Lawmaker says state should do more for school for blind and deaf

HELENA — Officials from the Great Falls-based Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind told state officials about the challenges they are having in filling teaching vacancies, saying it is a competitive market in which they are offering pay below what educators can get elsewhere.

And Wednesday’s hearing before the Legislature's  joint subcommittee on education on appropriating money for the school in the biennium sparked a comment from a Great Falls-area lawmaker that the state should be doing more to help the school.

Montana organizations come together for a cause

MSDB was praised in early 2017, when it was used as an example by Republicans. The school had offered to return $250,000 to cash-strapped state coffers, which was estimated to be about 4 percent of its budget.

However, school officials said a challenge in finding qualified staff for five teaching positions had left them with the $250,000 to give back to the state.

Lawmakers refused the funds, saying that if the school did find qualified people, they should be in the position to hire.

“It just didn’t feel right,” Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, said at the time. “This is a tough year. We have to make hard cuts, but we intend to be smart about it.”

But the school has received some help from the community.

The Lions Clubs of Montana recently announced it will raise $300,000 to buy 100 Prodigi Connect 12s for visually impaired students. Prodigis are portable, digital magnifiers and tablets. In recent projects, the Sunrise Lions Club partnered with the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind to repair its playground and tactile track.

On Wednesday's discussion about House Bill 2, Rep. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade, said the state should be helping out more than it is.

“If there was ever an agency that shouldn’t send their money back, it’s this,” he said.

“They are having bake sales to fix roofs there. The Lions Club is raising $300,000 to buy readers. All that community support is great. It’s important, but the state is walking away from its obligations.”

The school has a budget of about $7 million. It now has 50 students on campuses and provides services to nearly 750 students statewide.

Because of some of the teacher openings, the school will "revert" or return about $400,000 in money not spent on salaries, state officials said.

Donna Sorensen, superintendent, said in a telephone interview Thursday that the school typically has several positions in outreach, education and student life that it recruits and often cannot find qualified people who will accept the salaries.

The money is allocated for salaries, and not for other projects like much-needed roof repairs. State officials said they hope to take some of these funds to repair the roof.

Hamlett said the agency should not have to revert funds to the state.

Sorensen said hiring may become easier as the union, the Montana Federation of Public Employees successfully bargained for raises for MSDB teachers to put them on par with educators in Great Falls Public Schools.

“This is something huge for us,” Sorensen said, adding it was something her predecessor had sought for years. “To have that come to fruition is fabulous.”

John Musgrove, a Havre resident and board member, called the pay plan “the most exciting thing in 30 years” for the school.

Musgrove said the school is in nationwide competition for these specially trained teachers.

He said there are some cases in which teachers have to get emergency certifications to make them eligible to teach in Montana.

“It really is gruesome,” he said.

Sorensen said the school has been able to hire three positions with salaries starting $36,000-$37,000.

“It’s not great, but it was substantially lower,” she said.

Founded in 1893, the school has evolved from a two-story frame house in Boulder, without electricity or running water, to a modern Great Falls campus with high tech educational aids for both deaf and blind students. The school is governed by the Montana Board of Public Education.

According to its website, the school provides educational opportunities for “Montana’s students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, and deafblind, giving them their best chance for independence and success.”

Sorensen thought Wednesday’s hearing went well.

“It was a great meeting,” she said, complimenting lawmakers. “Just like our schools, they have limited revenue to work with. I do not envy them.”

No vote was taken at Wednesday's hearing.

Reach Phil Drake at 406-213-9021 or at pdrake@greatfallstribune.com