Gally Grads Building a Tiny House Resort

Three Gallaudet University graduates are starting a vacation rental business, offering tiny houses deep in the West Virginia woods. Lost River Vacations will hold a launch party at a deaf-owned brewery at the end of April. Read details in a Washingtonian here.

Judge dismisses suit from ex-head of WV deaf, blind schools

The one-time head of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind filed a lawsuit against the school for firing him and evicting him from his home on the school grounds. But a judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Martin Keller. Read the full story in the Charleston Gazette-Mail here.

New Super for Deaf School

The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind is getting its first deaf superintendent. Martin P. Keller Jr. comes from the Indiana School for the Deaf where he served as principal of the high school and middle school. Keller starts his job in September. He has degrees from Lamar University, Gallaudet University, McDaniel College, and Xavier University. The previous superintendent, Lynn Boyer, was at the school since 2011 and retired this year. Read more here.

Deaf and Blind school gets temp leader

Mark Gandolfi will oversee the daily operation of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind temporarily. Administrator Lynn Boyer is retiring this month. Gandolfi has served as the schools’ director of finance the last couple of years. Read the full story in the Charleston Daily Mail.

Debate over School for Deaf and Blind

The head of the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind is fighting with her staff over changes to their jobs. WHAG-TV has a video report posted below.

1st Deaf Medical School Grad in WV

Mark Leekoff is making history this weekend. He'll graduate from the West Virginia University medical school and become a neurologist. Leekoff was one of the first kids in the U.S. to get a cochlear implant and tells WTTG-TV, “I'm an ambassador for the deaf community and myself. Through medical school, I have educated people about my hearing loss and everybody's embraced that.” The TV station's video report is posted below.

DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

Changes to WV deaf school

West Virginia is looking into combining its schools for the deaf and blind. The state Board of Education will also consider moving the facilities when it meets next month. The schools have been in Romney on some 80 acres of land since 1870. About 120 students attend the schools.

Changes to State Schools coming

The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind will get a dramatic overhaul after the State Board of Education put its stamp of approval on a 10 year plan to revamp the programs. More than half of the 19 buildings on campus will be torn down to replace those that are deteriorating and an updated curriculum will be included in the estimated $80 million effort. The school serves about 125 students in Romney.

Prison for Couple in Child's Death

A deaf West Virginia woman faces as much as 15 years in prison for the death of her infant son. Jessica Skupnick pleaded no contest. The man she lived with, Dominic Hall, was sentenced to 40 years in prison earlier this year for shaking and injuring the baby by bouncing it off of a bed.

New School Regs

Staff at the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind will have to speak deaf students through sign language. That's the new requirement at the Romney, West Virginia facility, according to Superintendent Lynn Boyer. The present employees, including teachers and bus drivers, will have 2 years to become fluent. New teachers will have to already have some signing skills and show advanced skills within two years.

Singing at the State Capitol

Students from the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind sang for members of the state House Wednesday visiting the state Capitol Wednesday. Here's a video showing the students offering a rewrite of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama, with the lyrics switched to "sweet home West Virginia."

Truancy Charges

A West Virginia mother says she plans to keep her daughter out of school, even though she faces misdemeanor charges for doing do. Regina Pine is letting Ariel Depp stay at home because the deaf girl is allegedly the victim of bullying and a sexual assault. She wants to attend South Charleston High, but the Kanawha County School District doesn't have an interpreter at the school. The fine could be as much as $100 for every day that Depp hasn't been in school - and so far, she's missed 35 days. Her mom has the option of home schooling the 16 year old. They are due in court November 9th.

1st Med Student

The first deaf student in West Virginia's medical school wears a cochlear implant. 24-year-old Mark Leekoff was born with a profound hearing loss, but became one of the first to undergo through implant surgery at the age of three. Leekoff eventually earned a biology degree in college and now the northern Virginia native is in his second year of medical school. Here's a student video about Leekoff.

Suit Against School Board

A West Virginia woman is suing her local school board for forcing her deaf daughter to attend a particular school. Regina Pine says she wants her daughter, Ariel Depp, to attend the school next door to their home, South Charleston High School. But the the Kanawha County Board of Education is making Ariel travel to Capital High School, where Pine claims an interpreter harasses her verbally and intimidates her. The board says Capital is the only high school in the county equipped to teach deaf children and the school's principal says the stories of harassment are made up.

Parents File Against WV School System

The parents of a West Virginia high schooler has filed at injection against the local school board. Ariel Depphas attended Capitol High School in Kanawha County. Because it's a 4 hour commute for Ariel, her parents want to switch her to South Charleston High School. A school right by their house. But the school board has refused to provide the deaf 16-year-old an interpreter if she attends the school. She says because she couldn't attend after school tutoring, she failed two classes last year.

Interpreter Request Denied

WSAZ-TV in Charleston, West Virginia offers a video report on a student whose request for a sign language interpreter was turned down by the local public school district.

ASL Law in WV

Students in West Virginia now get foreign language credit for studying American sign language. The new law went into effect today. There is a shortage of qualified interpreters in the state.

New Leadership in WV

A former state director for special education is the new superintendent of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind. Lynn Boyer is currently working at a DC nonprofit called Council for Exceptional Children. She'll have her hands full when she takes over July first. The school was cited for deficiencies in leadership, curriculum, safety and technology by the Office of Education Performance Audits.

WV Teen Found

A 20-year-old man accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old teenager is behind bars in West Virginia's North Central Regional Jail. Police tracked down Joshua Duff and Sarah Isner in Burnthouse. Both are deaf. Duff will face arraignment on charges as soon as an interpreter is available.

Reward Offered

The parents of a missing West Virginia teen are offering a $1000 reward in the case. Police say 15-year-old Sara Isner is believed to be with 20-year-old Josh Duff. Both Isner and Duff are deaf. Police in Grafton, about an hour south of Morgantown, have issued an arrest warrants for Duff. Not only for taking off the teen, but authorities say Duff stole a 2000 Saturn which was later found abandoned.