c), Wilson Technical Community College and Western Piedmont Community College shall annually offer courses in sign language.
SECTION 4.  The Department of Health and Human Services shall develop a dress code for the schools for the deaf.  All students at the schools for the deaf are required to follow the dress code developed by the Department.  At the request of any student, the Department shall provide that student with five complete sets of clothing and one coat that conform to the dress code.  The Department is responsible for laundering this clothing provided to students.  It is the intent of this section to ensure that all students at the schools for the deaf have clothes that are clean, in good condition, and appropriate for school.
SECTION 5.  G.S. 143B-216.40 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-216.40.  Establishment; operations.
(a)	There are established, and there shall be maintained, the following schools for the deaf: the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf at Wilson (K-12) and the North Carolina School for the Deaf at Morganton (K-12). The Department of Health and Human Services shall be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the schools.
(b)	The Board of Directors of the North Carolina Schools for the Deaf shall advise the Department and shall adopt rules and regulations concerning the schools as provided in G.S. 115C-124 and 143B-173.
(c)	The primary purpose of the schools for the deaf is to educate students who are deaf for whom an individualized educational program team has determined that a residential setting is the least restrictive environment in which these students can receive an appropriate education.  A student who is deaf may attend day classes offered by one of the schools for the deaf without residing at that school only when an individualized educational placement team determines that (i) the student's disability requires special education and related services, (ii) the local school administrative unit cannot provide an appropriate education for this student, and (iii) the day class in the residential school is the least restrictive environment in which the student can receive an appropriate education."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 143B-146.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-146.3.  Annual performance goals; report.
(a)	The ABC's Program shall (i) focus on student performance in the basics of reading, mathematics, and communications skills in elementary and middle schools, (ii) focus on student performance in courses required for graduation and on other measures required by the State Board in the high schools, and (iii) hold participating schools accountable for the educational growth of their students. To those ends, the State Board shall design and implement an accountability system that sets annual performance standards for each participating school in order to measure the growth in performance of the students in each individual school. The Department shall publish the annual performance standards for the schools for the deaf and shall provide a copy of the annual performance standards to the parent or legal guardian of each student at the schools for the deaf.
(b)	The Department shall annually issue a report on the performance of students at the schools for the deaf.  This report shall include a comparison of student performance at the schools for the deaf and the performance of deaf students in other educational settings."
SECTION 7.(a)  G.S. 143B-146.2(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The Governor Morehead School and the schools for the deaf shall participate in the ABC's Program. The Secretary, in consultation with the General Assembly and the State Board, may designate other residential schools that must participate in the ABC's Program. The primary goal of the ABC's Program is to improve student performance. The Program is based upon an accountability, recognition, assistance, and intervention process in order to hold each participating school, its superintendent, and the instructional personnel accountable for improved student performance in that school."
SECTION 7.(b)  G.S. 143B-146.22(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services shall create a Division of Education Services to manage the Governor Morehead School and the residential schools for the deaf.  The Secretary may include in this new Division any or all of the schools and educational programs currently managed by the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services."
SECTION 7.(c)  G.S. 143B-216.32(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-216.32.  Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing – membership; quorum; compensation.
(a)	The Council for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing shall consist of 23 members. Fifteen members shall be members appointed by the Governor. Three members appointed by the Governor shall be persons who are deaf and three members shall be persons who are hard of hearing. One appointment shall be an educator who trains deaf education teachers and one appointment shall be an audiologist licensed under Article 22 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes. Three appointments shall be parents of deaf or hard of hearing children including one parent of a student in a residential school; one parent of a student in a preschool program; and one parent of a student in a mainstream education program, with at least one parent coming from each region of the North Carolina schools for the deaf regions. One member appointed by the Governor shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Association of the Deaf; one member shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Pediatric Society; one member shall be recommended by the President of the North Carolina Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf; and one member shall be nominated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. One member shall be appointed from the House of Representatives by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one member shall be appointed from the Senate by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall appoint six members as follows: one from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, one from the Division of Aging, one from the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, one from the Division of Social Services, one from a North Carolina Chapter of SHHH (Self Help for the Hard of Hearing), and one from SPEAK (Statewide Parents' Education and Advocacy for Kids)."
SECTION 8.  Any constituent institution of The University of North Carolina that has an educational program that prepares individuals to provide teaching, social work, or other related services specifically for the deaf shall use the residential schools for developing, evaluating, and disseminating innovative curricula, instructional techniques and strategies, and materials that can be used in various educational environments serving students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
SECTION 9.  There is appropriated from the General Fund the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 2001-2002 fiscal year and the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 2002-2003 fiscal year to the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the provisions of Section 4 of this act.
SECTION 10.  This act is effective July 1, 2001.