 |
YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
June 13, 2002
Report No. 2002-45
The following problems
were discovered as a result of an audit conducted by our office of the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Missouri School for the Deaf.
The
Missouri School for the Deaf (MSD) provides residential and day school programs
for school-age children who are deaf or hard of hearing.� Through its outreach services the School for
the Deaf also provides technical assistance and resources to local school
districts serving children who are deaf/hard of hearing.� The school celebrated its 150th
year of service to deaf students in 2001.
As
a result of our audit we noted the MSD should identify and consider the
viability of various ways to increase operational economy and efficiency.� An environment of shrinking enrollment and
rising costs at the school has created the need for such action.
The
school's enrollment has shrunk from 157 during the 1996-1997 school year to 136
for the 2001-2002 school year.� Of the
current enrollment, 88 are residential students living in dormitories on
campus.� Since the school's educational
capacity is in excess of 400 and its dormitory capacity is 202, there currently
exists considerable excess capacity.�
During the last several years, costs per pupil have also been on the
rise.� The school's costs per pupil have
risen from $39,221 during the 1996-1997 school year to $47,796 for the
2000-2001 school year.
According
to school personnel, the shrinking enrollment is a continuation of a trend
beginning in 1975 with a federal law requiring free and appropriate education
for all students.� Prior to this law,
all Missouri deaf students attended the Missouri School for the Deaf.� Subsequent to 1975, local school districts
had more control over their students and were free to provide services to all
students, including the deaf.� These
local school districts now receive additional funding from the state's School
Foundation Formula for deaf students attending their schools.� This, coupled with the fact that more
parents are currently choosing to keep their deaf children at a school near
home contributes to the onward decline in enrollment.
As
part of our review, we surveyed several states that operate schools for the
deaf and hard of hearing to obtain their input on how to increase enrollment,
save costs, and operate more economically and efficiently.� The following results should be considered
by the Missouri School for the Deaf:
In
the current environment of shrinking enrollment and rising costs, there may be
other options to consider which may promote operational economy and efficiency
for the state and the School.� Such
options may include, but not be limited to:
During the 2000-2001 school year, the school served deaf children throughout the state.� The school served over 400 students each through audiological evaluations and audiological training unit rentals, parent advisors achieved nearly 600 family visits in Project Outreach, and over 200 students each were served with either individual or group sound field systems.� In addition, the school holds in-services to train professionals, loans hearing aids to children in the local education agency, provides on-site consultations, and holds workshops in the local education agencies on requested topics.
