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VIDBE - Q Volume 63 Issue 1
William Daugherty
Superintendent
The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
daughertyb@tsbvi.edu
The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) in Austin, Texas,
was founded in 1856, and opened school on its current campus in 1917. The Texas
Legislature funded a complete rebuild of the 40 - acre campus starting in 2007 and
reaching completion in 2015. The facilities include a large conference center that serves
as the home base of TSBVI's extensive statewide outreach program. Being centrally
located in a vibrant cit y such as Austin gives the school's students access to many
opportunities that promote independent mobility and community integration.
TSBVI's model of service delivery is largely built around three programs:
Comprehensive Programs, Short - Term Programs, an d Statewide Outreach. The model
strives to encourage school districts to access the right program at the right time based
upon student needs. Because there are over 10,000 Texas students with visual
impairments, the design of the model is intended to sprea d the school's services out so
that most students have an opportunity to access TSBVI's programs in some way every
year of their school careers.
Comprehensive Programs is TSBVI's campus - based school program with a
residential component. Approximately 160 s tudents are enrolled, and are divided into
six learning teams based upon age and instructional needs. Students are served either
The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
