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Frequently Asked Questions
Tucson Campus
1. How old is ASDB?
ASDB was established by the Arizona State Constitution in 1912 when Arizona became the 48th state in the United States. The Tucson Campus moved to its present location on Speedway Boulevard from the University of Arizona grounds in. The Phoenix Campus (The Phoenix Day School for the deaf [PDSD]) opened in 1975. The North Central Regional Cooperative, the first of ASDB’s five regional cooperative programs, was started in. The Desert Valleys Regional Cooperative program, the last of the five regional programs, opened in 1996.
2. How many students attend ASDB programs?
In the 2002-2003 school year, approximately 2000 sensory impaired students from all over Arizona were served by ASDB. About 300 students attend the Tucson Campus, and about 250 students attend the Phoenix Campus. The remainder, nearly 1400, receive services from ASDB’s regional programs.
3. How many students live in the Tucson Campus residence halls?
Only the Tucson Campus of ASDB has facilities for students to board. About 35% of the students on the Tucson Campus (about 110) board at the school. Most of these students go home each weekend, but a small number of students go home only at the major homegoing breaks scheduled throughout the school year.
4. Is ASDB a private school?
ASDB is a public school program, but the Tucson Campus and Phoenix Campus programs are not school districts. The site-based schools are funded directly by the Arizona Legislature. There is no cost to Arizona students or the families of students attending ASDB programs.
5. Because ASDB is a public school program, can any student in Arizona attend either the Tucson or Phoenix campus?
Students at the Tucson or Phoenix campus must have a hearing loss or vision loss such that their educational needs cannot be met in the public school programs, even with appropriate educational services and accommodations. A student with normal hearing or normal vision could not attend either the Tucson Campus or the Phoenix Campus, and could not receive services from ASDB’s regional cooperative programs.
6. Can any student enrolled at the Tucson Campus live in the residence halls?
Students enrolled at the Tucson Campus who live in Tucson are day students; they cannot live in the residence halls. The residence halls provide boarding services to students who live far from Tucson so that they can access educational opportunities at the Tucson Campus. The boarding program is not a residential treatment center, a center for delinquent students, or a residence for homeless students.
7. Is transportation provided to students at the Tucson Campus?
Daily transportation is provided for students living within designated day routes. For students who live outside the boundaries of day student transportation, but within 125 miles of the school, weekend transportation is provided so that these students go home each weekend. Students who go home only at the major homegoing breaks (a week in September, October, November, December, January, February and April) are provided with transportation at no charge. Families of boarding students bring their children to the Tucson Campus for the first day of school, and pick up their children on the last day of school.
8. Do hard-of-hearing students attend the Tucson or Phoenix campuses?
In general, students with a mild or moderate hearing loss receive services from ASDB’s regional cooperative programs in the regular public school. In general, students with severe or profound hearing losses need the intensive and extensive services of a site-based school and need a sign language environment in order to access education. However, it is up to each student’s IEP team to determine the placement where the IEP goals and objectives can best be addressed.
9. Do deaf students at the Tucson or Phoenix campuses have to know sign language in order to enroll?
No, knowing sign language is not a requirement to enroll at either the Tucson or Phoenix campus. Deaf students who do not know sign language when they enroll are provided sign language instruction.
10. Do all the classrooms at the Tucson Campus have computers?
All classrooms in the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf on the Tucson Campus have at least one computer in each classroom. Each school also has at least one computer lab so that entire classrooms can have access to computers at the same time.
11. What does it cost to attend the Tucson or Phoenix campus?
There is no cost to students whose families live in Arizona. Occasionally a student from another state will attend the Tucson Campus; in this case, the sending state pays Arizona out-of-state tuition to cover educational services, residential services, transportation and other costs associated with attending the Tucson Campus.
12. What is the communication philosophy of the School for the Deaf on the Tucson Campus?
ASDB provides a sign language environment. All instruction is provided in sign language. American Sign Language (ASL) and print English are both addressed, taught, promoted and respected. Tucson Campus ASD students are very diverse. Some come to the Tucson Campus from oral programs; these students quickly learn sign language and receive ASL instruction. Some students have cochlear implants. Some students come to ASD having a fully intact communication system; they are fluent in ASL when they arrive. Some students communicate in spoken English and receive speech therapy and auditory training. In general ASDB encourages students to develop as many communication modes as possible, and provides opportunities throughout the school day for students to practice a variety of communication modes.
13. What assistive technology is available to blind students at the Tucson Campus?
14. Does ASDB provide medical services to students at the Tucson Campus?
The Student Health Center (SHC) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when students are in residence. There is no cost for this service; however, students’ families provide the SHC with information about family health insurance.
15. What is the annual Deaf Awareness Days celebration all about?
ASD high school students write, direct, produce and act in a student-written play each March. The play highlights an interesting facet of Deaf Culture. About 1200 public school students and about 800 members of the community attend the five performances each year.
16. How is ASDB funded?
ASDB receives most of its funding from the Arizona Legislature in a direct appropriation of the state budget. These funds support the Tucson Campus, the Phoenix Campus, and the administrative costs of the five ASDB regional cooperative programs. The funding for students served by the regional programs is provided by the public schools these students attend. ASDB also receives some federal funding (No Child Left Behind funds, for example), some grant funding, and funds from donations.
17. How do I enroll my child at the Tucson Campus?
All students at the Tucson Campus are referred by their home public school program. The public school shares educational records with Tucson Campus staff, and then invites Tucson Campus staff to participate in an IEP meeting. If the IEP team determines that the student’s educational needs require placement at the special school environment at the Tucson Campus, the student can then register and enroll. For more information, contact ASDB’s Parent Information Network Specialist.
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