Certification for the Kentucky School for the Blind Administrative Staff Regarding Blind and Visually Impaired Students

WHEREAS: The Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) was designated the Statewide Educational Resource Center on Blindness and Visual Impairment by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) for students birth to 21; and

WHEREAS: These students are expected to receive a quality education in the core curriculum commensurate as with students in other Kentucky public schools; and

WHEREAS: In addition to the core curriculum, Kentucky School for the Blind students must also receive instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum which includes Braille, Orientation and Mobility, Assistive Technology, Recreation and Leisure, Compensatory Skills, Social Interaction, Career Education, Sensory Efficiency, and Independent Living Skills; and

WHEREAS: The teaching staff at Kentucky School for the Blind is required to receive certification in the field of Blindness and Visual Impairment in order to effectively teach these blindness specific subjects and skills; and

WHEREAS: It has recently been decided by the Kentucky Department of Education that the administrative staff is no longer required to obtain this same blindness certification; and

WHEREAS: Immediately upon hearing this announcement the Kentucky School for the Blind administrative staff who were enrolled in the University of Kentucky TVI teacher certification program immediately withdrew from the program; Thus, demonstrating their lack of dedication to their career as it relates to the education of blind children and interest in gaining knowledge of the specific educational needs of the students they serve in the field of blindness and visual impairment; and

WHEREAS: It is just as important that the administrators who engage in day-to-day contact with blind students have knowledge of blindness: now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED: In convention this 13th day of October in Louisville, KY that the Kentucky Department of Education reconsider this decision and establish a course of study that will require the Kentucky School for the Blind administrators to obtain certification or a core of courses specific to their needs that would encompass the major tenants of blindness and visual impairment. Thus giving them adequate knowledge to oversee the proper administrative activities at the Kentucky School for the Blind, as they relate to the education of blind children.