Deaf School abuse
Baton Rouge Advocate. September 28, 2008, Page 1A.
Fourteen years ago, 13-year-old Daniel Lewis enrolled as a boarding student at the Louisiana School for the Deaf, a place that was supposed to give him the skills to engage with the world.
That August, Daniel — with bright blue eyes and blond hair, but borderline mentally retarded and smaller than his peers — moved into a room in the middle school dorm on the school’s Baton Rouge campus with three other boys.
During Daniel’s second week at the school, one of his roommates, a larger 13-year-old of normal intelligence, began crawling into his bed at night to rape him, Daniel recounted recently.
La. School for Deaf to be closed for review
Baton Rouge Advocate. October 8, 2008, Page 1A.
The Louisiana School for the Deaf will close temporarily beginning today to allow administrators time to implement broad changes to ensure the school is a safe place for children, state Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek announced Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, two top officials with oversight of the school told Pastorek they will be leaving — one resigning and one retiring — effective Friday.
Pastorek said the school will close for “days, not months” and officials next week will have a better idea of when the school will reopen. Pastorek said students residing at the school will be sent home this afternoon.