Mahogany Mack has been a student at Louisiana School for the Deaf for ten years. Her mother, Victoria Mack, says the 13-year-old doesn't understand why she suddenly had to stop going to school. Mahogany is not only deaf, but she also suffers from ADD, ADHD, and mental retardation. Mack says the school was instrumental in helping her daughter grow. "I had a support system to go with me to the doctors to say, 'Look, we have a problem' and they did that with me consistently until we got Mahogany better. It's not just a school. It's a community, her community."

Since the school closed, Mack says things just haven't been the same. She and her boyfriend cut back on their work hours to stay home with Mahogany, who's unsettled with not knowing what's going to happen next. "She asked me if the bus was broken. I tell her it stopped coming because the school is closed. She gets hysterical. Her whole routine has been broken."

The state Department of Education offered parents temporary instructors while they make plans to re-open the school, but Mack says after calling for information, she's beginning to think there is no plan. "They couldn't tell us a location, what time the bus would pick her up or drop her off, nothing!" She says the person on the phone finally told her the temporary site would be located somewhere in Hammond. "I don't think the state thought about the impact this decision would have on parents as well as the children," Mack says.

A spokeswoman with Louisiana School for the Deaf says the hotline was set up for parents to put their child's name and their needs on a list. From there, school administrators will figure out how to best accommodate each student, whether it means sending them to a center or having an instructor come to their home. The number for parents to call is 757-3310.

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