TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED. The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired was established by the legislature in 1856 and located on a seventy-three-acre tract in the northwestern section of Austin as the Asylum for the Blind, established by the legislature in 1856. In 1905 the legislature changed the name to Blind Institute, and in 1915 the name Texas School for the Blind was adopted. White, including Spanish-speaking, children between the ages of six and nineteen were admitted by direct application to the superintendent. A five dollar a week fee for incidentals was required of those able to pay; indigents were taken free of charge. By legislative provision there was no charge for board. The school opened in a leased residence in 1857 and operated in various other quarters until 1917, when the institution was moved to its present location, made possible by appropriations of the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth legislatures for the erection of buildings on the campus donated by citizens of Austin. Continued appropriations have expanded the physical plant and kept it in excellent condition. The school is built on the cottage plan, with the main school building in the center. The function of the institution is to educate the blind of the state to the end that they may overcome their handicap sufficiently to permit them to become self-supporting and useful citizens. A twelve-grade school offers courses of study in academic subjects similar to those offered in public schools. The Texas School for the Blind, in Austin, was transferred to the Texas Education Agency in 1953 by the Fifty-third Legislature. The school is an independent school district and participates in state and county scholastic appropriations. In the late 1960s the school was integrated and consolidated with the all-black Texas Blind and Deaf School (formerly called the Texas Blind, Deaf, and Orphan Schoolqv). The school has one campus, in north Austin. As of 1994 it was governed by a nine-member board, appointed by the governor for six-year overlapping terms. State law requires that three board members must be blind or visually impaired, three the parents of a blind or visually impaired person, and three experienced in working with blind or visually impaired persons. Appropriation for fiscal 1992 was $10,112,163 and for fiscal 1993 was $10,018,163. The current name was adopted in 1989.
