The budget cuts at the Indiana School for the Deaf are hitting students hard.
Since the state budget took effect on July 1, the school has lost nearly $1 million a year for the next two years. That meant letting go of 26 staff, including nine teachers, four substitutes, four mentors, and two nurses. Many of those teachers were deaf themselves, so students aren’t just losing instruction—they’re losing role models.
Jeffrey Spinale, a 2014 ISD graduate and president of the Indiana Association of the Deaf, said the cuts mean students no longer have access to professionals who can teach in American Sign Language.
“In a public school, deaf students don’t get to learn ASL. Here, they had teachers who shared their language and culture,” Spinale said. “With these layoffs, students lost access to those Deaf professionals.”
About 350 students attend ISD, and around 60% live on campus across from the State Fairgrounds. The school offers tuition-free education from early childhood through 12th grade.
A 5% funding cut—roughly $3 million—is putting the school in crisis. Families and leaders say it threatens essential services like overnight nursing and specialized teachers. Critics argue chronic underfunding is to blame and are calling for the budget to be restored to $20.4 million with a 2% annual increase to match other K–12 schools.
The cuts have already forced ISD to scale back: health center hours were reduced, overnight care ended, staff had to take on cleaning duties, and the school stopped hiring outside ASL interpreters for events and trips.
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