The Arizona Department of Education has ruled that the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind violated federal special education law during its plan to close its Tucson campus and shift operations to a new campus in Oro Valley.
The decision stems from a complaint filed by the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law’s Education Advocacy Clinic, which argued that ASDB made placement decisions for certain students before the legally required individualized review process had taken place.
The controversy began earlier this year when ASDB announced it would relocate from Tucson to Oro Valley. Families were later told the new campus would primarily serve students who are deaf or hard of hearing, while many students who are blind, visually impaired, or enrolled in the school’s residential program would instead return to their home school districts…