Illinois helps school for deaf and blind stay open

Illinois helps school for deaf and blind stay open

Ed Tibbetts Posted: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 5:15pm

An Illinois school for the deaf and blind will be able to keep its doors open for another month to six weeks after the state paid part of an outstanding debt, the school’s chief administrator said Tuesday.

The Philip J. Rock Center, which is in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, had been in danger of closing this week.

However, Peggy Whitlow, the chief administrator, said it got a $300,000 payment from the state, which it deposited Monday.

“That will get us through another month to six weeks,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll get another payment then.”

The school has 14 resident students but also serves more than 400 children statewide.

The students living at the school range in age from 6 to 21, and many of their parents aren’t able to care for them at home.

As a result, the uncertainty over the school’s future has led to a great deal of anxiety.

Two Quad-City area families have children there.

Before this latest payment, the school was owed $1.3 million by the state, just one of hundreds of schools and education-related vendors statewide that are owed a total of $1.3 billion.

Carol Knowles, a spokeswoman for the state comptroller’s office, said the state made $530 million in education-related payments last week, Rock Center included.

The money came from a $1.3 billion short-term loan.

Whitlow said this latest payment covered February expenses, but it is still owed for March, April and May. The state is its only funding source.

The school had said last month that if it didn’t get a payment by Thursday, it would have to close.

“We were very appreciative,” Whitlow said Tuesday.

The Rock Center employs 40 people full time and another 20 part time.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/article_1080e51c-9f79-11df-a3b7-001cc4c002e0.html