Superintendent of deaf school urged to step down sooner

Lexington Herald-Leader

DANVILLE -- Concerned that change might be stifled at the Kentucky School for the Deaf while Superintendent John Hudson is still at the helm, some deaf leaders yesterday called for him to step down sooner than he had planned.

Hudson announced about a week ago that he would resign from the school's top post effective Sept. 1.

Until then, he plans to help bring about changes at the residential school, which has faced problems in recent months ranging from allegations of sexual abuse to low academic expectations.

On Friday, a state Education Department team investigating the school released a list of recommendations to improve it. Hudson was named to lead a committee that will develop a plan to carry out those changes.

But some people, including those who called for Hudson's resignation last month, said at a forum yesterday that he should not serve on the committee

because he has been part of the problem.

"We don't want Hudson's influence or involvement at all," said Sheryl Simpson, chairwoman of the KSD Task Force, a watchdog group of alumni and deaf advocates.

"He has scared us for many, many years; he has oppressed us for many, many years."

The task force, along with some parents and teachers at the primary through 12th-grade school, want Hudson to leave at the end of the school year.

Hudson said last night that no one had relayed such concerns to him.

"I'm very surprised," Hudson said. "I thought I was going to be part of the solution. . . . My job is to continue being the superintendent of the Kentucky School for the Deaf, and that's what I'm going to do."

Hudson is scheduled to meet with the committee -- made up of alumni, parents and educators -- Tuesday. They will tell him their concerns at that time and then decide what to do, Simpson said.

Also yesterday, the task force named another person they would like to see leave the school: Principal Thomas Kearns.

Kearns, the school's second-highest administrator, has been at the school for at least 10 years. Since groups began voicing their opposition to Hudson, he has tried to assure parents, students and alumni that he has tried to do what is right for the school, those groups said yesterday.

But they say Kearns did not do enough to fix problems he knew about and should follow Hudson's lead and resign.

Kearns last night said he would not comment on that. He also said no one had relayed concerns to him. At a task force forum about three weeks ago, he said he wanted to help improve the school and its quality of education.

Mary DiMaria, a parent with three daughters at the school, said at the forum yesterday that Kearns efforts to correct problems came too late.

"I'm concerned about Kearns staying," DiMaria said. "I hear and understand that his hands were tied. But as a parent, that tells me that he put his job ahead of our children."

Generally, parents and alumni say they are optimistic about the school's future and pleased with the report from the Department of Education.

Some are concerned, though, by the timeline. The recommendations are supposed to go to the state board of education in early May. That might not be enough time to work out a detailed plan to put them in effect, said Eric Raff, task force secretary.