Kansas Schools for Deaf and Blind asking legislature to reverse $300,000 budget cuts

TOPEKA (KSNT) — The Kansas School for the Deaf, as well as the School for the Blind, are asking Kansas lawmakers to send back more than $300,000 in withheld funds.

During last year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 125. The bill was designed to reduce the budget of a number of state agencies, saving the state a total of $7.1 million.

Two of those agencies impacted by the bill were the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind. Each of the schools had to reduce their respective budgets by 1.5%.

We spoke with Luanne Barron, the superintendent for the School of the Deaf. She said that while that percentage sounds small, the money is vital.

“With that 1.5% reduction, the implications for us are that it was $189,000 less that was allocated,” Barron said. “I’ve asked that that money be restored so that we can utilize those funds for salaries and the very important work that we do for deaf and hard of hearing students throughout the state of Kansas.”

Barron said the loss in funding has primarily impacted the school’s Learning Assistance Program. Previous reporting done by our Capitol Bureau suggests that lawmakers are interested in helping the schools regain this lost funding.

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