Protests in Vermont

Several hundred people gathered at the Vermont statehouse to call on the state to reopen the Austine School for the Deaf. Vermont Public Radio has a report here.

Board votes to close school

The Austine School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will close in June. The Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Board of Directors voted 8-1 to shut down the Brattleboro, Vermont school. The vote also closes the Williams Center which provides emotional support for deaf children. The decision is expected to cause 50 people to lose their jobs. You can read more about the vote in the Bennington Banner here.

Deaf school may not reopen next year

A Vermont school is struggling to survive. "The Austine School for the Deaf in Brattleboro has seen its on-campus enrollment shrink from about 140 in the early 1980s to about 20 now. Staff took a 6 percent pay cut this year' reports The Burlington Free Press. Read the full story here.

New Boss at Deaf Center doesn't sign well

The Vermont Association of the Deaf is not happy with who's been hired to lead the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing which is headquartered at Brattleboro's Austine school for the Deaf. The advocacy group says William Gurney, the new president and CEO, is not deaf and doesn't know sign language. He's presently an associate superintendent in the Keene School District of New Hampshire. Mary Essex of the Vermont Association of the Deaf says the entire process of hiring Gurney was flawed. She wrote in a letter to the Board of Trustees:

"VCDHH has so many resources and is capable of being a strong asset to the state of Vermont. We seek to collaborate our resources and work together as a team to improve the quality of life for all deaf and hard of hearing Vermonters."

Essex says parents of students and alumni were not told of the change. Gurney is taking over for Bert Carter, who is moving to the Willie Ross School in Massachusetts. The school has hired an ASL teacher for Gurney.

New Prez for School

A Massachusetts deaf school will soon have a new man at the top. Robert Carter will take over as president in June of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow this coming July. He serves as president of the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing right now and is involved in the administration of the Austine School for the Deaf in Brattleboro, Vermont.

New Museum Opens

The Austine School for the Deaf in Brattleboro, Vermont opened a history museum this past weekend. The Holton Hall Heritage Museum is located on the third floor of the historic brick structure, which was build 100 years ago when the school started with just 16 students. The hallways are lined with photographs and articles, hearing aids are on display along with sports uniforms, yearbooks and photographs.

Getting to Know... Sue Thomas

Sue Thomas became the FBI’s first deaf agent and even had a TV show based on her life (The PAX show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye). She was born on this date (May 24) in 1950. She grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where her parents discovered she was deaf at the age of 18 months old. Thomas was sent to an oral school and mainstreamed. She learned to read lips and speak naturally, but was still mercilessly taunted. She sought refuge at a local skating rink where a determined coach helped her become state champion at the age of seven. She attended Springfield College in Massachusetts, earning  a degree in Political Science and International Affairs, before going to work at the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC in1979. She worked in a program to train deaf people to classify fingerprints. After she successfully told agents what was said in a surveillance video of a gambling operation which had no audio, word spread of her ability to read lips. She served as a tour guide and made appearances on behalf of the Bureau. Thomas left Washington to attend South Carolina's Columbia Graduate School of Bible and Missions in 1983. She ended up in California where she began working with the U.S. Center for World Mission. Her 1990 autobiography entitled Silent Night was the basis for the show. In 2001, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She now lives in Vermont. Below is a video from 2010 of her speaking at a Bill and Gloria Gaither Homecoming special (no captioning).

Golf Tourney

The Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing holds its 11th Annual Golf Tournament tomorrow in Brattleboro, Vermont. Click here for more information.

School Closing

A regional day school for deaf children in Vermont is shutting down. All but one of the 7 students in the program at Mount Anthony Union Middle School in Bennington are heading to high school. The school within a school is run by the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard. Vermont's only residential school for the deaf is Austine School in Brattleboro which serves about 60 students.

$3 Million Bond

Vermont’s Austine School for the Deaf plans to go green with the help of a nearly $3 million bond. The Vermont Economic Development Authority gave its stamp of approval to the plan along with $15 million in commercial and agricultural financing. The school and 15 other programs are run by the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The funds will go to upgrade several buildings on campus including new lighting, insulation and heating system.

Dance in Vermont

The Gallaudet Dance Company will perform this weekend in Vermont for the first time. The Barre Lions Club invited the group to the Barre Opera House on May 9 for two performances. Proceeds from the performance go toward providing those with vision loss and hearing loss with special equipment. The club has given more than $35,000 for eyeglasses and hearing aids in the last few years.