VIDEO:
Arizona probes accusation of conflicts at Arizona Schools for the Deaf & Blind, Superintendent, board president focus of protests, complaints.
TUCSON, AZ. - Two state agencies are investigating the superintendent and board president of the
Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind for potential conflicts of interest and excessive travel expenses.
Superintendent
Robert Hill and ASDB Board President
Bernhardt Jones also have been the focus of multiple protests at school's two main campuses in
Tucson and
Phoenix over the last two weeks. Students, parents and former employees have called for the two to resign because of a lack of leadership and poor communication with the staff.
Among the concerns:• Possible conflicts of interest: Hill and Jones have a private business relationship outside their ASDB positions. Jones is the director of TASK12, which administers the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment for a $310 testing fee. Hill is listed as a TASK12 local test administrator at
classroominterpreting.org. Neither Hill nor Jones disclosed their roles with TASK12 to ASDB, its board of directors or the state. ...READ MORE:
http://azstarnet.com/news/arizona-probes-accusation-of-conflicts-at-asdb/article_e301835a-402d-53fb-b9fa-66e87c65dfe4.htmlRead Letter:
PDF: Letter from Robert Hill to ASDB staffPigs, goats snatched from classrooms: Deaf students protest, demand action.
Outrage swirling at the
Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind. One administrator on leave. Another fired. And now students say even their animals are gone.
Arizona Schools for the Deaf & Blind Board of Directors: Acknowledge the vote of "No Confidence" in Superintendent Robert Hill - Five years ago, parents, staff, and community members gathered to ensure that
Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind's campuses were truly accessible to
American Sign Language (ASL) for the students and staff as well as fostering positive changes in the curriculum in order to advance deaf education.
Today, we find that our students' education is now at risk because of haphazard administrative decisions and questionable conduct by Superintendent
Robert Hill, including several allegations of
discriminatory conduct in regards to staff (female/sexual) and disability (
Deaf).
Nearly 50 ASDB staff members have already personally signed the following statement: We, the members of the ASDB community including staff, parents, alumni, and friends, sign this
petition as a Vote of No Confidence in Robert Hill's continued service as Superintendent of ASDB.
Robert Hill has demonstrated a continued failure to exhibit the professional integrity and leadership that is expected and required of the Superintendent of ASDB. Such failures include a fundamental refusal or inability to: ...More details at petition
www.change.org petitions arizona schools for the deaf blind.
PITTSBURGH - This new edition of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) Newsmaker Program! We were pleased to have the opportunity to visit with Mr. Richard McGann.
WATE KNOXVILLE - After two surgeries that allowed her to hear and speak, for the first time she is hoping all of her accomplishments will show people hearing loss doesn’t have to hold anyone back.
JACKSONVILLE, IL - Change.org: A letter was sent to Illinois Secretary of Education Beth Purvis, with copies to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Department of Human Services Director Kris Smith, Illinois School for the Deaf Advisory Council (ISDAC), Illinois School for the Deaf Alumni Association (ISDAA), Illinois Association of the Deaf (IADD), and several legislators about Illinois School for the Deaf (ISD) issues.
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) - Jury selection has begun in Ellicott City for the trial of a former Maryland School for the Deaf dormitory aide charged with sexually abusing seven female students in Columbia.
However, Tuesday evening FHP said in a media release that investigators did not find the person of interest at home and had not recovered the 2006 Peterbuilt tractor-trailer believed to have been involved in the fatal accident. Investigators did speak with representatives of Mercer Transport of Louisville, Ky,, the registered owner of the semi, regarding the investigation and said company officials were cooperating.
DANVILLE, Mo. (ABC News) - A charter bus carrying students from the Missouri School for the Deaf overturned along an interstate in eastern Missouri on Friday, sending 15 children and three adults to a hospital but causing no life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
OLATHE, Kan. - Fox4kc.com: Fellow students and friends of a young woman who died in January from lung and heart complications held a blood drive Thursday in her honor.