Saturday, January 31, 2009

School Recovering After Sex Scandal

Administrators say the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge is a changed campus since reopening in November. The facility was rocked by a sex scandal this past year that included the rape of a six-year-old girl on a school bus. State officials shut it down for a month to upgrade the facility. A half-a-million dollars was spent on improvements including 174 surveillance cameras, a system to track dormitory staff and retrained security guards. A website is now available that shows parents their child’s attendance, grades and disciplinary history. When the school closed, it was discovered that nearly a fifth of the professional staff did not even did not know sign language. They are now required to take classes. Since the changes went into effect, there have been no reports of further problems among the students.