SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 86

(By Senators Blair, Kessler (Mr. President), Barnes, Beach, Boley, Cann, Carmichael, Chafin, Cole, Cookman, Edgell, Facemire, Fitzsimmons, Green, D. Hall, M. Hall, Jenkins, Kirkendoll, Laird, McCabe, Miller, Nohe, Palumbo, Plymale, Snyder, Sypolt, Tucker, Unger, Walters, Wells, Williams, Yost, Stollings and Prezioso)

Requesting the School Building Authority to waive local matching requirements and fund all needed improvements for the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

    Whereas, The West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind facilities are outdated, do not meet all the life and safety codes and are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, yet serve a population most in need of compliant classrooms and quarters; and

    Whereas, The facilities of the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind are not optimized for twenty-first century technology and learning experiences which are especially critical to the workforce and life-skills development of the school’s students; and

    Whereas, No residential or educational facility on its campus has undergone significant renovation during the past twenty years and no new residential construction for instructional or student purposes has been undertaken in the last forty years; and

    Whereas, Children and youth from counties all over the state attend the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, yet these counties are neither responsible for the cost of their educations nor the maintenance of these facilities; and

    Whereas, The Legislature created the School Building Authority, dedicated state revenues for its purposes and has resisted binding intrusion into its affairs and revenues; and

    Whereas, The Governor, in recognition of the state’s difficult budget situation, has frozen certain spending and hiring, recommended broad reductions in his requested budgets for successive years and recommended expirations from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund and various legislative and other funds to make ends meet; and

    Whereas, The School Building Authority exists to meet the needs of all public schools of the state; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Legislature hereby requests that the School Building Authority waive local matching requirements, which are irrelevant to these schools that are operated exclusively by the State, and fund all needed improvements to the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in accordance with its expertise; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the State Superintendent of Schools, the Superintendent of the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Executive Director of the School Building Authority, the Secretary of State and the Governor of West Virginia.