Associated Press

Studying the potential merger of North Dakota's schools for the deaf and blind is not worth $50,000, the state Senate has concluded.

Sen. John Andrist, R-Crosby, said he introduced the proposal as a way to spur discussion about the future of the School for the Deaf in Devils Lake. It requested a Department of Public Instruction study of a possible merger, and ordered the agency to introduce legislation in 2009 to implement it.

North Dakota's Senate rejected the measure on Monday, 40-5. The DPI estimated the study and architectural work would cost $50,000.

Most deaf students are taught in their home school districts, Andrist said, and the institution now houses only 26 students.

Gov. John Hoeven's budget proposal includes $6.8 million for the school, and authorization for 48 employees. The campus has vacant buildings that the School for the Blind, which is based in Grand Forks, may be able to put to use, Andrist said.

Sen. JoNell Bakke, D-Grand Forks, said the merger would mean the loss of many experienced School for the Blind staffers who would not move to Devils Lake.

A merger "would not be in the interest of either program, or the individuals that they serve," Bakke said.