GOVERNING BOARD INSENSITIVE TO MCCASLAND HEARING DISABILITY REQUEST THAT WAS MADE AT PRIOR BOARD MEETING

Board holds eight hour retreat without providing adequate sound for member suffering from serious hearing disability

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board showed insensitivity to fellow Board member Deb McCasland’s hearing disability while running an eight hour retreat off campus on September 16 at the Hassayampa Inn. McCasland, who the Board knows suffers from a serious hearing disability, was unable to hear Board members during the retreat because the Board/College failed to provide microphones for the members.

At the Governing Board meeting held one-day following the retreat, September 17 2017,  Community College President  Penelope Wills indicated that had she known before the retreat about McCasland’s issue with the sound system  that something would have been done to accommodate her. McCasland replied that she had specifically made the need for a speaker system  known at the prior Governing Board meeting (Wills was present).

Wills then apologized.

You may view the brief exchange between McCasland, Wills and Board Chair Sigafoos on the video below.