H.B. 448 Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind Amendments: transcript

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Committee for the opportunity to come today to be able to present HB 4 48 Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind Amendments. Before going into the details of this particular bill, I'd like to kind of provide some historical context of where we have been to get to where we are at today. The Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, which is sometimes known as USDB, plays a real critical role in supporting children with hearing and visual impairments. USDB has a very long history of students serving, uh, serving students in Utah. It was first and originally established in 1884 at the present day, university of Utah. In 1896, the school was moved to Ogden, where a School for the Blind was also established, forming what is now USDB. Over the years, USDB has expanded and adapted, and it now includes four campuses in Ogden, Salt Lake City, Springville, and St. George. Altogether its mission remains the same over all of these decades, to provide education and support to children with sensory impairments along with their families. It provides a tremendous resource for students with sensor sensory disabilities, ensuring that they receive the education and support necessary to reach their full potential. What brings us here today are some recent audits that have taken place. The Office of the Legislator auditor found recently that USDB needs increased oversight and improved strategic planning to better focus on student academic achievement. So through a collaborative work of many people over many months working through these issues, this bill addresses four important areas. It clarifies the mission and role. Second, the governance structure, third facilities and fourth reports and data. Now, the handout before you breaks the bill down into more additional details here as well. The underlying purpose of this proposal is to continue to be able to strengthen the foundation of USDB, so we'll be able to have continued success for students, for their families, for LEAs, for everybody involved for decades and decades going forward. So I am pleased to have with me the two of our great state leaders in education who will provide some, a little bit of more context to the bill and, um, invite them to introduce themselves. Thank you. Leon Wood, vice Chair, Utah State Board of Education, and I'm also the chair of the USDB standing committee that the, uh, board, uh, de designated last year. So we've been in, in, in place for a year. And I'm Molly Hart. I'm the state Superintendent for public Instruction. And in this, uh, context, I am the interim superintendent for USDB. Would you like me to go? This? You. Okay. We want to first, uh, express our appreciation to Representative Whyte for the time that he's taken to craft this legislation. Over the last year, we have spent multiple hours, even prior to the two audits coming out, Loa looking at questions that were given to us through the, uh, public education appropriations meeting with some research. I found that these weren't new questions. They'd actually been in place the year before and the year before that. And the year before that. I think finally this year we've come to a point where we've answered those questions and this bill helps lead to the answers that we need to have. We had a work group that met throughout the summer that had various stakeholders, including Representative Xer and, uh, uh, Senator Balderree. We have the USDB standing committee that meets monthly and then brings, uh, different recommendations to the board. And then we had HB 5 37, uh, sponsored by, uh, representative Pucci that gave the guidance of the funding, um, and budgets underneath the board. And then finally, this, uh, legislation. The most important thing that I see in this legislation is that it highlights the legislature's, uh, motivation to, to maintain the multi-campus model, because in Utah, we believe in keeping our students close to their parents. And this multi-campus model helps students be able to go home at night. So we appreciate the addition of that in this legislation. We also appreciate the ability of the board to have the flexibility, uh, to either appoint a superintendent directly or to work through our superintendent, uh, a state superintendent. Uh, if it works, it gives some flexibility to the board to make sure that the governance is there that will work with the structure of the board at that time. The other, uh, area we appreciate is the work with the DFCM, uh, to help in terms of deciding when buildings need to be built and how those should be built. So we see this as a critical, uh, legislation to help us move forward in true governance of this organization. So, uh, my role is to make the things happen on the ground. So as soon as the audit report came out, we got to work. Uh, we, um, I appointed someone to work, uh, at USDB on boots on the ground at the, um, schools, uh, addressing these, these findings, uh, in the area of data clarity, in the area of financial management, in the area of, uh, relationships with stakeholders. And, um, there's quite a list of, of things that we've been able to move the dial with the help of, of the board and the committee. Uh, we want to continue that work. Uh, the USTB is unique in that, uh, they serve, uh, very low incidents disabilities. Those are very complex and we have to do it in conjunction with local LEAs, all of the LEAs. And you never, you never know where the students will be coming from, whether it's a, you know, out of, out of, uh, Piute County or Salt Lake County. Uh, we have to be ready to serve and we have to serve each of these students according to their unique needs, which means we need heavy involvement from, uh, the special education, uh, experts at the state. And, uh, in conjunction and as part of the IEP teams, uh, that make decisions for the students, we need to make sure that we are in line with, uh, the, the finances for USDB. Were already moved, uh, under USBE. So USDB finances are managed by USBE financial management, uh, financial ops. So, um, we've just got a lot of, uh, made a lot of progress in, in moving forward and making sure that we're addressing, uh, things that the audit, uh, found as well as things that we found ourselves. Um, we, uh, presented about that in, in PEA and I'd be glad to share that information with, um, anybody who may have missed that or would like a refresher. Thank you for that additional context and for the collaborative work that's been provided. And also compliment everybody that's really jumped in. As indicated, this last year after the audit came over, a lot of good progress has, has, has happened. And this will be able to help us, um, address questions that were asked, concerns that were identified, so we can move forward for success going forward. And as we've been talking, I have been speaking and we've been speaking to the first sub that has been posted online. And so if it was the will of the committee, appreciate adopting that first sub if the committee felt appropriate. And that concludes our presentation. Alright.

Thank you Chair. Amanda Boer and Vice chair of the Utah State Board of Education. And just wanted to, uh, speak to this and let you know that our USBE, um, board met and last week and we voted unanimously to support this current version of the bill and wanted you all to know that, also wanted to express our gratitude for all of the representatives and Senator Vickers and all of those involved in the working group to address all of the, the issues and concerns that came up in the audit. And one of the things that's been so great is that the biggest focus during this whole process and in developing this bill is that the main focus has been on the students and making sure that the students were able to receive their services, uh, that they need. And as a former special ed teacher myself, and having students, some of them benefited from USDB services and some even changed locations, I can tell you that the services that are provided through, through USDB are so essential to the success of our students. So, thank you. Thank you

Chair. If I may

HIEs, chair of the State Board of Education, Utah State Board of Education. I, I will not repeat what has been said, but I do want to, uh, express my support and the board support for this bill. So appreciate, uh, uh, Representative Whyte and his work on this and, and those who have assisted. Thank you.

I appreciate the consideration. Uh, the sub clarifies what we've been discussing and what's also contained in the handout you've received from LRGC.

Yeah. Um, there's just been so much work that's been going into it, so this is, you know, really great to get moving forward.

and make a motion to adopt an amendment to the first sub. Um, that amendment has just, uh, been posted online. Um, if you wanna follow along, you can check it, you can see it online, or you can, uh, just on the first substitute look at line 3 0 5. Um, what it does is that right now we have, uh, two, uh, options that the state board is authorized. One is to appoint a superintendent for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, or to appoint one to work with the state board of, to to work with the state superintendent. What my substitute does, or sorry, what my amendment does is it makes it, uh, it, with the, with the state board's authorization, it, uh, makes sure that that person that is appointed by the, um, uh, appointed through this process reports through the state superintendent. So we don't have somebody that is, that is not working with the chief Administrative Officer for the state, um, for the, for the State of Utah, um, the Board of Education and, uh, where we don't have this person outside on one side. And then we have all the finances still underneath the state board. So if you'll take a look at that, um, that's the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, just for some background context, the bill before us that has now been substituted has gone through a real collaborative process to get it where it is and was indicated that the board has approved the language right here. Also, understanding and seeing the amendment to this about the change of the state, superintendent shall appoint a supervisor, superintendent, the language there that is identified. I would, um, yield to the committee of what you feel would be, um, appropriate as you've reviewed the bill and have studied this as well. So I'll, um, with that background and context yield to the committee of what you think would be appropriate at this point.

Thank You, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if I could ask the state superintendent to comment on this.

Yes. And I can speak to the original bill because the board did see that and approve that. I cannot speak for my board on something that they haven't looked at.

I'm sorry. I mine's on the bill so you can come back to me.

Okay. Seeing no further lights, uh, to the amendment, um, I'll, uh, just note that what I'm trying to do here with the amendment is to actually put in statute the way that it is currently working, which is that with the approval of the state board, the state superintendent, uh, points and supervises the Superintendent of Utah schools for the Deaf and blind. So the state board still retains, uh, oversight for that appointment, but then they report to the superintendent so that we have a clear line, a clear chain of command through the state superintendent. Um, what I'm, what I'm looking at is essentially a governance structure so that we don't have essentially financial or other policy matters that are outside of the ability of the state superintendent, uh, to respond to, for example. So that's the, that's the nature of the motion. So that's the, the amendment that's before us.

All right. Representative Voxer Favorably recommend, um, for substitute HB 4 48 as amended to the house floor with a favorable recommendation. All

Uh, thank you Mr. Chair and committee for the discussion and questions. Your interest in this. I first became interested in this several years ago at the House District. I have the honor of representing includes the Springville School for the Deaf and Blind. And when I, um, walked into that facility and saw those remarkable and inspirational children and the talented teachers and everyone that works there, I was blown away. I didn't realize that we had that type of opportunity and educational opportunity and facilities within the state. And that's where I fell in love with the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. And then I learned of the visionary work that took place back in the 18 hundreds, where those early settlers of the state saw a need and an opportunity and created this opportunity. And it has now been going way beyond a hundred years. So what we're doing here today is building upon the success of the past and being able to continue a strong foundation to be able to help these wonderful children. And every of them will be associated with the schools for the deaf and blind for many, many decades ahead. So I appreciate your consideration.

Waive. Alright.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee for the opportunity to present HB 4 48 Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind Amendments. Uh, Mr. Chair, if you would be amenable or agreeable, we have a backgrounder that's presented by LRGC for additional context that we could provide to you to share with committee members.

Thank you very much. This bill to start, um, responds to recent legislative performance audit conducted by the office of the Legislator Auditor General. Now, before getting into the specifics about this particular bill, I like to provide maybe a little bit high level background and context because the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind, also sometimes referred to as USDB, plays a critical role in supporting children with hearing and visual impairments. USDB has a very long history of serving students in Utah. To me, this is just absolutely remarkable that the Utah School for the Deaf was originally established in 1884 at the present day, university of Utah. Then in 1896, the school was moved to Ogden, where the School for the Blind was established, forming what is now USDB. Over the years, USDB has expanded and adapted, and now includes four campuses in Ogden, Salt Lake City, Springville, and in St. George. Altogether, the mission remains the same over all of these years to provide education and support to children with sensory impairments along with their families, through really specialized programs and services. USDB continues to be a resource for students with sensory, sensory disabilities, ensuring that they receive the education and support necessary to reach their full potential. Now, in this particular bill, it addresses four areas, important areas. The first is it clarifies the mission and role. Second, the governance structure, third facilities and fourth reports and data. And I am privileged to be joined here today by Dr. Leanne Wood, who serves on the Utah State Board of Education. And Dr. Molly Hart, the state superintendent who provide some additional context for this bill.

Thank you. Leon Wood, vice Chair, USBE. Today I come in my role as Chair of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind Standing Committee. We first want to thank Representative Whyte for sponsoring this legislation over the last four years. USDB has been under an intense microscope. The legislature required two building audits from different providers last year, PEA and EAC, tasked USB with convening a work group to make recommendations regarding the scope of services provided by USDB, the governance model and building needs. Following that they underwent as Representative Whyte shared audits from both USBE and the legislature. This legislation responds to the findings and recommendations coming from these various groups and should put the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind on a solid foundation as we move forward. One of the most critical recommendations came from the Dickinson's Partners, 2023 USDB statewide Master Plan final report when they stated the Utah legislature and the Utah State Board of Education should reconfirm their commitment to keeping families together with the model of serving deaf students and blind students closer to home on multiple smaller campuses, and ensure that USDB has the financial support needed to keep all facilities up to date and well maintained. This legislation reconfirms that commitment. This legislation also strengthens the relationship between our LEAs and USDB as necessary services are provided to our students who are blind, low vision, deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf blind. Last year, HP 5 37 brought the finances of USDB into the operations division of USBE. This legislation supports that move by clarifying the role of the state superintendent in appointing and supervising a superintendent of USDB with the approval of the state board. This legislation takes away ambiguity that was found in code regarding a process for USDB to improve their capital facilities and protects USDB when they're sharing space in an LEA building. Finally, this legislation clearly defines the separate Educational Enrichment programs, puts into statute the current makeup of the USDB Advisory Council, while providing some flexibility to meet the needs of the individual schools, and requires that a plan be made for communicating with students across the state who qualify for participating in the Education Enrichment Programs. We are so grateful for the hours that have been put in in getting this right. We thank Senator Balderree and representative er and our stakeholders across the state for serving on the work group this past summer for Representative Whyte and his role as PEA leadership for gathering feedback and truly listening, and we're grateful for the support of USDB leadership and educators who have been in the hot seat for these past few years. Thank you. The agency is boots on the ground for exactly what has been described here. I am very proud to say that our agency, both the financial and the governance side, um, have worked really hard to address the concerns in the audit and make recommendations to further build our capacity at USDB to serve the students, uh, in a meaningful way. Um, thank you for your support and, uh, we look forward to what's in the future for USDB. Thank you, Superintendent Hart.

Molly Hart, state Superintendent for Public Instruction.

It does. Thank you, chair.

Ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Who was on your work group?

So we had about 19 members. We had, uh, superintendents from across the state. We had two legislators. We had special education directors. Uh, we had parents of, uh, a parent from the blind who also rec, uh, was part of the advisory council. So it was just a, a broad spectrum of stakeholders who are engaged in the work of, of providing services.

Thank you. I know the Democrats in the state of Utah are very supportive education. Did you have any Democrat legislators on that web work group?

We did not. We had representative and, and Senator Baldry were the two that, that as I reached out and asked. So thank you for bringing that to our attention. We'll try to do better next time.

Thanks. I know my democratic peers really vote with education every chance they get. We support you tremendously. So I find it odd that you wouldn't include a bipartisan group of educators, I mean, not legislators. Um, my second question is, when I look at, uh, how we're supporting our deaf and blind across the state, um, I feel like the school for the Deaf and the Blind was something that we relied on much heavily, much more heavily in the past before we had the ability to have, um, um, enhanced hearing devices and, um, tools for education like big, um, monitors and larger keyboards, which I have gotten from kids in my schools. Are we working more to provide those services where the kids live? Because I feel like the school for the Deaf and the blind should be for the deaf and the blind, not just for the school. And I'm not making bad comments towards the school, but also advocating for students that are sight impaired, hearing impaired. I mean, that's what this, um, trust land line item was guaranteed for the students and not just for the school. So I know there's a partnership in how schools have to buy those services, but I would prefer to see that we really work hard to give those services to our kids. Like I, I don't believe there's a kid in the state that should have to pay for their own hearing aids if they can't afford them. And I've seen that happen. So, do we have the ability to start creating a repository of devices that these students can acquire with no cost to their families? If we have a trust lens line item that is dedicated to kids with site impairment and hearing impairment? And you can answer this offline, but it's just something that for 10 years watching the school for the deaf and the blind, I, I do wanna clarify two things.

So those enrichment funds are for, uh, for activities across the state. And, and there has been immense efforts to make sure that, that, that there's knowledge and, and we wrote into the bill this time, um, that, that there has to be a way to communicate. Mm-hmm. Um, but those enrichment activities are different from the library of resources. And if you'd like to know what's available, um, we do have one of our assistant superintendents here who could speak to those. But there are resources available. I'll speak to it personally. I, as a little girl would sit as a, as having a deaf sister. We would sit outside the Ogden building this big red brick building and wait for my parents to come out. Um, because they were able to, and they lived in Idaho, they were able to borrow a TTY, uh, an alarm system that would shake the bed. Yep. Um, so we've had those resources available and there is a library that, that allows parents to, to gain access to some of those things.

Okay. I, I have not always seen that. So, uh, that's something that I think maybe we should look in enrichment activities, because if a kid doesn't have a hearing aid, I think that's enrichment. So, um, I, I think the school for the deaf and the blind does great things, but there are some gaps that we need to start addressing. And, you know, your family did a great job. They had the resources to do that. But some of our families that really struggle and are mobile, there's a lot, there's sometimes quite a few hoops we have to jump through. And if our kid is moving quickly, those hoops have to be fast and we need to be able to get those kids to services. So I applaud all the work that we are doing, but there are, there's still some work to do. So thank you.

I'm Elisa Ine. I'm the parent of a deaf child that attends the Salt Lake Campus of Utah Schools for the Deaf. And I'm here today to say thank you for this bill. Uh, I'm a lead parent advocate and here to represent a majority group of the parents as we've been struggling over the last few years. Lots of audit reports, lots of funding cuts, and every year we wonder if the next year we're gonna have a school to send our kids to. And so we're grateful for this bill and the support, the long-term stability that it could provide for us. So I'm here to say, please support House Bill 4 4 8, um, in the creation of this bill, the parents of deaf children deaf, the experts in deaf education, our administration and the school board and the legislation has all worked together. And it's been beautiful to see that we can all work together and come to something that can support deaf and blind students going forward. Thank You. Thank you.

Uh, Matt Jaus, Excuse me. Matt Jaus. Uh, I, I serve as Chairs the of the State Board of Education. Uh, happy to be here and express my support for this, this bill. Grateful to all those who have worked on it, uh, including yourself and Representative Whyte. And also, as mentioned earlier, representative ER and Senator Balderree for their support in this as well. Uh, or, or at least their work on this. We'll, we'll hear about their support maybe in a few minutes. So, um, just grateful for the, the heavy lift as the State Board of Education has, uh, tried to do what they can in order to support the USDB, the School for the Deaf and the Blind more fully in its role as a state board. And so grateful for these, uh, wonderful legislators who have stepped in to help us out and the, the work that they have done here. So, appreciate the bill and, and look forward to it moving forward.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak. Amanda Bollinger, Vice-Chair of the State Board of Education. I apologize for not being able to be there in person today, but did want to just make sure that I took the time to voice my support for this bill. Not just my support, but our State Board of Education has also voted to support this bill. And it is a lot of the legislation requests that we've been asking for so we can better support our students from the School of the Deaf and the Blind. As a special educator myself, I'm very passionate about making sure these students get the support and that we collaborate with LEAs the best we can to ensure that students have the services they need in IEPs, our five oh fours, and that we can collaborate with parents and teachers to make sure everyone gets the support. So, again, appreciate, uh, Representative Whyte, Senator Johnson, and all of those on the working group that really lent a voice to making sure that we get this right and with some of the amendments and adjustments and know a lot of hours have gone into not just creation of the bill, but also to make sure that we are, are crossing our T's and dotting our i's. So, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, for a parent of a child with a sensory disability, the path to getting the right services can feel like a maze. And this bill will smooth out that path. And by clarifying the partnership between the USDB and local school districts, we're telling parents, we have a plan for your child, and we're working together to make it happen. And it's going to replace the confusion with a clear, supportive partnership that ensures that no child falls through the cracks between agencies. So again, thankful to everyone who worked on this bill. And with that, I move that we pass with a favorable recommendation. First substitute house bill 4 4 8 to the full body of the Senate.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the motion and the collaborative work that has gone into this bill before us. Today, I have the honor of serving as the Chair of the House Chair of the Public Education Appropriations Committee, along with Senator Balderree, a Senate Chair for Public Education Appropriations. And as we and with you chair and the other committees of public ed appropriations dove into these issues and audit findings from a financial perspective, I appreciate the work and the leadership and the recommendations that have been made from that committee to compliment the audit recommendations and everyone coming together. I first became aware of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind because the Springville School is in the House District. I have the honor of representing and when walking through that beautiful school, I was absolutely stunned and amazed by these ins, inspirational and remarkable students and their faculty and everybody that works there. And then learning the history of these schools for over 140 years of the visionary insight that the founders of the state had for the deaf and blind provided another reason to present this bill today. So I appreciate everyone's collaborative work and if passed, this will be able to further establish a very strong foundation building upon the past successes, but will also ensure these schools will remain successful for many decades ahead. So I appreciate your consideration. Thank you very much. Senator Baldry, I'll waive. Okay.

Thank you, Senator and committee.

Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro temp motion to adopt the second amendment in my name. Motion is to adopt Second Amendment for substitute house bill 4 48.

Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro temp. This amendment clarifies the communication plan and provides some additional flexibility with the advisory council.

Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro temp HB 4 48 is a bill that responds to the recent legislative audit performance by the office of the legislative auditor General. This bill addresses four important areas. The first is the clarifies the mission and the role. Second, the governance structure, third facilities and fourth reports and data. So I really appreciate the collaborative work that has gone into this build to really further strengthen the Utah schools for the Deaf and Blinds Foundation so it can have ongoing success decades into the future. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Pro Temp and, and colleagues. The Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind have an incredible history here in the state of Utah. It, the Utah School for the Deaf was originally established in 1884 at the present day, university of Utah location. And then in 1896, the school was moved to Ogden, where the School for the Blind was also established, which is now creating the Utah schools for the Deaf and Blind. Over this period, over 140 years, wonderful services have been provided to students and families. And this bill will help to be able to strengthen that foundation and that success for these inspirational and wonderful students, for their talented faculty and team members. So it can have ongoing success for many generations going forward. Thank you.

This bill responds to recent legislative performance audit conducted by the office of the Legislative Auditor General. The bill addresses four important areas, clarifies the mission and role, governance, structure, facilities, report and data. The collaborative and consensus work on this bill will strengthen us, uh, DB Foundation to ensure it will have success for decades to come. So the reason why this bill is needed is the office of the legislative auditor found that USDB needed increased oversight and improved strategic planning to better focus this on student outcome achievement. And with that, I'm open to correct questions.

Seeing, uh, I I move that HP 4 48 First sub first Substitute, uh, be read a third time.

Yes. Thank you. This bill, uh, is exactly what it says.

Thank you very, very much. Mr. President Pro Temp. Uh, this bill really responds to a recent legislative performance audit conducted by the Office of Legislative Auditor General, and we talked about this the other day. The bill clarifies the mission and roles, the governance structure, the facilities, the reports and data, the collaborative and consensus work on this bill will strengthen US DB's Foundation to ensure it will have, uh, success for decades to come. It, it was kind of fun. The, uh, the, uh, schools for the Deaf and Blind actually came to to here. And I, I was able to talk to them and, and, uh, they, they made me promise that, uh, that I would vote for, uh, HB 4 48. So it was kind, it was kind of cool when I told them, uh, that, uh, I was actually running the bill and they all, you know, clap for me. That was nice. So, um, thank you. Uh, I'm open for questions.

I move that HB 4 48 pass.