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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. James R. Roebuck |
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Roebuck bill to include school for deaf in state program sent to full House
HARRISBURG, June 30 – A bill introduced by state Rep. James Roebuck, D-Phila., that would allow a suburban Philadelphia school for the deaf to qualify for a state special education program was reported out of committee today.
Roebuck's bill (H.B. 2603) would allow the Clarke School for Hearing and Speech in Bryn Mawr to qualify for the Approved Private School program, which provides a free appropriate special education for students with severe disabilities. Clarke would become the sixth school approved to provide services to deaf students through the program, said Roebuck, chairman of the House Education Committee.
Roebuck said he expects Clarke would be approved for the program because it meets the regulatory standards for the program and the following criteria that the bill would add as a set of ways to qualify:
- Is an auditory-oral school for the deaf;
- Is a member of the national organization of schools that advances listening and spoken language education for children with hearing loss;
- Has at least three faculty members who are listening and spoken language specialists as certified by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf; and
- Demonstrates, through independent verification, that it is compliant with all content areas or test domains examined by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
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