State to Split Deaf & Blind Schools

South Dakota’s School for the Deaf and School for the Blind and Visually Impaired will now have two separate superintendents. In the past few months, a series of investigative pieces have been published into how the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children in the state have been ignored for decades. Read more from the Argus Leader here.

School for the Deaf Campus Sold

The Sioux Falls Ministry Center is buying the South Dakota School for the Deaf campus for $6.9 million. The Center will get the building as well as the football and track field. Read more in the Argus Leader here.

Deaf School Leaders Want to Drop ASL Requirement for Superintendent

A deaf school wants to change a rule requiring it's leader to know sign language and have experience working with deaf children. The South Dakota Board of Regents is asking the state legisalture to make the change over the objections of parents and educators so that it will be easier to combine the leadership of the state deaf school and the state blind school. Read the full story in the Argus Leader here.

Looking Back: School for the Deaf’s origin

The South Dakota School for the Deaf has an interesting history. Read about its origins here.

Layoffs at Call Center

A deaf call relay service in South Dakota is preparing for layoffs. Communications Services for the Deaf in Sioux Falls will lay off more than 40 employees at the end of June. These workers are involved in the company's TTY area. This phone service is being phased out in favor of video relay services.

Challenging what happened after arrest for rape

A deaf South Dakota man remains in jail after prosecutors say he waived his Miranda rights back in February - when he was arrested for first-degree rape of a child. Jesse Johnson's attorney told a judge yesterday that Johnson did not understand his rights at the time. The attorney wants statements Johnson made to police through an interpreter not allowed in court during the coming trial. The attorney also asked for suppression of notes that Johnson wrote - and he's challenging the qualifications of the interpreter used by the state’s attorney’s office after Johnson's arrest. A hearing on the motion is set for September 28th. The 33-year-old could get live in prison, if convicted.

Deaf Pastor Killed

A Wisconsin pastor has died from injuries he sustained in an auto accident last week. A driver failed to stop at an Outagamie County intersection, hitting the car in which David Hoffman was riding. Three other people in the car were injured, but all were released from the hospital. Hoffman had moved to the Green Bay area recently from Sioux Falls, South Dakota in order to start a church for the deaf.

Gov Drops NAD

South Dakota's governor will not speak at this year's NAD. Dennis Daugaard withdrew after complaints arose about his views on gay marriage and other issues. NAD responded to the complaints with this video posted below on DeafNewsToday.com.

NAD Controversy

There's a controversy over an NAD speaker at this year's biennial meeting in Louisville. The National Association of the Deaf meets in the Kentucky town from July 3-7.  South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is scheduled to speak on the importance of the deaf community taking part in the political process, particularly when it comes to advocating for their rights. Daugaard is considered the first CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) to serve as a governor. He grew up using ASL and he even worked as a certified interpreter. However, there are complaints in the LGBT community that "Daugaard's view doesn't belong at the NAD conference" and his invitation should be cancelled. The Republican opposes many of the goals of the deaf LGBT community such as same-sex marriage. Some have accused Daugaard of having a hand in the recent closing of the South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls, but he was not governor at the time it was shut down. In response to the controversy, NAD has reportedly added a LGBT luncheon to the conference and a LGBT equality policy.

Gov to Speak at NAD

South Dakota's governor will speak at NAD's biennial meeting in Louisville on July 6. The National Association of the Deaf will meet in the Kentucky town from July 3-7. Dennis Daugaard will discuss the importance of the deaf community taking part in the political process, particularly when it comes to advocating for their rights. Daugaard is considered the first CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) to serve as a governor. He grew up using ASL and he even worked as a certified interpreter. The theme of this year’s NAD conference is “Nothing About Us, Without Us!”

Schools Honored

The South Dakota Board of Regents is honoring the Brandon Valley and Harrisburg school districts for their efforts to educate children with hearing impairments. The board passed a resolution commending the schools yesterday. Brandon has a two year old oral education program for South Dakota School for the Deaf students while Harrisburg started an educational program for bilingual and bicultural students last year.

Parents Legal Challenge Turned Aside

A Federal Appeals court has ruled against the parents of students at South Dakota School for the Deaf campus in Sioux Falls. They filed a lawsuit to stop the school from closing and then appealed the decision. Now, they've lost an appeal. The 3 judge panel said state officials had legal authority to close the campus in favor of educating students with hearing impairments in local school districts.

64 Out of Work

Communication Services for the Deaf in Sioux Falls is laying off 64 workers at one of its local call centers. They will lose their jobs at the beginning of the year. The move is fallout from a decision by Qwest Communications not to renew its contract with South Dakota company that has been in place for four years.

Parents Appeal Ruling

A legal fight over the South Dakota School for the Deaf is not over. A group of 8 parents filed a lawsuit but lost in court are now appealing. The lower court ruling allows the state to close the Sioux Falls main campus and just offer outreach programs and services in local schools.

School for the Deaf to Shut Down

The South Dakota School for the Deaf will soon close. Parents of students at the Sioux Falls school had filed a lawsuit last year to stop it from being shut down. But a federal judge has ruled in favor of the state because there are only a few dozen students enrolled.

$15 Million for Broadbant

Communication Service for the Deaf is getting a $15 million in federal money to promote the use of broadband among the deaf and hard-of-hearing. The money comes from the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Communication Service for the Deaf is a nonprofit based in South Dakota. Among other ways of getting the word out, the group will create an online support center through a sign language proficient staff in support of video, real-time text-based communications, and other specialized broadband technologies. The project is expected to create 60 jobs in South Dakota.

Augustana College ASL Program

Here are a few facts about the sign language interpreting program at Augustana College, a private liberal arts college located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The program began in 2006 when the Communication Services for the Deaf in Sioux Falls made a grant to help start up the program at the school.

• There are currently 36 total sign language interpreting students in the program and four professors.
  
• Four of the 7 graduating sign language interpreting majors from this year's program already have job offers.
  
• The seniors were required to complete a 400-hour advanced interpreting practicum, shadowing a professional interpreter.
  
• Augustana's program has a 100% pass rate on national certification (the national average is only 44%).
  
• Students start with classes in American Sign Language during their first year and then advance into translation and specialized interpreting courses their sophomore year.

Rhyming Signing

A new book called Rhyming Signing offers an innovative approach to teaching sign language. Author Brad Wyant believes it will help students learn quicker. Instead of grouping signs together under subject categories (like food words, or furniture items), the illustrated book groups similar hand signs together, even though they may be used to form words with completely different English meanings. The Gallaudet University graduate lives in South Dakota. Born deaf, his first book was titled You Can Sign - A Path to the Deaf Way.

Deaf Education Veto Upheld

South Dakota will not require its Education Department to set up programs to promote the education of children who are deaf or have hearing loss. State lawmakers upheld Governor Mike Rounds' veto of a bill that would have made that happen. While the South Dakota Senate voted 30-4 to override the veto, the House sided with the governor on a 33-34 vote. Rounds complained that the bill would have been too hard for school districts to accomplish because of funding shortages.

Education Bill Nixed

South Dakota's govenor has vetoed a bill that would have set up a program promoting the education of deaf children. Govenor Rounds said there were parts of the measure that would have been too tough for the state's school districts to fulfill because of limited financinng and staffing.