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Message from our Administrator
Greetings and welcome to our website! My name is Aylee Schaefer. I am the Interim Administrator of the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB). My appointment became effective on August 1, 2009 when Mary Dunne retired.
 We have been through a number of changes recently. Some of them are very obvious: we have a new name and a new Board with eight members. A change of tremendous benefit is that we are now considered part of the school district budget and therefore protected under the Public School Stabilization Funds, which provided us protection from the most recent budget cuts in September.
We have also been through some very challenging changes: a reduction in our budget during the 2008-09 school-year which led to a reduction in staff, staff contracts, and an increase in workloads.
How do we not just endure but thrive in these challenging but potentially exciting times? I look around me everyday and see you. Each of you allow for the achievement of our educational mission. We are a family: our students; our students’ families; our colleagues in classrooms and supporting agencies across Idaho; and, our staff – outreach staff all the way from Northern Idaho to Eastern Idaho, to the people on campus who plan lessons, teach sign language, produce braille, provide technical support; and your peers. I lean on each of you and am invigorated because of the work you do.
During the week of Halloween, we had health emergencies on campus that we hope never to face, but became realities. The students dressed up and carried on. They were trick-or-treating in the front office and in the hallways. They were using newly acquired communication and orientation and mobility skills. I observed pride on teachers’ faces and joy on the faces of students and those around them. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you, all, for being a part of my family. I hope you enjoy the holidays with your loved ones.
Sincerely,
~Aylee Schaefer
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