Current StaffParent of Current StudentArizona Resident
Date
11/08/2022
Subject
Teacher that bullies child/ren
Comments
i hope you have received my email and from other parents. Regarding to a teacher walking in my son’s classroom and yelled at him for making noises. He has Tourette’s. she told him that he is a zoo animal and belong in one, that she will call 911 on him. And that he needs to know how to behave in the real world. To a 10 years old with Tourette’s. In FRONT of his teacher and students. Leaving him in tears and apologizing repeatedly, trying to explain that he cannot control it. For two days, my son refuses to go to school because he is scared that she will call 911 on him since he cannot control his vocal tics. I am angry that she instilled that kind of fear in him. I am angry and the community is as well. They are very aware of her ways because she has been doing it for too long and she gets away with it. We can’t have that. No more. She has a long history of doing similar things to other students and staff. PDSD has swept this under the rug for too long. I have gathered all stories from parents/community members who have encountered this kind of behavior from her. And trust me, there is a lot of stories. We will not be quiet. No more. This must be dealt with. We will go to public if there is nothing being done about this. We do not mean a slap on the wrist for her.
Submission 2
REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Marci Barenburg
Choose One
Parent of Current Student
Date
11/08/2022
Subject
Student safety
Comments
PDSD is failing to keep their student’s safe. An event occurred in my son’s classroom last week where a teacher belittled and berated a student. The parents of the students that witnessed the event were not notified. If this event was swept under the rug, what else is this school system ignoring and failing to report? The theme chosen by staff and students this year is to Level up, and events like this make the school look dismissive and as if they choose themes whimsically and without intention. PDSD needs to do better!
President Nigro needs to go, he is an oppressive person and he has discriminated the deaf. He does not listen nor handle board meetings effectively with deaf board members. This is how he behaves and acts towards to the agency, that will impact the campus as a whole. He needs to go.
Submission 2
REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Marcus Titus
Date
07/06/2022
Subject
Assistant superintendent
Comments
Good evening, my name is Marcus Titus, I’m a physical education teacher here at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind. This will be my 5th year and I am looking forward to working with my students. I want to address my concern for our school. I am worried ASDB is not where it used to be when I was a student back in the 90s. When I was an elementary student, I remember a large number of students attended here. Every classroom was filled with students and a significant number of dorm students lived here. My concern is we need our school to grow, with both deaf/hard of hearing and visual impaired students. My question is, why is our school not growing? For students in these groups, it important for them to have experiences and interact with other students who are like them. It helps them learn from each other and know they have a community there to support them. That is the key for young students to develop their personality, identity, and a sense of community.
As we enter a new school year, there are a lot of changes happening. We have a new principal this year, and now we are hiring a new assistant superintendent. With these changes, are you thinking about how we can increase our awareness to the community? Do you have a plan in place to bring in more students? As our numbers continue to decrease, I am concerned more parents will want their kids to go to other schools in the area instead of our specialized program. Tucson has a large deaf/hh and visually impaired community and they need to know ASDB is a great option for their children to go to instead of opting for other public schools. As you look to hire a new assistant superintendent, I encourage you to please find someone who has experience with a specialized school like ASDB. Someone who has experience working in a school with deaf/hh and visually impaired individuals as well. Students in these communities deserve a place they can call their own and without the proper leadership, they will not continue to get this experience or have the opportunity to join this school. Thank you for your time in listening to my concerns and I look forward to a bigger and brighter future for ASDB and our students.
I am concerned about my deaf daughter’s future. I will not take her to oral school because it embraces our language ASL! This should be change and keep our language ag ASDB! What does ASDB school for? ASL? Access? Our culture? Our history? If you change it to orally school and you guy are big betrayal to us who’s deaf parent. Now I am super worried. I am worried about my DAUGHTER’s education. Where is her opportunity to have good education and ASL access
Submission 2
REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Leslie Janda-Decker
Date
05/04/2022
Subject
Assistant supt and k-12 principal hiring
Comments
It s time to hire them who are Deaf or hard of hearing people to cover these positions. So tired to see others in the past knew nothing about ASL and Deaf community. Even in years they had been working at asdb and know a very little ASL. Obviously they worked there for money. They know what is the best for deaf children and their education. The language deprivation from deaf children have to be stopped. Motivate them acquire the beautiful language where they can get the good education. The hirings for these positions would show compassion, empathy and know the best of interests for the deaf children. These positions should be showing their faces more often instead of staying in their offices. Often staff and faculties don’t see them very much especially in events in past. Hiring Deaf and HH for these positions and they will make sure the communication would be accessibility for everyone even students.
Submission 3
REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Samantha Moore
Date
05/04/2022
Subject
Desert Voices
Comments
Growing up in ASDB, I did not attend speech on campus. The campus was the ONLY place where I could use my special hands, and my eyes. The only place. I used my ears and mouth at home, outside of campus, around my family, at work, and all else where. Currently Desert Voices is taking away that opportunity and taking away student’s belonging to the Deaf school. My parents were responsible of me, they took me to speech therapy outside of campus, worked on my speech at home, but not at school. I am requesting that ASDB releases Desert Voices from ASDB’s contract. This is language deprivation, taking away the student’s ability to acquire language and educating on campus. I did not have language until I entered ASDB, this is where I learned sign language and where I picked up my education, through ASL. I am not encouraging to remove how to communicate, that is up to the students to decide(I encourage parents to support their decisions). However, pushing speech therapy in Deaf school sounds very wrong, and it is wrong. If you look at other Deaf schools, Riverside, Fremont, Texas, Maryland, Indiana, and other big schools. They have high number of Deaf students, why? ASL!!
Submission 4
REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Name
Elizabeth Brauss
Date
05/04/2022
Subject
Agenda Item 7.02 and 7.03
Comments
Superintendent Reichman and the Board,
At the November 2021 board meeting there were many comments raised addressing the culture of intimidation, the chain of command, and concerns about services for our students.…comments and concerns that have gone unaddressed by leadership to teachers and staff.
During the March 2022 board meeting, formal complaints and grievances were discussed. The previous suggestion of reporting to the state Ombudsperson was also discussed and revealed that it is not a viable option for ASDB staff when dealing with issues and concerns within the agency. It was pointed out that staff go through beginning of the year trainings to identify how to file formal complaints and grievances. A training that also includes information about consulting an Ombudsperson.
Not all points of concern rise to the level of formal complaint or grievance. I have had a personal experience with the chain of command dismissing my questions. Questions that remain unanswered. I have personally had a concern over a situation with leadership in 2020 where I was unsure of what to do, so I sought the support of our then Ombudsperson, Karin Grandon. After I found out that the Ombudsperson position was vacant, I didn’t pursue the concern any further because of fear and lack of support.
Having felt dismissed from the internal process and my understanding of the formal complaint and grievance policies, I took my concerns to a public comment at the board meeting in November 2021.
Finally, I have said this in a previous board comment, but after listening to numerous board meetings this year, I feel compelled to say it again. To suggest that the concerns have come from a place of resisting change is insulting and feels like I am being gaslit. Change can be embraced when it is centered in equity and made with true transparency and collaboration, especially when it positively impacts our students.
It is my hope that you, the board and Superintendent Reichman, reflect on the concerns that have been raised. Why might they have been raised? Why might they have come from a specific region? Why have people decided to go the route of the public board comment? I also hope that the position of Ombudsperson is filled to ensure that the concerns and comments of the entire ASDB community are considered, not just those at the very top.
Thank you.
Elizabeth Brauss Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Region 2/DVR
Phoenix Day School for the Deaf (PDSD), the Phoenix campus of Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, is excited to continue growing their partnership with Pawsitive Friendships.
Tosha Tharp-Gaitanis founded Pawsitive Friendships after working with her own child diagnosed with high functioning autism/Asperger’s Syndrome and their family dog. Pawsitive Friendships provides animal-assisted therapy as an integral part of a goal-oriented treatment plan for those with special needs. Its school-based program works with teachers to help the students work on their Individualized Education Program goals in small groups. Aided by the gentle and unconditional love of highly trained animals, Pawsitive Friendships helps students improve physically, socially, and emotionally, as well as other areas of self-regulation and motivation.
Pawsitive Friendships began its eight-week pilot program serving PDSD’s kindergarten classes on March 18 and will continue through May 6. Students have responded well to working with canine friends Jacques, Evelyn, and Scout, with a focus on social skills, taking turns, following directions, and self-regulation. On Friday, April 8, kindergartners met miniature horse Bella. As a special addition to the regular program, on Friday, April 15, Jacques the French bulldog will visit the first grade classrooms and all Life Skills classes on campus.
Pawsitive Friendships has 95 therapy teams in Maricopa County and is looking for more so as to serve more schools and classes simultaneously. Those interested in being part of therapy teams can contact Tosha at pawsitivefriendships.org.
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The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) was founded in 1912 – the year of Arizona’s statehood. ASDB serves over 2,000 children who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind from birth to grade 12. ASDB operates two schools for the deaf and one school for the blind, as well as serving students in itinerant settings in the public schools of Arizona. ASDB is dedicated to empowering students with the educational opportunities necessary to succeed in college, career, and life.
Tax credits include the following Schools/Programs (please input the school or program within the “comments” section on the next page):
Academic Bowl
ASB Art Program
ASB
ASD Battle of the Books
ASD
Athletics
Camp LEAP
Close Up
Deaf Olympics
DV
EHR
Elementary
Extracurricular Activities
Fine Arts
High School
Jr Blind Olympics
Middle School
Music
NCR
PDSD
Residential Dorms
Science Club
SER
SWR
TROT
“For contributions made after December 31 but on or before April 15, the taxpayer has the option to claim the tax credit in either the previous tax year or in the year the contribution was made. The allowable amount is $400 for married filing joint filers and $200 for all other filing statuses.”
“A tax credit is something that directly reduces how much tax you owe. A donation is a tax deduction, this is something that reduces how much taxable income you claim. If you would like to make a donation to a program not mentioned above it will be treated as a donation not a state tax credit donation.”
