Audit shows Louisiana special school district has significant staffing, morale issues
A state audit requested by the Legislature found that the Special School District overseeing the Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired faces significant staffing issues due to low morale, high turnover and organizational changes.
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a performance audit earlier in June outlining several problems with the district, including that the stand-alone agency has not developed comprehensive policies and needs to strengthen its philosophy for deaf education, among other issues.
What is the Special School District?
The Special School District, or SSD, is the governing body for the Louisiana School for the Deaf and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, which share a campus in Baton Rouge. The two schools are often collectively referred to as the Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired or LSDVI.
The SSD also oversees special school programs located in juvenile facilities, prisons, hospitals and others.
In 2012, the legislature moved the state’s special schools, including LSDVI, from the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Louisiana Department of Education. Then, in 2021, the Legislature again moved the SSD from LDOE and made it a stand-alone educational service agency, governed by a 12-member board of directors.
Since 2012, the SSD has been led by eight different superintendents with the most recent being hired in May 2023.
“SSD is unique in that it is, in part, a state agency, and, in part, a school district, which results in it operating differently than a local educational agency or school district,” the audit said.
In March 2018, the Educational Development Center – at the request of LDOE – released a report evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the district. The report found that the SSD had issues that, if not addressed, “present potentially insurmountable barriers to the improvement of each school and the development of SSD as a statewide resource,” according to the audit.
The report also made several recommendations for improvement, but the audit noted that many of the recommendations have not been implemented by the SSD.
Louisiana Schools for the Deaf and Visually Impaired face staffing issues
In the 10 years between fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2022 – when the SSD became a stand-alone agency – the district has had eight different superintendents.
“Such governance changes can lead to instability and uncertainty, which in turn affects employee morale and other aspects of workplace culture,” the audit said.
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The 2018 report found that the Louisiana School for the Deaf faced low morale among students and staff due to a lack of a unified vision school, insufficient communication and ineffective problem-solving.
As part of the audit, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office conducted a survey of SSD employees with 107 employees responding to the survey. Of those, 82 – 76.6% – disagreed or strongly disagreed that morale is high within the SSD. Eighty-seven of the respondents, around 81%, said employee morale was one of the district’s biggest challenges.
According to the audit, the employees listed concerns about low pay, a lack of appreciation, poor communication and a lack of transparency from SSD leadership. Around 34% said they had experienced unprofessional behavior monthly, weekly or daily over the last year, with 17% saying that they had experienced discrimination at the same frequency.
Around 14.4% said they had been retaliated against by the administration monthly, weekly or daily over the last year, and nearly 10% said they had been pressured to do something unethical or against policy at the same frequency.
As of January 2023, the district had 10 more full-time positions than it did in July 2021, but the number of teachers and direct service positions had decreased while the number of administrative positions grew.
The audit noted that from 2021 through 2023, the SSD did not resolve all employee grievances and that it does not track the grievances throughout the process.
Of the 20 grievances that SSD’s human resource office received for fiscal years 2021 through 2023, 17 have not been resolved, while two were resolved informally. One grievance has not had enough time for a resolution.
“Staff are all afraid of retaliation as some of us have filed grievances for different things and suddenly aren’t able to work, are fired, lose privileges, etc.,” one of the staff survey responses in the audit said.
SSD not developing comprehensive policies, needs to strengthen deaf education philosophy
Since becoming its own agency in 2021, the SSD has only developed four policies, the audit said. The district has policies on the Americans with Disabilities Act, grievances, telework, and video monitoring of school property.
In lieu of new policies, the district is using old policies from when it was overseen by LDOE.
The audit found that the lack of comprehensive policies has led to confusion among employees, and clearer policies could help ensure staff members are treated fairly and consistently.
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“SSD needs an administrative overhaul,” a staff survey response said. “We need defined policies and procedures that are consistently applied and we need transparency across the district.”
The audit also found that the district needed to strengthen its philosophy for deaf education. For example, the audit noted that the Louisiana School for the Deaf does not have a clear implementation plan for its American Sign Language/English bilingual philosophy.
The audit also said that staff members do not always meet the ASL proficiency requirements outlined in their job descriptions.
How did the SSD respond to the audit?
In an official response to the audit, David Martin, the superintendent for the Special School District, said he agreed with the findings and recommendations made in the audit. The SSD board did not outright say it agreed with the auditor's assessment in its response, but it said it was already taking steps toward some of the recommendations made for the board.
In his letter, Martin said he acknowledges the morale struggles the district has faced over the last several years and that the district is working to improve communication.
“Ensuring the SSD is making progress in this area will be a priority,” Martin wrote. “The organization will monitor success in this area by deploying a climate and culture survey for staff and stakeholders in both the fall and spring of each year.”
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana special school district has high staff turnover, low morale
