Hogg: Braille school faces cuts

The Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton has nine students and costs the state more than $3 million dollars a year.

“I think we're going to have to look at that,” state Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said last night at a City PTA Council state legislative forum.

The school was home to 12 students last year. Shrinking on-campus enrollment is part of the transition to a statewide system for vision services.

“We urged them to kind of recreate what they were doing, and their enrollment has gone down to nine students,” Hogg said. “I think that one is going to be on the chopping block.”

Iowa school districts are coping with a 10 percent decrease in state funding, but lawmakers said schools need to brace for the possibility of additional cuts.

The PTA forum also was attended by state Reps. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, Nick Wagner, R-Marion, and Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, as well as a representative for U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa.

“Education spending and human services make up approximately 75 to 80 percent of the state's budget,” Olson said. “Because those two areas make up such a large chunk, there's going to have to be cuts.”