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Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:54 PM ENCSD supporters rally in Raleigh By Matt Shaw | Times Staff Writer RALEIGH -- Supporters of the Eastern N.C. School for the Deaf rallied Thursday outside the Legislative Building, hoping to protect the Wilson school from budget cuts. But inside the building, legislators are still struggling to form a 2009-10 spending plan that's $4 billion less than the current year's. N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nashville, urged ENCSD parents, alumni and others to speak to legislators about how much the school means to its students and the community. While many people believe the threat to ENCSD has passed, "anything that's in that budget is in danger," Swindell said Thursday. Around 20 people representing both ENCSD and the original School for the Deaf in Morganton were gathered outside the N.C. General Assembly Thursday afternoon. Some bore signs praising deaf education. A larger crowd was expected before the rally ended at 6 p.m. The demonstration followed a similar protest Wednesday by friends of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind. All session, legislators have pitted supporters of the three residential schools against each other, threatening to close one, two or all three at times. At stake is potentially millions in savings. "The situation is so fluid," said Wilson County Board of Education member Gary Farmer. "It sounds like it's changing from minute to minute." Farmer felt compelled to join the demonstration because he worked at ENCSD for more than two decades, including serving as coach, athletic director and dean of students. "That is more than their school. It's the hub of their world. It's the hub of their culture," Farmer said. "It's the only place they can go to have normalcy." Dianne Wright, who attended both deaf schools, said via an interpreter, "It's simply not fair for students to close either deaf school." A Wilmington native, she recalls eight- or nine-hour trips with her family to the Morganton campus. The opening of the Wilson school in 1964 made that regular commute much easier, she said. If the state was to eliminate any of the schools, it would mean lengthy weekly bus rides for many students from their homes to their new campuses and back. Jana Lorris, an instructor at the western N.C. school, said both deaf schools are important to their students. Around 90 percent of all deaf children are born to hearing parents, many of whom will not or can not master sign language, she said. Linda Nelson of Cary, president of the N.C. Association of the Deaf, said all three schools offer educations that are not available in local school districts. "A lot of teachers ... simply don't know how to teach deaf children," Nelson said through an interpreter. A conference committee is now working to resolve differences between budgets passed by the N.C. House and Senate. Wilson County's legislative delegation -- Swindell and N.C. Reps. Jean Farmer-Butterfield and Joe Tolson -- have all said they will work to protect funding for the ENCSD. mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878 |
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