TOLEDO, Ohio —
Some Toledo Public Schools parents are concerned about the future of their children's education.
Parents said they have received calls from a TPS staff member, saying the deaf and hard-of-hearing program at Oakdale Elementary won't be offered next year.
One mother, Shina Ward, said her daughter has been at Oakdale since pre-school and is now in fourth grade.
Ward said she was told her daughter could stay at Oakdale if Ward could provide transportation. She says if she can, her daughter could be placed in a special needs class.
Ward said the other option she was given was a school in Michigan that offers deaf education.
She said she asked if it were funding or transportation issues but was not able to receive any answers.
"This is some of a normal to them," Ward said. "They're taking away their normal and just throwing them out here."
Ward said if her daughter went to another school, she would be concerned.
"Are the Toledo Public School teachers going to have the amplifier?" she said. "Because they go to all the kids' hearing aids. So are the teachers going to be able to be provided an amplifier?"
Ward also said she was concerned about how the other students would treat her daughter.
Jamie Kraus, another parent with two daughters at Oakdale, said the school's positive learning environment is beneficial to the kids.
"They already have so many setbacks," Kraus said. "Statistically they don't do well in reading and math. My daughter Savanna is a straight-A student."
Kraus said the experience the children have at Oakdale cannot be replicated at other schools.
"They can walk into a classroom and they can have a conversation with their classmates," Kraus said. "They can't do that in a typical classroom. They can't go to their principal unless their principal knows sign (language) and have a conversation with their principal."
Ward said she has nothing but positive things to say about the school and the teachers.
"They are magnificent," Ward said. "I am fighting for the teachers that are there (and) fighting for the students that are there. I love it. I love it and I'm sad."
Ward said as of right now, she is still planning on enrolling her daughter at Oakdale for next year.
TPS told WTOL 11 that it will continue to offer services to deaf students but declined to comment on the future of Oakdale's program.