Deaf school in Morganton in jeopardy of closing

North Carolina School for the Deaf is in danger of closing.
An N.C. House appropriations subcommittee will hear options today on cost-saving moves concerning the state's two schools for the deaf and school for the blind, said Verla Insko, a chairman of the subcommittee.
The Burke County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night unanimously passed a resolution calling for the state to keep the school in Morganton. Legislators will get a copy of the resolution.
The county learned a recommendation has been made to the N.C. General Assembly House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services to consolidate the two schools for the deaf — one in Morganton and one in Wilson — and the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh.
County officials, along with Valdese and Morganton officials, say the school in Morganton can't close. It's historic, the only state school for the deaf from 1894, when it opened, until 1965. It's been upgraded with about $20 million spent on the Morganton facility over the last eight years.
But the biggest reasons cited are the potential loss of jobs in Burke County and the impact a closure would have on the deaf community.
Burke County, local leaders say, can't afford to lose more jobs.
According to the resolution, the N.C. School for the Deaf in Morganton employs 221 people. In addition, there is the potential loss of jobs in services to the school and the deaf community, such as Vocational Rehabilitation for the Deaf, Morganton Regional Resource for the Deaf and Western Piedmont Community College's interpreter training program.
Insko, who represents Orange County, said some options include closing just one of the schools or closing two of the schools to combine with the third. It costs the state $30 million a year to keep the three schools running, she said. If two are closed, Insko continued, there would be an initial cost to renovate the school that remains open, but, over the long run, the state would save about $17 million a year.
Insko said she believes the subcommittee would lean toward closing two schools.
Insko believes state leaders would be inclined to consolidate operations in the school that needs the least renovations. The Wilson school for the deaf, she said, seems to be in the best shape.
The subcommittee also will consider the enrollment at each school and travel time to the facilities, Insko said.
"This is our first run-through so I don't know how it will end up," Insko said.
Insko said the subcommittee must complete its work by May 27 and then report to the full chairs of the House Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services. The chairs will then suggest changes to the recommendations, she said.
It's not clear where a consolidated school might be located, said Commissioner Chair Ruth Ann Suttle.
Of the three possible locations for a consolidated school, local leaders point out, Burke County has the highest unemployment rate.
The city of Morganton and town of Valdese are fully behind the commissioners' resolution and joining the effort to keep the school open.
Morganton Mayor Mel Cohen said he's been on the phone with state representatives and plans to talk to others to keep the school in Morganton.
"We've got to do everything we can with all our power to retain our school here in Morganton and Burke County," Cohen said. "It's part of our heritage since 1894 that this school has been nurtured here."
Valdese Town Manager Jeff Morse said people have to do whatever it takes to keep the school in Burke County, because too many families and organizations depend on it.
"We can't abandon them," Morse said.
Cohen said people in the county will have to prove to lawmakers that the school should remain here.
Both he and Suttle said they expect a decision on consolidation to be made within about two weeks.