Recap of KISD controversy with mass terminations of interpreters
The Killeen Independent School District in Texas, which is located between Dallas and Austin, has 74 deaf and hard-of-hearing students. There were 19 sign language interpreters but many of them were unexpectedly terminated right before the Thanksgiving break because they did not hold certifications. It caused multiple deaf students to endure several school days without their interpreters.
After extensive local media coverage and strong pushback from parents of the affected deaf students, KISD has offered the interpreters their jobs back but has changed their job titles to “communication facilitators.” I got this information from a person familiar with the situation and who prefers to remain anonymous. The person said some interpreters have already moved on to find other jobs and that deaf children have gone through emotional turmoil.
The Killeen Daily Herald reported on Sunday that KISD terminated 14 out of 19 sign language interpreters without giving the interpreters or students advance notice. As a result, multiple deaf students had to go through several school days without the interpreters that they had all year. Several parents did not even know about the change until the students had already gone through several days of school without interpreters. NAD’s CEO Howard Rosenblum told the Daily Herald that they were appalled to learn of the situation and that it may be a violation of federal laws that require school districts to provide qualified sign language interpreters to deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
One of the interpreters, Vanessa Bryant — who is also a CODA — told the Killeen Daily Herald that KISD gave her only “days'' to receive a certification that usually takes a year to complete. Bryant said she had to tell her deaf student/client that she wouldn’t be back after the Thanksgiving break and that it caused the student to have an emotional breakdown. Bryant said when school resumed after the Thanksgiving break, school staff texted her to ask where she was and that the deaf student was upset. Bryant said she couldn’t do anything. Bryant said she had 16 years of professional interpreting experience and that she should be considered a qualified interpreter. The ADA requires interpreters to be qualified, not certified. The Daily Herald pointed out that KISD allows teachers who do not have teaching certificates to have about two years to get their certifications but did not grant the interpreters time to get their certifications.
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There was a KISD board meeting on Tuesday night in which parents spoke out in criticism of the terminations. The Killeen Daily Herald said one mother told the board that her 8-year-old deaf daughter had trouble in class after going a week without her interpreter. The article said KISD announced it has hired back four of its non-certified interpreters under different job titles.
According to the conversation I had with the anonymous person familiar with the situation, KISD officials had the idea of using video remote interpreters to replace the in-person interpreters. Some even thought that deaf students could use novel eyeglasses captioning technology. The anonymous person said these devices would never work with deaf students, especially younger students, and they would be ineffective in group projects. The anonymous person said the media coverage and parents speaking out had an impact on KISD because the school district thought they could quietly get away with the mass terminations of interpreters.
So this is the recap of what happened at KISD the past two weeks.
* Here is a statement from NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum regarding the use of “communication facilitators.”
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) understands that the situation at Killeen Independent School District (KISD) is in flux as the district is responding to pressure from affected families, community members, the NAD, and other organizations. We are relieved that KISD appears to recognize the serious harm caused to deaf and hard of hearing children by suddenly removing their sign language interpreters without providing replacements. The NAD generally does not recommend the use of "communication facilitators" for deaf and hard of hearing students, and urges the use of qualified interpreters. We ask KISD to ensure that all of their deaf and hard of hearing students have appropriately qualified interpreters for all of their academic needs going forward, and that any changes made to the provision of services be done with consideration for the ongoing communication needs of these students. We are monitoring the situation and are available to support affected families, who are encouraged to contact the NAD.