Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 13, 2001
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke appoints monitoring panel for Washington School for the Deaf

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today appointed six people to an independent
monitoring panel for the Washington School for the Deaf. The governor
created the panel of community members with expertise in different aspects
of child safety to oversee implementation of items in a June 25 directive to
the school.

The directive was based upon recommendations of two independent reviews of
the school to improve policies and procedures relating to student safety in
the residence program. The governor requested the independent reviews
following an incident of alleged sexual abuse at the school.

Locke's directive includes administrative actions to:

• Strengthen the school's admission policy
  
  
• Develop a written policy that outlines conditions under which the
  school will expel students due to behavior that poses a serious threat to
  the health or safety of either him/herself or other students
  
  
• Create a residential program staffing model
  
  
• Produce a training curriculum for staff on emotional and behavioral
  disturbances in children, in partnership with a local community children's
  mental health provider or similar expert
  
  
• Implement a school-wide physical and sexual abuse training
  curriculum for students
  
  
• Strengthen the communications system between educational staff and
  residence life staff and between students and their families
  
  
• Refine the student behavioral management policy
  
  
• Review the school's incident documentation and procedures with
  staff from the Attorney General's office, the Division of Licensed Resources
  and the Child Abuse Intervention Center in Vancouver
  
  
• Work with budget staff to incorporate any needed safety enhancement
  items into the school's supplemental budget request.

"Each member of the panel brings a level of knowledge and understanding to
this issue that is vital to the successful implementation of my directive to
the School for the Deaf," Locke said.

The panel will work with the school on the implementation of administrative
action items in Locke's directive. The governor expects implementation of
the directives by Jan. 1, 2002.

Independent monitoring panel members

• Judge Diane Woolard, of Vancouver, will serve as chair of the panel.
  Locke appointed Woolard to the Clark County bench of the Superior Court in
  July 2000. She was previously employed for 12 years with the state
  Department of Social and Health Services.
  
  
• Dr. Douglas D. Baker, of Pullman, is vice provost for academic
  affairs and a professor in the Washington State University Management and
  Decision Sciences Department. He is the father of a 9 year-old
  hearing-impaired daughter who does not attend the Washington School for the
  Deaf.
  
  
• Lucy Berliner, MSW, of Seattle, is director of the Harborview Center
  for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress and a clinical associate professor
  at the University of Washington School of Social Work and the Department of
  Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
  
  
• Dr. Rose Calderon, of Seattle, is an assistant professor in the
  University of Washington Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department and
  director of psychiatric services for deaf and hard of hearing children at
  Children's Hospital and Medical Center.
  
  
• Douglas W. Maas, of Vancouver, is a Vietnam veteran who worked 25
  years in law enforcement. He retired in 2000 as chief of police for the
  city of Vancouver. He was a member of the Washington School for the Deaf
  Blue Ribbon Commission in 1999-2000.
  
  
• Tom Rembiesa, of Seattle, is the executive director of the Ruth
  Dykeman Center in Seattle, which provides treatment and residential services
  for at-risk children and youth. Rembiesa serves as peer reviewer for the
  national Council on Accreditation for Services to Children and Families and
  on the Child Welfare League of America's national advisory committee on
  residential care.
  
  

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  Related Links:
  - Washington School for the Deaf
  - Locke issues directive to promote student safety at Washington State School for the Deaf
  - Washington Attorney General's Office
  - Child Abuse Intervention Center
  
  
  

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