RALEIGH, N.C. -- Parents and students voiced their support for three schools that serve those who are blind or deaf.
The state budget means one of those schools, either in Raleigh, Wilson or Morganton, will be shut down. Wednesday’s meeting in Raleigh was emotional as current and former students voiced their opposition to the plan. One of the people on the committee which will decide what school closes says it's just as emotional for him.
“I've been a teacher of the visually impaired. I worked with teachers who are deaf. I have friends, colleagues who are deaf or hard of hearing, family who are visually impaired. So it is an emotional thing,” said Tom Winton with the Department of Public Instruction.
The School for the Blind in Raleigh is the eighth oldest in the United States. It was established in 1845.
The three schools serve a total of about 220 students.
---Previous Story, Hearings prep NC blind and deaf schools to close, by the Associated Press---
WILSON, N.C. (AP) - Public school leaders are looking for public input as they figure out which of North Carolina's three schools for the deaf and blind should close next year.
The Department of Public Instruction holds the second of three public hearings in Wilson, the home of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. The hearing will be at Barton College early Thursday evening.
Officials were at the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton earlier this week.
This year's state budget requires the closing of either one of those residential special-needs schools or the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh.
The three schools educate a total of about 220 students.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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