Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,164
- Reaction score
- 6
The Buffalo News: Home: St. Mary’s School for Deaf parents want to know one thing: What’s going on?
Jane Wilkes’ eyes look like they are going to tear up as she talks about the most difficult decision of her life: sending her daughter to live at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo.
Holly’s doing well there. A bright girl with a big smile and golden blond hair, she’s been deaf since birth. But as Holly talks with a friend, you’d never know she is different from any other teenager — except that the two girls talk with their hands.
St. Mary’s, Wilkes says, gets a share of the credit for the wonderful young woman Holly is becoming.
And it’s partly because of that, Wilkes says, that the ongoing controversy at St. Mary’s is so difficult. St. Mary’s isn’t just a school to deaf children and their parents. It’s a second home. It’s a place where children learn the ABC’s of sign language — and parents do, too.
“Parents have entrusted their children to this school,” Wilkes said. “You put your faith in the school and in the people who run it. It’s like a family. It always has been, and now, it’s like the family has been torn apart.”
St. Mary’s has been in turmoil for weeks, with students boycotting classes, teachers picketing the campus, support staff condemning the superintendent, and parents calling for the chairman of the board of trustees to be replaced.
Last week, at a closed-door meeting, the board hashed out some of the issues. Now, parents and staff are waiting to hear what the board will do.
“A lot of very important issues were discussed,” said Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, who sits on the 15-member board of trustees. “We agreed we wouldn’t talk about what was discussed. In the near future there will be an announcement that addresses a number of the concerns.”
What the board does — or doesn’t do — will be watched by many in the deaf community nationally and locally.
This, after all, isn’t an ordinary school. Run like a private school, but state-funded like a public one, St. Mary’s gives the deaf community throughout Western New York a place of their own, where students can excel in sports, the arts and academics while also learning the skills to be successful in the hearing world.
Holly was about 1z years old when her parents discovered she was deaf. Her sister Heather, the family learned, was hard of hearing, and the doctor wondered about Heather’s sisters. Erin, the oldest of the girls, could hear fine. But when Holly was tested, she was found to be deaf.
Heather stayed in a preschool in Springville, then attended public school.
At age 3 1/2, Holly began taking the bus from her Springville home to a preschool at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf. Once a week, her mother took the 45-to 60-minute bus ride with Holly.
While Holly was learning sign language, so was her mother.
St. Mary’s opened up the world for Holly.
“Over Christmas break, when she was 5z, it was like all of a sudden, she realized those words meant something,” Wilkes said. “She connected a sign meant a word.”
Holly was signing as well as hearing children her age could talk. And her family, thanks to the St. Mary’s adult program, could communicate back.
Not that that made everything all right. As the years went on, Holly was frustrated at home, and her parents knew it.
“She would whip her hearing aid out of her ears and put her head down. She couldn’t hear you, couldn’t see you, so why does she have to listen?” her mother said. What Holly wanted was to live at school.
“Roger and I had talked about it, and OK’d it,” Wilkes said, referring to her husband. “It was heart-wrenching. As soon as I made that decision, I remember sobbing. How do you let your child go? How do you do it? You do it because you love your child and that is it what is best for your child. That is why you do it.”
That was six years ago, when Holly was 11 years old.
As one of 35 residential students in the 130-member student body, Holly attends classes during the day, participates in after-school sports and drama, then returns to the residential hall. She eats with the other students, goes on group trips, does homework, and hangs out. She spends weekends and holidays with her family in Springville.
“There’s more friends at school and people to talk to, and be more social with,” Holly said, with her mother interpreting.
When Holly moved to St. Mary’s, Wilkes called every night checking on her daughter. Eventually, Wilkes became more comfortable knowing Holly was safe and happy.
“Honestly, there are so many people that have cared for her and made such a difference,” Wilkes said. “I have only good to say for these people.”
But outside the residence halls, over the past few years, problems were brewing.
“They gave us a math teacher [for Holly] who couldn’t sign,” Wilkes said.
As time went on, a respected English teacher — one of the better signers in the school — left her high school position. Teacher aides were being switched around. The athletic director left. The English teacher’s replacement left. And Nettie Brewer, a favorite math teacher, was let go.
Students are frustrated. Staff feels betrayed. Parents feel ignored.
Some of the trust Wilkes has in the school is eroding. “It shouldn’t be like that,” she said.
There’s speculation the board wants to reinstate Brewer — overruling the superintendent and high school principal who denied her tenure. Such a move — assuming Brewer returns — would likely satisfy students.
“All I want is Nettie to come back, to be our teacher again,” Holly said. “Nettie relates to students, she’s always kind, and does perfect ASL [American sign language].”
But staff and parents are hoping for more.
“I want change,” Wilkes said. “I want open communication. I’m speaking for all parents when I say we need to know what is going on in our kids’ education. We have a right to know when they are switching staff around.
“I think they are just trying to keep us in the dark.”
Jane Wilkes’ eyes look like they are going to tear up as she talks about the most difficult decision of her life: sending her daughter to live at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo.
Holly’s doing well there. A bright girl with a big smile and golden blond hair, she’s been deaf since birth. But as Holly talks with a friend, you’d never know she is different from any other teenager — except that the two girls talk with their hands.
St. Mary’s, Wilkes says, gets a share of the credit for the wonderful young woman Holly is becoming.
And it’s partly because of that, Wilkes says, that the ongoing controversy at St. Mary’s is so difficult. St. Mary’s isn’t just a school to deaf children and their parents. It’s a second home. It’s a place where children learn the ABC’s of sign language — and parents do, too.
“Parents have entrusted their children to this school,” Wilkes said. “You put your faith in the school and in the people who run it. It’s like a family. It always has been, and now, it’s like the family has been torn apart.”
St. Mary’s has been in turmoil for weeks, with students boycotting classes, teachers picketing the campus, support staff condemning the superintendent, and parents calling for the chairman of the board of trustees to be replaced.
Last week, at a closed-door meeting, the board hashed out some of the issues. Now, parents and staff are waiting to hear what the board will do.
“A lot of very important issues were discussed,” said Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, who sits on the 15-member board of trustees. “We agreed we wouldn’t talk about what was discussed. In the near future there will be an announcement that addresses a number of the concerns.”
What the board does — or doesn’t do — will be watched by many in the deaf community nationally and locally.
This, after all, isn’t an ordinary school. Run like a private school, but state-funded like a public one, St. Mary’s gives the deaf community throughout Western New York a place of their own, where students can excel in sports, the arts and academics while also learning the skills to be successful in the hearing world.
Holly was about 1z years old when her parents discovered she was deaf. Her sister Heather, the family learned, was hard of hearing, and the doctor wondered about Heather’s sisters. Erin, the oldest of the girls, could hear fine. But when Holly was tested, she was found to be deaf.
Heather stayed in a preschool in Springville, then attended public school.
At age 3 1/2, Holly began taking the bus from her Springville home to a preschool at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf. Once a week, her mother took the 45-to 60-minute bus ride with Holly.
While Holly was learning sign language, so was her mother.
St. Mary’s opened up the world for Holly.
“Over Christmas break, when she was 5z, it was like all of a sudden, she realized those words meant something,” Wilkes said. “She connected a sign meant a word.”
Holly was signing as well as hearing children her age could talk. And her family, thanks to the St. Mary’s adult program, could communicate back.
Not that that made everything all right. As the years went on, Holly was frustrated at home, and her parents knew it.
“She would whip her hearing aid out of her ears and put her head down. She couldn’t hear you, couldn’t see you, so why does she have to listen?” her mother said. What Holly wanted was to live at school.
“Roger and I had talked about it, and OK’d it,” Wilkes said, referring to her husband. “It was heart-wrenching. As soon as I made that decision, I remember sobbing. How do you let your child go? How do you do it? You do it because you love your child and that is it what is best for your child. That is why you do it.”
That was six years ago, when Holly was 11 years old.
As one of 35 residential students in the 130-member student body, Holly attends classes during the day, participates in after-school sports and drama, then returns to the residential hall. She eats with the other students, goes on group trips, does homework, and hangs out. She spends weekends and holidays with her family in Springville.
“There’s more friends at school and people to talk to, and be more social with,” Holly said, with her mother interpreting.
When Holly moved to St. Mary’s, Wilkes called every night checking on her daughter. Eventually, Wilkes became more comfortable knowing Holly was safe and happy.
“Honestly, there are so many people that have cared for her and made such a difference,” Wilkes said. “I have only good to say for these people.”
But outside the residence halls, over the past few years, problems were brewing.
“They gave us a math teacher [for Holly] who couldn’t sign,” Wilkes said.
As time went on, a respected English teacher — one of the better signers in the school — left her high school position. Teacher aides were being switched around. The athletic director left. The English teacher’s replacement left. And Nettie Brewer, a favorite math teacher, was let go.
Students are frustrated. Staff feels betrayed. Parents feel ignored.
Some of the trust Wilkes has in the school is eroding. “It shouldn’t be like that,” she said.
There’s speculation the board wants to reinstate Brewer — overruling the superintendent and high school principal who denied her tenure. Such a move — assuming Brewer returns — would likely satisfy students.
“All I want is Nettie to come back, to be our teacher again,” Holly said. “Nettie relates to students, she’s always kind, and does perfect ASL [American sign language].”
But staff and parents are hoping for more.
“I want change,” Wilkes said. “I want open communication. I’m speaking for all parents when I say we need to know what is going on in our kids’ education. We have a right to know when they are switching staff around.
“I think they are just trying to keep us in the dark.”
That's sounds outrageous for the parents and the students that has been affected. Is the deaf community rather large in that area?