School for the Blind is on the Rebound
Kathy Holcombe’s eyes still fill with tears when she talks about
a 1997 letter from the Department of Public Instruction informing her
that the Wisconsin School for the Visually Handicapped would be closed
at the end of the 1997-98 school year.
“It wasn’t so much that I would be out of a
job, but it was inconceivable to me that people didn’t see the
value of what we did at the school,” said Holcombe, who has taught
at the facility for 27 years.
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“I love this school,” says Chelsea
Reilly (right), a 9th-grader at the Wisconsin School for the
Visually Handicapped in Janesville. Teacher and advisor Fred
Nesvold works with Reilly and student Abby Swatek.
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Now, a year and a half later, the school remains open
and – thanks to the hard work of Holcombe, WEAC Council #1 and
others – its future is looking brighter.
A Legislative Council committee studying the school’s future has
reached an informal agreement that would keep the school open but change
the way it operates. Under the plan, the school would no longer be a
full residential facility, but some students would continue to live
and be educated there.
“The consensus on the legislative study council is that the school
will stay open,” Holcombe said.
The committee was appointed by the Legislature as a result of fall-out
from State Superintendent John Benson’s plan to close it to save
money. Teachers, students, parents, community activists, and the Wisconsin
Council of the Blind flooded legislators with letters and calls and
testified at a public hearing touting the success of the school and
pleading for its survival.
Holcombe is the only non-voting member of the Legislative Council’s
study committee, which will make final recommendations to the Legislature
by May 1.
“The understanding I have is that the residential school will
become a center to provide services to all kids in Wisconsin,”
said Tom Hanson, who became the school’s superintendent during
the turmoil that followed the announcement of Benson’s plan. Hanson
is a former teacher at the school and former active local union leader
who continues to be a strong advocate for keeping the facility in operation.
Under the Legislative Council’s plan, he said, “There will
be more concentrated efforts to local schools, and we’ll do more
assessment services for daily living, transportation skills, and Braille
instruction. It looks like we’ll be doing more outreach education
than we’ve been able to do in the past.”
The school is serving 71 students this year, up from last year’s
total in the low 60s. There are close to 1,300 students in the state
who qualify for services, Hanson said.
Hanson, who is blind, said local public schools are not able to offer
the services provided by the WSVH.
“Students who come to school here get a more comprehensive program
geared to their needs. Kids participate in athletics that they wouldn’t
try in public school,” he said. “They learn how to wrestle
or play musical instruments or become cheerleaders, which builds their
self-confidence.”
Chelsea Reilly, 15, a 9th grader at WSVH who takes Spanish and English
at Parker High School in Janesville, said that although she likes the
public school too, it just isn’t the same for blind students.
“I love this school (WSVH). I was mad when I heard the school
was closing because I wouldn’t be around people like me,”
she said. “Friends here can relate more to me because we all can’t
see.”
Chelsea and classmate 14-year-old Abby Swatek are cheerleaders at WSVH
and compete on an even playing field because compensations are made
for their needs. That would not happen in local public schools, said
teacher Fred Nesvold.
Nesvold, who has taught at WSVH since 1972, is senior class advisor;
heads the year book and photography clubs; coaches track, cross-country,
cheerleaders; and is the president of the teacher’s union local,
which is a WEAC affiliate.
“The majority of the teachers are more interested in keeping the
school open than (in preserving) their jobs,” Nesvold said. “We
can get jobs, but are schools across the state going to have activities
and events that blind kids can earn medals in?”
“The nature of blindness is that everything learned has to be
taught,” Holcombe added. “Blind kids don’t pick up by
watching like sighted 2- and 3-year-old learners do. They have to be
taught how to eat, dress, and get around consistently over a long period
of time.
“The environment (in local public schools) is not suited for independent
living skills for the visually impaired,” she said.
Jason Songs, 14, of Appleton, said he prefers WSVH to a local public
school because he gets more help. “I couldn’t join anything
before. Here I joined swimming and track and I can meet people.”
Likewise, Phillip Mason, 13, of Milwaukee, said he appreciates the
individualized attention at the WSVH. “In Milwaukee all they ever
said when I wanted help was, ‘go to the vision room, go to the
vision room,’ and I never got the help,” he said.
Posted April 5, 1999