Policy and Governance

Concept Cue

To learn more about the Community Engaged Learning Pathway of “Policy and Governance”, I chose to research bills that have been sent to the Utah Legislature that pertain to our local Deaf community. One bill of note I found is H.B. 537 “Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind Amendments” sponsored by Representative Candice B. Pierucci and Senator Ann Milner. The bill is currently being discussed by the Utah Legislature and there has not been a final decision reached regarding the legislation. As of this writing, H.B. 537 is in the Senate Education Committee and the last action was taken February 28, 2025 by the Senate/Standing Committee. A draft of the proposed bill can be found on the Utah Legislature’s website at: https://le.utah.gov/~2025/ bills/static/HB0537.html.

H.B. 537 proposes that the governance of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind (USDB) be changed, creating potential changes in the framework for Utah’s Deaf and Blind students and their families. Currently, USDB is a public corporation, but H.B. 537 would change administrative procedures, so that USDB would become a subdivision of the State Board of Education. Along with this change, language in H.B. 537 states: “The state board shall, as the state board determines necessary, establish committees, policies, or processes necessary to the function and oversight of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind” and that the State Board of Education shall “administer the financial operations of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind”. In its current status as a public corporation, USDB essentially functions as a public school owned and operated by the government. As I understand it, this bill would place more of the administrative oversight and decision making directly in the hands of the State Board of Education. If approved, the changes would go into effect July 1, 2025.

There are potential benefits and drawbacks to this bill. Some possible benefits would be streamlining various administrative processes (like finances) by having the State Board of Education designated to handle those responsibilities. There is also the possibility of more effective governing, more collaboration with other educational entities, and the ability for more resources to flow to USDB from the State Board. However, there is unquestionably a loss of autonomy and self-governance that USDB has experienced as a public corporation. Being put under the umbrella of the State Board brings the potential for bureaucracy and funds being diverted away from USDB and to other entities the State Board oversees. For instance, in the fiscal impact report, the overall fiscal impact to the state is deemed to be $0, but there is an important added note that funds specifically line-itemed for USDB would be line-itemed for the State Board of Education instead. It reads: “Enactment of this legislation could shift $1,100,000 in ongoing costs from the Income Tax Fund beginning in FY 2026 from the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind line item to the State Board of Education line item to transfer management to the State Board, with $1,000,000 for financial operations and human resources staff, and $100,000 for the Medicaid reimbursement software.” IF the State Board of Education reserves these funds for USDB and does not allocate them elsewhere, it would lessen the potential negative impacts on USDB. Of course, with a restructuring could come reduced or streamlined administrative costs for USDB thereby creating lower financial need from the school. A careful analysis should be made to make sure that the net change is not harmful to USDB and the historically marginalized and underrepresented populations they serve. I believe the state legislature should proceed very carefully and listen to members of the Deaf community, Blind community, teachers of the Deaf, teachers of the Blind, and families or both Deaf and of Blind students to make sure that this change continues to serve the best interest of the students involved. It is important to maintain the ability for USDB to tailor their educational approaches to the unique needs of Deaf students and Blind students and not to be limited by a “one size fits all” approach if they are brought under the State Board of Education’s purview.

https://le.utah.gov/~2025/ bills/static/HB0537.html

Community Organization Report

For the Policy and Governance module, the community partner that I researched was the Utah Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (UTRID). My research was conducted online on the UTRID website, as well as on the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) website. UTRID is an affiliate chapter of the national organization, RID. Information on UTRID’s website was a bit sparse and going to the RID website allowed me to fill in gaps in my knowledge about the organization. I also took advantage of UTRID’s Facebook page and spent time looking through the events and offerings posted there. This helped me gain a feel for ways UTRID directly communicates with its members and the Deaf community.

UTRID is the only professional organization for sign language interpreters in the state of Utah. As such - and as a chapter of RID- their mission is two-fold. First, they share a common, overarching mission with RID: “to serve equally our members, profession, and the public by promoting and advocating for qualified and effective interpreters in all spaces where intersectional diverse Deaf lives are impacted.”1 Second, UTRID works specifically to help interpreters in Utah. According to their website: “UTRID’s role is to support our membership by providing the foundation needed to launch and sustain careers while ensuring quality service to the Deaf community.”2 UTRID’s overall purpose is to help promote and lift the interpreting profession, so that interpreters can provide the best possible service to the Deaf community. ASL-English interpreting is a fairly young profession (in the true sense of the word) and RID and UTRID help to standardize and monitor conduct of members, provide support and resources to members, and to increase recognition and awareness among the public of professional interpreting.

UTRID provides many resources and benefits to its members such as professional development workshops and trainings, networking, scholarship opportunities for student interpreters, access to the national registry of interpreters, annual conferences, and so on. RID (and by extension) UTRID work in collaboration with the National Association of the Deaf to ensure a robust partnership, so that the Deaf community is best served. RID maintains the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) that governs interpreter conduct and also creates the national certification exam for interpreters. Additionally, RID has created a Government Affairs Program (GAP) which advocates on behalf of professional sign language interpreters and monitors adherence to standards at state and federal levels. UTRID addresses societal issues like accessibility, equity, and inclusion by working to provide a high level of continuing education materials available to its members through workshops and conferences on a variety of topics relevant to interpreting and Deaf culture. By helping its members to be knowledgeable, UTRID helps to ensure that the Deaf community will have the best equity and access to information.

The Civically Engaged Scholar module on Policy and Governance contained helpful information about what policy and governance are in theory and how we see them at work in our world. In the introduction to the module, it stated that policies are defined as rules or regulations enshrined by governing entities. RID could be considered a governing entity for interpreters because they have bylaws, cooperating agreements with other Deaf centered organizations, and it is the home of the CPC for interpreters and where people can lodge conduct complaints. These are examples of this governing body’s rules and regulations. UTRID, as a chapter of RID, would also be considered a type of governing body, in my opinion. The CES module goes on to say that policy and governance allow for better teamwork and the fulfillment of dreams. I think that UTRID is definitely an example of this idea. It is a place where interpreters come together to learn and continue improving together, offer their services to enrich the group as a whole (by teaching a workshop, for example), and work together to give service to the local Deaf community (Secret Santa, fundraisers, supporting the annual Sego Lily gala, etc.). Teamwork!

I have already participated in community involvement with UTRID as I donated to their Secret Santa drive for Deaf families in need this last Christmas. UTRID is in an excellent position because of their connection to the local Deaf community to learn of specific needs within the community and to coordinate direct service to address those needs. Additionally, I can definitely see myself participating in community involvement with this organization in the future as this is a reputable organization that is supportive of the Deaf community.

Sources:

1 Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. (2025). About Us. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. https://rid.org/about/

2 Utah Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. (2025). About Us. Utah Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. https://utrid.com/about-utrid/

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