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Silence and Solitude: Deaf Teacher Recounts Struggle in Loudoun Schools | Loudoun Independent
Adonia K. Smith stared out the glass door into the forest surrounding her home in Maryland. Her nimble hands, accustomed to sign language, worked together in unison, as an interpreter said aloud the story of Smith’s termination from Loudoun County Public Schools.
“I was speechless. I’m a professional, I’ve worked all my life,” Smith said. “In my 16 years of teaching, my experience with Loudoun County Public Schools has been the worst I’ve ever had.”
Smith began teaching at Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School in Leesburg in the fall of 2007. Smith, who has a doctorate in deaf education and 13 years of teaching experience, began encountering problems right away.
“From Day 1 I was discriminated against,” Smith told the Times-Mirror. Smith, who was covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, claims that the school denied access to a qualified interpreter on numerous occasions, and that she was also kept in the dark by her superiors.
The ADA is federal legislation that provides equal opportunity in the working environment for people with disabilities. Smith said that her needs were not met.
“After I was hired, no one ever sat me down and talked with me about my ADA accommodations,” Smith said. “We never talked so that myself and my administrators could be on the same page. [The school] neglected to meet my needs and failed to meet ADA requirements, which include access to a quality interpreter.”
According to Smith, she was expected to communicate with employees and superiors via note writing, carrying around a whiteboard and pager, and typing out messages on a laptop. Though frustrated, Smith was beginning to witness a significant improvement in her deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
“The teaching methods that [Smith] used were amazing,” a parent of one of her students said under condition of anonymity. “People came up to me … and told me how amazing [my child’s] transformation was. [The students in Smith’s class] originally would just sit and stare. They didn’t understand anything teachers were showing them. They would not and did not know how to interact with people, deaf or hearing. [People] would tell me that since [Smith] had arrived the children were now talking to each other without being prompted.”
But Smith still had her own issues. What started as a note-writing nuisance, Smith said, swiftly grew into something more ominous and potentially dangerous.
Problems and perseverance
“In the spring of 2008, the school had a fire drill,” Smith said. “At the time, it was just me and my two deaf students in the class. A little bit later, another teacher came in and asked me if I had gone outside for the drill. Basically, everyone left the building, proceeded to do the fire drill, and came back inside, all without telling me or my deaf students. They forgot us.”
By her second year at Hazel Reid, Smith encountered new problems. An increase in students pushed Smith into mainstream classes and she had difficulty in getting quality interpreters. When she asked the school to hire an interpreter for certain events or meetings, she was often not satisfied with their level of expertise.
“Most deaf and hard-of-hearing students prefer and even require the use of American Sign Language,” Smith said. “I was observing interpreters in classes and they had such weak skills. One of the teachers was talking about liquids and gas, and an interpreter interpreted liquid gas as gasoline for a car, thereby not getting the right concept around to these kids.
“That person would be what I considered as not qualified to teach deaf students,” Smith said. “Keep in mind, some of these interpreters have Ph.D.s, but in some cases, those are Ph.D.s in deaf education, not interpreting, which is completely different.”
During her second year, Smith met two other teachers in her program and the three began brainstorming ways to improve their classes. Their teaching immediately began to show positive results.
“[Smith] set up a wonderful team of teachers for the deaf,” another parent, who asked that her name be withheld, told the Times-Mirror. “We were so hopeful when [Hazel Reid] got a new principal that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program would expand and flourish.”
“We challenged the system,” Smith said. “We challenged the status quo, and it was working for my students. Parents would say to me constantly how much of a positive effect they had seen in their child. My colleagues and I brought the school’s problems [regarding the deaf and hard of hearing education program] on the radar, which they did not like.”
December list
The next year, Smith’s third at the school, her two colleagues had been reassigned as itinerant teachers who travel between schools, while Hazel Reid hired a new principal and assistant principle.
“We met with the principal and she was receptive,” a parent of one of Smith’s students told the Times-Mirror. “However, when the year [began] the program was gutted and the team was disbanded and sent to other schools because the hard of hearing teachers were threatened by [Smith’s] superb teaching methods.”
Before the new administrators were brought in, Smith said she had always received positive evaluations. In her third, and ultimately final year, negativity toward Smith began to build, which Smith attributes mostly to administrators at her school.
Smith said that because she often required an interpreter for her work at the school, she was made to feel guilty for costing the school money.
Hazel Reid Principal Brenda Jochems wrote in an e-mail to Smith that was obtained by the Times-Mirror: “Being a Loudoun taxpayer myself, and knowing the financial situations of our school system for next year, I simply can no longer condone an interpreter due to lack of planning and making the appropriate parties aware of the need.”
Smith received another e-mail Nov. 18 telling her to meet with the principal after work Nov. 20. She was scheduled for evaluation on Nov. 19.
“On Nov. 19, I was observed teaching by the assistant principal, who used a student to interpret,” Smith said. “I have a Ph.D. My language level is very different from that of an elementary school student. I felt the observation went very well, but the next day, the principal told me I was on the December list.”
Smith said she felt that due to the scheduled Nov. 20 meeting, the school had established that they were going to let her go prior to the evaluation process.
In LCPS, teachers reach tenure after four years. Before they reach tenure, the school system can simply choose not to renew a teacher’s contract. While a teacher is on the December list she works periodically with her principal to help improve the teacher’s performance. Once the process is complete, the teacher is either taken off the list, or her employment is terminated.
“I asked and asked, but I never got a clear answer as to why I was on that list,” Smith said. “Before you’re put on the list, you’re supposed to have two observations, then sign an evaluation that the administrators type up. But I only received one observation, and no written evaluation. The school knew that it was their last year to get rid of me. And the process I incurred during that time was far from ordinary procedure.”
Per the December list process, Smith met weekly with administrators, going over her lesson plans, but according to Smith, they were never satisfied.
“They kept demanding more and more of me,” Smith said. “As soon as I met their demands, they’d raise the bar higher. It was exhausting, I was so shocked with the system.”
On Feb. 22, 2010, after being out for nearly two weeks due to inclement weather, Smith was formally notified that she would not be rehired at Frances Hazel Reid. She would be allowed to finish the year, and then would be without a position.
Because Smith was terminated in LCPS, she wasn’t allowed to reapply in the county. She attempted to secure employment at Gallaudet University and other locations, but she claims school budgets had been frozen by the time she was terminated by Loudoun’s school system.
Silence in the classroom
Due much in part to the way Smith claimed she was treated by LCPS, a former LCPS American Sign Language teacher resigned from her post to become a full-time interpreter outside the school system.
“I find how this county treats our deaf employees and educates the deaf students enrolled here is not only disturbing but alarming,” the former ASL teacher wrote in her resignation letter, which was obtained by the Times-Mirror. She did not want her name used in this story.
“I have seen my ASL students view interpreters that are supposed to be language models, yet do not hold certification and model incorrect and in many cases, made-up language,” the teacher stated in the letter. “Our deaf students rely on interpreters not only to facilitate communication but also to have full access to the curriculum.”
The former teacher added in her letter that Smith was a tremendous resource to her students, coming in to her class to help on her own time.
Ultimately, Smith claims that she never really had a chance with the new administration.
“All teachers that can hear have full communication access in schools,” Smith said. “I didn’t have this. I couldn’t even say ‘good morning’ to anybody. I couldn’t eat lunch with anyone, because there was nobody to talk to. The school said [in my notification of non-renewal] that I had awful interpersonal skills, but I didn’t have the communicative access to talk to any adults in the building.”
After Smith was let go, the school finally implemented an ASL program, which Smith had fought for since her hiring in 2007.
Other school districts, such as Fairfax County, see the benefits of having deaf and hard-of-hearing teachers in the classroom.
“Deaf teachers can act as positive role models for students, providing them exposure to deaf adults who have become independent, educated and contributing members of the community,” said Susan Bigman, Fairfax County Public Schools manager of Vision and Hearing Services.
According to Bigman, Fairfax has approximately 450 students in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program, whereas Loudoun County has 79, according to LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard.
If measured against total enrollment for each respective county, Fairfax has one in 390 kids in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program, and Loudoun has one in 802 students participating in the program.
“We understand that resources are at a premium and many other deserving programs could also use additional resources,” Bigman said. “It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to bridge the communication gap.”
Loudoun County Public Schools and its employees are legally not allowed to discuss personnel issues, so they weren’t able to comment on the specifics in the case.
“It is not that LCPS is being evasive,” Byard said. “[This story involves] personnel matters that are, by law, required to be kept confidential.”
Now, despite running her own ASL-related business, Smith remains unemployed.
Adonia K. Smith stared out the glass door into the forest surrounding her home in Maryland. Her nimble hands, accustomed to sign language, worked together in unison, as an interpreter said aloud the story of Smith’s termination from Loudoun County Public Schools.
“I was speechless. I’m a professional, I’ve worked all my life,” Smith said. “In my 16 years of teaching, my experience with Loudoun County Public Schools has been the worst I’ve ever had.”
Smith began teaching at Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School in Leesburg in the fall of 2007. Smith, who has a doctorate in deaf education and 13 years of teaching experience, began encountering problems right away.
“From Day 1 I was discriminated against,” Smith told the Times-Mirror. Smith, who was covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, claims that the school denied access to a qualified interpreter on numerous occasions, and that she was also kept in the dark by her superiors.
The ADA is federal legislation that provides equal opportunity in the working environment for people with disabilities. Smith said that her needs were not met.
“After I was hired, no one ever sat me down and talked with me about my ADA accommodations,” Smith said. “We never talked so that myself and my administrators could be on the same page. [The school] neglected to meet my needs and failed to meet ADA requirements, which include access to a quality interpreter.”
According to Smith, she was expected to communicate with employees and superiors via note writing, carrying around a whiteboard and pager, and typing out messages on a laptop. Though frustrated, Smith was beginning to witness a significant improvement in her deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
“The teaching methods that [Smith] used were amazing,” a parent of one of her students said under condition of anonymity. “People came up to me … and told me how amazing [my child’s] transformation was. [The students in Smith’s class] originally would just sit and stare. They didn’t understand anything teachers were showing them. They would not and did not know how to interact with people, deaf or hearing. [People] would tell me that since [Smith] had arrived the children were now talking to each other without being prompted.”
But Smith still had her own issues. What started as a note-writing nuisance, Smith said, swiftly grew into something more ominous and potentially dangerous.
Problems and perseverance
“In the spring of 2008, the school had a fire drill,” Smith said. “At the time, it was just me and my two deaf students in the class. A little bit later, another teacher came in and asked me if I had gone outside for the drill. Basically, everyone left the building, proceeded to do the fire drill, and came back inside, all without telling me or my deaf students. They forgot us.”
By her second year at Hazel Reid, Smith encountered new problems. An increase in students pushed Smith into mainstream classes and she had difficulty in getting quality interpreters. When she asked the school to hire an interpreter for certain events or meetings, she was often not satisfied with their level of expertise.
“Most deaf and hard-of-hearing students prefer and even require the use of American Sign Language,” Smith said. “I was observing interpreters in classes and they had such weak skills. One of the teachers was talking about liquids and gas, and an interpreter interpreted liquid gas as gasoline for a car, thereby not getting the right concept around to these kids.
“That person would be what I considered as not qualified to teach deaf students,” Smith said. “Keep in mind, some of these interpreters have Ph.D.s, but in some cases, those are Ph.D.s in deaf education, not interpreting, which is completely different.”
During her second year, Smith met two other teachers in her program and the three began brainstorming ways to improve their classes. Their teaching immediately began to show positive results.
“[Smith] set up a wonderful team of teachers for the deaf,” another parent, who asked that her name be withheld, told the Times-Mirror. “We were so hopeful when [Hazel Reid] got a new principal that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program would expand and flourish.”
“We challenged the system,” Smith said. “We challenged the status quo, and it was working for my students. Parents would say to me constantly how much of a positive effect they had seen in their child. My colleagues and I brought the school’s problems [regarding the deaf and hard of hearing education program] on the radar, which they did not like.”
December list
The next year, Smith’s third at the school, her two colleagues had been reassigned as itinerant teachers who travel between schools, while Hazel Reid hired a new principal and assistant principle.
“We met with the principal and she was receptive,” a parent of one of Smith’s students told the Times-Mirror. “However, when the year [began] the program was gutted and the team was disbanded and sent to other schools because the hard of hearing teachers were threatened by [Smith’s] superb teaching methods.”
Before the new administrators were brought in, Smith said she had always received positive evaluations. In her third, and ultimately final year, negativity toward Smith began to build, which Smith attributes mostly to administrators at her school.
Smith said that because she often required an interpreter for her work at the school, she was made to feel guilty for costing the school money.
Hazel Reid Principal Brenda Jochems wrote in an e-mail to Smith that was obtained by the Times-Mirror: “Being a Loudoun taxpayer myself, and knowing the financial situations of our school system for next year, I simply can no longer condone an interpreter due to lack of planning and making the appropriate parties aware of the need.”
Smith received another e-mail Nov. 18 telling her to meet with the principal after work Nov. 20. She was scheduled for evaluation on Nov. 19.
“On Nov. 19, I was observed teaching by the assistant principal, who used a student to interpret,” Smith said. “I have a Ph.D. My language level is very different from that of an elementary school student. I felt the observation went very well, but the next day, the principal told me I was on the December list.”
Smith said she felt that due to the scheduled Nov. 20 meeting, the school had established that they were going to let her go prior to the evaluation process.
In LCPS, teachers reach tenure after four years. Before they reach tenure, the school system can simply choose not to renew a teacher’s contract. While a teacher is on the December list she works periodically with her principal to help improve the teacher’s performance. Once the process is complete, the teacher is either taken off the list, or her employment is terminated.
“I asked and asked, but I never got a clear answer as to why I was on that list,” Smith said. “Before you’re put on the list, you’re supposed to have two observations, then sign an evaluation that the administrators type up. But I only received one observation, and no written evaluation. The school knew that it was their last year to get rid of me. And the process I incurred during that time was far from ordinary procedure.”
Per the December list process, Smith met weekly with administrators, going over her lesson plans, but according to Smith, they were never satisfied.
“They kept demanding more and more of me,” Smith said. “As soon as I met their demands, they’d raise the bar higher. It was exhausting, I was so shocked with the system.”
On Feb. 22, 2010, after being out for nearly two weeks due to inclement weather, Smith was formally notified that she would not be rehired at Frances Hazel Reid. She would be allowed to finish the year, and then would be without a position.
Because Smith was terminated in LCPS, she wasn’t allowed to reapply in the county. She attempted to secure employment at Gallaudet University and other locations, but she claims school budgets had been frozen by the time she was terminated by Loudoun’s school system.
Silence in the classroom
Due much in part to the way Smith claimed she was treated by LCPS, a former LCPS American Sign Language teacher resigned from her post to become a full-time interpreter outside the school system.
“I find how this county treats our deaf employees and educates the deaf students enrolled here is not only disturbing but alarming,” the former ASL teacher wrote in her resignation letter, which was obtained by the Times-Mirror. She did not want her name used in this story.
“I have seen my ASL students view interpreters that are supposed to be language models, yet do not hold certification and model incorrect and in many cases, made-up language,” the teacher stated in the letter. “Our deaf students rely on interpreters not only to facilitate communication but also to have full access to the curriculum.”
The former teacher added in her letter that Smith was a tremendous resource to her students, coming in to her class to help on her own time.
Ultimately, Smith claims that she never really had a chance with the new administration.
“All teachers that can hear have full communication access in schools,” Smith said. “I didn’t have this. I couldn’t even say ‘good morning’ to anybody. I couldn’t eat lunch with anyone, because there was nobody to talk to. The school said [in my notification of non-renewal] that I had awful interpersonal skills, but I didn’t have the communicative access to talk to any adults in the building.”
After Smith was let go, the school finally implemented an ASL program, which Smith had fought for since her hiring in 2007.
Other school districts, such as Fairfax County, see the benefits of having deaf and hard-of-hearing teachers in the classroom.
“Deaf teachers can act as positive role models for students, providing them exposure to deaf adults who have become independent, educated and contributing members of the community,” said Susan Bigman, Fairfax County Public Schools manager of Vision and Hearing Services.
According to Bigman, Fairfax has approximately 450 students in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program, whereas Loudoun County has 79, according to LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard.
If measured against total enrollment for each respective county, Fairfax has one in 390 kids in the deaf and hard-of-hearing program, and Loudoun has one in 802 students participating in the program.
“We understand that resources are at a premium and many other deserving programs could also use additional resources,” Bigman said. “It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to bridge the communication gap.”
Loudoun County Public Schools and its employees are legally not allowed to discuss personnel issues, so they weren’t able to comment on the specifics in the case.
“It is not that LCPS is being evasive,” Byard said. “[This story involves] personnel matters that are, by law, required to be kept confidential.”
Now, despite running her own ASL-related business, Smith remains unemployed.
That is why the ADA is important to step and fight for the rights of both the Deaf teachers and deaf children who need those accommodations. 