ATTACKS ON ASDB
Senator Wadsack has the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) in her crosshairs. Her initial proposal to open the school to children with all disabilities met with backlash, so she has instead supported more onerous audit requirements (HB2456 and HB2291).
SB1402 sponsored by Justine Wadsack • RTS: For (7) – Against (31)
- ASDB has served deaf and blind students across Arizona since 1912, and has been the model for similar programs nation-wide.
- Wadsack’s SB1402 would have required the school to accept children of all disabilities, despite the fact the school’s staff and curricula is specifically tailored to children with sensory disabilities.
- Wadsack’s plan just isn’t feasible! The proposal did not provide any resources to accomplish this massive feat, even though ASDB’s annual operating costs would skyrocket 5x to appropriately accommodate all disabilities.
- Wadsack’s bill is not moving forward, so instead she has supported HB2456/HB2291. This resulted in cutting the school’s audit from every 8 years to every 4 years, imposing unnecessary costs and burden on the school without cause. This is very unusual as the Sunset Audit by the Auditor General raised no major concerns about ASDB.