Parent voices concerns to board of DD

A parent of a Hills and Dales student spoke out about her concerns regarding the school-age programming, and an assistant principal's position was approved Tuesday, during the a meeting by the Highland County Board of Developmental Disabilities. There was also discussion on an increase in the board's cash balance by nearly $1 million compared to last year.

The board met in its regular session Tuesday and were addressed by Kathy Burns, a parent of a student in the board of DD's school-age program.

Burns apologized for being in tears as she spoke, saying that when it comes to her child, she gets emotional. Although her son has one year left that he is eligible to be in the school-age program, there had been discussions about moving him to the workshop program early. Several board members voiced they understood being emotional about your children.

"I'm not always able to come to meetings, but my heart is here with (the board)," Burns said. "No matter where I have been, I have always praised Hills and Dales. But right now, things are getting hard. Things are going on behind parents' backs to be done, and we're hearing things through the grapevine."

One concern was that she had heard there was an uncertain future for the school-age program.

"The future plans for the school ... They had talked about doing away with it at one time," Burns said. "There are some kids that if you give them a chance, they can do it out there. But there's a lot of kids who can't. There are others who need this school. (Her son) needs this school. I don't want to see it being diminished."

Burns asked how many board members had been through the classrooms or the workshops. Board member Deb Tissot said she had two children in the workshop, board member Karen Adams said she had a sister in the adult program, and Allen said that when the board was without a superintendent last year, she was in classrooms in the workshop nearly every day for three months.

Allen said in the time she was there, there had been no intention to get rid of the program.

"I was just concerned because a lot of boards of DD around the state have done away with their school-age programs," Burns said.

Board Superintendent Fred Williams said that he had been speaking with Burns, and that it was a "work in progress" regarding addressing some of her concerns, particularly regarding the hiring of an additional teacher, aides on the school buses and a bus scheduling change that had made it difficult on her, as a single parent.

Allen said that the bus route changes had been a result of the board asking if there was anything that could be done to improve on efficiencies to save fuel, but they did not know of the negative impact.

Burns said she believed it had been worked out for her son to attend his final year in the school-age program.

"I know everyone likes change," Burns said. "Some things are better off not changing."

At the end of the meeting, the board met in executive session for approximately half an hour regarding personnel. When they entered back into regular session, the board unanimously voted to hire a part-time school-age program principal.

Williams said he felt a person in that position would "absolutely" be able to address some of the concerns that Burns has, would provide leadership to staff, be able to work with the county school districts and help keep the program current with state requirements and standards.

In his report to the board, Williams said, "The cash balance is $1 million above what it was this time last year. That includes the paying back of Help Me Grow funds and unanticipated legal fees. I am happy to report to you the Highland County board is in good financial standing as far as the cash balance. I want to take this time to recognize the staff who worked hard to minimize costs without compromising quality."

Additionally, Williams said that it important to recognize accomplishments, and he submitted a list to the board of the notable mid-year accomplishments, which included: two SSA women moving into their own apartment, the assistant of a client in expanding his own small business, added four home and community based waivers to leverage local funds, nurse Becky Pollard was elected president of the West Ohio Chapter of the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association, all buses passed their six-month inspection, water usage was decreased by 7 percent, implemented early intervention services to 35-50 families, improved intense monitoring of billing practices and established strong relationships with schools, county agencies, the Highland County Chamber of Commerce and other community partners.