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December 9, 2005
Call to Order and Invocation
Chairman Tim Jones called the meeting of the Consumer and Advocacy Advisory Committee for the Blind to order at 1:10 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2005. Invocation was offered by Ms. Hazel Staley. The following members were present: Tim Jones, Hazel Staley, Ron Eller, Bill Apple, Gwen Sullivan (representing Prevent Blindness North Carolina).
Members Not Present: Linda Lewis, Brian Lewis, Jim Shuart, Steve Walker, and Representative Verla Insko.
Others Present: Debbie Jackson, Francine Martin, Tom Winton, Pat Robbins, and Carla Parker
Approval of Minutes
Motion was made, seconded, and carried to approve the minutes of September 9, 2005.
Report of Entities:
North Carolina Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped—Francine Martin
New State Librarian Visits LBPH
Mary L. Boone began serving as the new State Librarian in mid-November 2005. On her 4th day in the office, she toured the LBPH and met with all branch staff. She was very impressed with the Friends of NCLBPH and has requested to attend the next meeting and receive minutes of the Friends meetings.
A native of North Carolina, Ms. Boone received her BA and MSLS degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was director of the Chapel Hill (NC) Public Library from 1978 to 1985 and was a founding member of the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association. Since 1985 she has been a Foreign Service Library/Information Resource Officer with the United States Information Agency and the U.S. Department of State, with service in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Washington, DC. Her assignments included serving as the director of the Department of State's extensive international library program from 1999 to 2002 and overseeing the planning and establishment of the Jefferson Information Center, a new Department of State initiative incorporating its existing library and a new research service, from 2002 to 2005. The UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science presented her with its Distinguished Alumni Award in December 2003.
We welcome Ms. Boone back to North Carolina and look forward to working with her.
NLS Digital Talking Book Distribution Update
ManTech, the consulting firm hired by NLS has completed a report recommending distribution strategies for digital talking books, scheduled to be available in 2008. ManTech recommend that for the first two to three years that digital talking books are produced, every regional library receive copies of every digital title produced, just as we currently do with cassette titles. After that time, an option of a national center duplicating less popular titles on demand for patrons is recommended. These titles would be ordered for patrons by their regional library. Even then regional libraries would still receive copies of the most popular titles, the 20% of titles that constitute 80% of the circulation. The full report is available on the NLS website at http://www.loc.gov/nls/technical/distribution/summary.html 
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Planning, Facilities, and Staffing
Volunteers and Public Relations Activities
The Governor Morehead School
Report submitted by Dennis Thurman
ENROLLMENT
Instructional services
The GMS Instructional Program did meet Expected Growth for the 2004/2005 school year. All 3 alternative goals were met in addition to EOG scores.
Please join the Instructional Program on November 17 at 7:00 pm for our Winter Music Festival in the Lineberry auditorium. Students will be performing theatre and songs to bring in the holiday cheer.
The 3rd annual Braille Challenge is scheduled for February 16th this year. We have had a student make it to the national level so far each year. Please join us in celebration of our students and Braille literacy on this day.
All positions in the Instructional Program have either been filled or a name has been moved forward.
The Instructional Program is currently adopting all new Language Arts books in the Instructional Program and teachers are working closely with DPI to ensure texts meet both the academic and vision specific needs of our students.
Student Health Services
We have had 1561 total student contacts for the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year (August and September). That is an average of 54 contacts per day for 29 school contact days. A breakdown of the total contacts is as follows:
Trainings:
Healthy Living Curriculum We will be assisting the school in promoting healthy lifestyles by assisting with forums on hand washing infection control, etc. We will promote increased activities during the day and after school, as well as healthy dietary choices.
SHAC: We will be having our first meeting of the Student Health Advisory Council November 3, 2005. We have 13 members so far, including one very gracious GMS board member! Mary Sugg Styres. Thank you. This year we will be focusing on the nutrition and physical activity of our students.
SNAP: We have just had the SNAP software program installed on the Student Health Center computer. This program will provide computerized documentation of student’s medical records and create a database for student information.
The nurses attended the 22nd Annual School Nurse Conference through UNC School of Public Health in October. They received updates on current health issues, such as immunizations, suicide prevention, MRSA outbreaks (and other skin conditions), as well as documentation of health services.
We are currently in the information gathering stage of facilitating an exciting new program, the Tele-Medicine system. We hope to implement it after next school year. Currently, our pediatrician is on campus 2 times a week. Access to this system would allow the Student Health Center daily access to a pediatrician. Tele-Medicine has also been very successful at the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. This program provides access to physician services from the East Carolina School of Medicine for students while they are on campus and can impact student absenteeism. During the 2004-2005 school year, we had 20 student contacts in which we had to send the student home for further MD evaluation because we did not have an MD on campus.
Outreach Services
Enrollment: Short-term: 3 Sessions, 14 students
New Employees:
Activities:
Billie LeTendre, Outreach Teacher, Chatham County, attended APH Julie Kagy, Outreach Teacher based in Raleigh, attended Closing the Gap in Minneapolis
Mike Switzer, Short-Term Teacher, continues his work with Skanska-Barnhill and their construction project on the new downtown Civic Center
Outreach teachers have had staff development from professors at NCSU and Emory University on educational testing and interpretation, Optelec (assistive technology), and learning media assessments (educational diagnostician from Iowa School)
Reminder: NCCVIB Conference, March 9 - 11, 2006 on GMS Campus; presenters still being scheduled but some confirmed are Paul Rowland (DSB), Beth Finke (NPR), Laura Park Leach, Bob Kennedy. This year's theme is social skills/leisure activities across the lifespan.
Student life services
Staff Recognition:
Vacant Position Updates:
New Staff:
Recreation:
Volunteer Training:
Please see “Student Life Chatter” at end of packet.
PRESCHOOL
Enrollment*: 0-3 year old: 277
3-5 years old: 273
*THESE TOTALS ARE CUMULATIVE FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dana Fox recently presented at the national DEC conference in conjunction with Deborah Hatton and the Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments. The full day pre-conference workshop was on Multimedia Resources for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments. An additional session entitled Improving the Lives of Young Children with Visual Impairments through Developmentally Appropriate Orientation and Mobility was also offered.
Charli Arman, the inclusion classroom teacher in Raleigh, has been inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, which is the graduate-level honor society at North Carolina State University.
On September 29 and 30, over 40 people attended a two-day workshop on functional vision and learning media assessments. Debbie Gleason with the Perkins School for the Blind, was the presenter.
Preschool students served on the GMS campus went trick-or-treating on Thursday, October 27. A number of GMS staff members and campus agencies participated, including administration, K-12, the infirmary, dietary, maintenance, Rural Health, and DSB.
Facility/safety/dietary services
MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
SAFETY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
DIETARY SERVICES
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction—Tom Winton
55th Conference on Exceptional Children – The 55th Conference on Exceptional Children was held on November 7-9 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. Approximately 2,850 teachers, administrators, related service personnel and parents attended. Two instructional sessions on visual impairments and two on deaf blindness were conducted, all with good attendance and excellent reviews. Several vendors from the VI field were among the exhibitors.
North Carolina Conference on Visual Impairments and Blindness – Planning is continuing on the 4th annual North Carolina Conference on Visual Impairments and Blindness. This professional conference, which brings together agency and education professionals from across the state, is scheduled for March 9-11, 2006 at the Governor Morehead School. The Exceptional Children Division looks forward to continue its involvement and sponsorship of this worthy conference. It will contract with NCAER to sponsor a keynote address.
Federal Quota Funds – As of December 9, 66 separate orders had been placed with APH in the Fiscal Year 2005-06 to procure instructional materials with Quota Funds.
NCCU-VITP Advisory Board – The Consultant for Visually Impaired continues to serve as co-chair with Dr. Deborah Hatton on the NCCU-VITP Advisory Board. The Board has recently advocated for the transfer of the program from North Carolina Central University to a strong special education department in another university in the UNC system. Representatives from the Board (Tom Winton, Deborah Hatton, Herman Gruber, and Kathryn Flynn) and John Miller met with UNC General Administration and NCCU officials to discuss these concerns. The General Administration decided to keep the program at NCCU for another year but under close monitoring. The Advisory Board then met with legislators of the General Assembly to discuss their concerns and ask for guidance. The meeting was productive and the legislators promised their attention to the matter.
Registration of Legally Blind – The Annual Registration of Legally Blind students will begin in early January. The Consultant for Visually Impaired administers this annual registration. An official count of the registered students with legal blindness will be available at the next C&A Advisory Committee meeting in March 2006.
Staff Development Opportunities– The Exceptional Children Division is offering continuing education certificates to licensed VI teachers for participating in staff development activities offered by Orientation & Mobility Services, Inc. Offerings in “Foundations in Orientation & Mobility”, “Computer Games/Software for VI Students”, “Reading for Pre-Braille and Braille Learners”, and “Monoculars and Low Vision Aids” are being conducted in various sites across the state.
Assistive Technology EXPO– The Exceptional Children Division co-sponsored the annual Assistive Technology EXPO again this year. It was held on December 1-2 at the North Raleigh Hilton. Our Division offered continuing education certificates to attendees. The Consultant for Deaf-Blind, Chris Jones, again sponsored many teachers of students with deaf blindness to attend.
VI List– The Exceptional Children Division continues to operate a successful email list for VI professionals throughout the state. Currently there are 153 active participants, including VI teachers, braillists, university faculty, administrators, agency employees, and others. C&A Advisory Committee members are welcome to join this list and contribute to discussions about pertinent issues in the VI education field. Contact Tom Winton for more information.
NC Division of Services for the Blind—Debbie Jackson
Major renovations have begun on the Cox Dorm located on GMS campus. Students were moved out of Cox at the end of September and work began the first week of October. It is anticipated the project will be complete in 9 months. After Cox is completed, renovations will begin on the Milsap dorm.
The News and Observer will be writing an article on one of our consumers. For the past several months, the writer has been time at the Rehabilitation Center attending classes with the student. Beginning on Sunday, December 11, the first of a series of four articles will appear in the News and Observer.
Voting Machines—DSB staff will have an opportunity to participate in the evaluation of accessible voting machines.
Rehabilitation Program Needs Assessment—The Needs Assessment began in September, questionnaires have been mailed, and telephone calls are being made to some consumers. Feedback should be back by mid-January. Not sure if report will be finalized by next meeting in March.
Prevent Blindness North Carolina—Gwen Sullivan
A “Governor’s Vision Care Program” was established during the last legislative session. A copy of the legislation was distributed. A Governor’s Commission on Early Childhood Vision Care is in the process of being developed. The Children and Youth Branch Advisory Group did meet to discuss the logistics of this program and compiled a list of concerns that will be given to the Commission once it is developed. Prevent Blindness NC will continue to provide updates as they occur.
The NC office as well as the other Prevent Blindness affiliates throughout Country are working on recruiting people for an advocacy event that is scheduled for March in Washington DC.
“Eyes on Capitol Hill” is a special program to let people with chronic eye conditions speak out about the importance of vision health care and share their personal stories with lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
NC Council of the Blind--Ron Eller
Ron Eller recognized David Alexander’s outstanding work and support of visually impaired and blind people.
Projects—Six State Leadership Conference which will be sponsored by Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and, hopefully, South Carolina.
The Council had a very successful convention in September in Burlington, NC. Next year, the convention will be held in Fayetteville.
The National organization, American Council, has 36 scholarships available this year. If anyone would like an application, contact Ron Eller. The State organization has 6 scholarships and will be taking applications until July.
A committee has been formed to determine if local hospitals have the Patient’s Bill of Rights in accessible format for blind/visually impaired people. If not, the Council will have those documents put into braille or onto cassette tape. Radio Shack will donate tape players for hospitals that will allow documents to be put on tape. The committee hopes to contact at least half of the hospitals in North Carolina.
National Federation of the Blind of North Carolina—Hazel Staley
The State Convention was held in Raleigh in September. The agenda items were very interesting and informative and the exhibit room was full of helpful items. The pocket-sized reading machine was on display and should be ready for marketing next Summer.
A new Federation Chapter in Craven County will be organized.
The Federation is beginning to plan for their Washington seminar which will be held the first week in February. This is the time when we lobby the Congress for issues concerning the blind and visually-impaired.
NC Association for Rehabilitation and Education of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER)—Bill Apple
Planning is underway for the NC Conference on Visual Impairments and Blindness which will be held March 9 - 11. AER is a sponsor of this conference.
The Annual Business Meeting of the NC AER will be conducted in the Weathers-Hill Dining on March 10 at 5:15 p.m.
The NC AER Website is up and running and provides links to the national office, bylaws, and board member names and addresses.
To boost membership, for a limited-time only, if you are not a member and haven’t been a member for 3 years, NCAER will contribute $50 toward your membership fee.
Elected Committee of Vendors—Tim Jones
The Business Enterprises Program is maintaining 84 Blind vendors across the State in various locations with average income a little over $40,000.
Annual training conference will be February 17-19 at the Holiday Inn-Winstead in Rocky Mount.
Old Business
None
New Business
After the first of the year, we will be contacting you about the Congressional H.E.L.P. Committee (Health, Education, Labor, Pension). Randolph Sheppard will be under investigation. Congress has received some questionable and inaccurate information regarding the Randolph-Sheppard program and we will need to present to them the facts.
Adjournment of Meeting
With no further business, a motion was made, seconded, and carried that the meeting adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
