With the impending closure of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind's Tucson campus, it's not only the families with students at ASDB who are concerned.
Some parents whose visually impaired children were already attending public schools in the Tucson area worry that an influx of new students will eat up resources.
Juanita Edgar's daughter, Mia, is an eighth-grade student in the Tucson Unified School District.
"I wish I could prepare her, but I don’t know what to prepare her for,” Edgar said. “My own personal child. She has autism, so changes are very disruptive.”
Mia has always attended public school. She sees her visually impaired, or VI, teacher, for one hour, twice a week.
That's down from three sessions, Edgar said.
“TUSD is spread thin with staff as it is,” Edgar said. “If there’s going to be an influx of students who need those same needs, is that going to take away from her?”
Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, superintendent for TUSD, said no agreement has been made on how space and services will be shared with ASDB.
“We understand they’re upset, they’re stressed," Trujillo said. "They want to know what’s happening with their student next school year."
Trujillo said TUSD is expecting just under 30 students from ASDB to join their Special Education population in the district.
“We have just about 7,000 students with all kinds of disabilities,” he said.
Another concern of Edgar's was transportation, after she learned visually impaired students would be learning at a TUSD hub, also known as a cluster.
“So, are they going to have enough drivers and buses to accommodate putting all of these kids into a cluster,” Edgar asked.
“I am legally blind as well, so I can’t transport my kid," she added. "I count on TUSD to transport my child.”
Trujillo said they want to get the agreement done first. The district will then spend the spring and summer renovating classroom spaces and renovating school spaces, "to make sure they are fully accessible and fully inclusive of blind students and the blind community coming in."
