FAQ's

One of the biggest reasons this web page was created was to answer questions. This page will host a very wide variety of questions and answers.

We all know there are still MANY questions and myths out there that need to be cleared up, and hopefully this is page will help do that as we develop it and respond to questions.

- Who are the members of the Advisory Committee?

The following individuals have agreed to participate on our Advisory Committee:

• D Searcy, Clintonville Area Commissioner
• Earl Cohen, Director of Children & Young Adult Services, Cleveland Sight Center
• Dr. Harvey Corson, former superintendent, American School for the Deaf, Kentucky School for the Deaf, Louisiana School for the Deaf
• Joe Finnigan, Executive Director of the Conference of Educational Administrators in Schools and Programs for the Deaf
• John Farley, Ohio State School for the Blind Alumni Association
• Mary Hiland, Executive Director, American Council of the Blind of Ohio
• Mike Hanes, Director, Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired
• Dr. Pam Luft, Associate Professor of Special Education, M.Ed. in Deaf Education, Kent State University
• Dr. Peter Paul, Ohio State University School of Teaching and Learning, Area of Specialty:  Education of Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students
• Rolland Doudt, Ohio School for the Deaf Alumni
• Thomas Penny, Ohio School for the Deaf Alumni
• Dr. Gertrude Galloway, former superintendent, New Jersey School for the Deaf
• Eric Duffy, Executive Director, National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
  

- Where will the new schools be built?

The memorandum of understanding signed in the fall of 2007 states, "New educational facilities" "will be built on the existing sites of these two schools." The exact locations of buildings will not be know until the spring of 2008, but you will find an overhead view of the property showing the different logical divisions of the property attached below:

Property Overhead Picture.

- Who are the architects that were selected to complete the Schematic Design of the School?

Steed Hammond Paul specializes in public institutional work and is considered to be one of the leading educational architecture firms in the Midwest. During the past ten years alone, their experience has included more than $1 billion and 34 million square feet of educational facility construction. An Ohio-based architectural firm, Steed Hammond Paul has offices in Cincinnati, Hamilton and Columbus.

Partners on the architectural team include Berardi Partners, which specializes in residential architecture, and The Winter Group Special Needs Studio specializing in facilities for the deaf, blind, and multidisabled.

- Who are the Construction Managers that were selected to participate in Schematic Design of the School?

Bovis Lend Lease, a world-wide company, is the second-largest construction management firm in the United States. The company has 17 U.S.-based offices, including one in Columbus.

- What is the timeline for the project?

The two schools began working with an educational planner, Dejong Inc. in March 2007 to create a list of our needs and ideas for the future schools.

The result of that process was an Educational Specification Document which summarizes Dejong's initial recommendations in terms of square footage and design ideas. That document was completed in June 2007 and is available on this site.

In June 2007, the schools began working with our architect and construction manager to validate the Educational Specification from Dejong and to complete an initial schematic design for the new campus, That process is expected to yield some preliminary design deliverables by April 2008.

The goal is to complete the full plan, including design drawings and construction documents, for the project by July 2008, and to be able to begin accepting bids for initial site preparation and construction by early 2009.

The overall construction timeframe will depend on too many variables to list here, but will likely span 4 to 5 years. A second phase of construction, if needed, could extend 4 to 5 years beyond the first phase.

An updated schedule is available in the documents section of this site.

- Are we selling land?

No decisions have been made about possible future use of any of the land that makes up the current school campuses today. Our focus through early 2008 will be to determine what we need to best serve our students and where is the best specific site on our campuses to build new facilities. Only after those decisions are made will a discussion of potentially selling any parcel be started. If anything changes in this regard, the schools will make an effort to communicate that publicly, and you can read about it here. There are still ongoing discussions of designs that use all of the current land occupied by the 2 schools in a new design. The State of Ohio does not rush into decisions about selling off public land. Keep in mind that the lands occupied by the two schools in downtown Columbus over 100 years ago are still publicly held.

- Are there other deaf and blind schools sharing the same campus or support services?

Yes. By our count, there are over a dozen other states already following this model or currently pursuing it. A simple Internet search for "deaf blind school" will turn up most of them.

Perhaps the most compelling case is in Virginia, where they are undertaking a process very similar to ours and are about 1 - 2 years ahead of us. Check out their website for more information:

http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/sssop/