VOLUME 6 ISSUE 9
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Children’s Charity Classic Pg B1 FEBRUARY 28 - March 6, 2025
Marion County issues federal legislative priorities By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
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arion County commissioners have created a list of priorities to request federal legislators to attend to in the coming congressional session—including mitigating local costs for inmate medical care. Over the coming legislative session, the county commissioners have three requests for its House and Senate representatives.
MEDICAID INMATE EXCLUSION POLICY Marion County requests that delegate members support Medicaid aligning with Medicare’s definitions of continuing versus suspending coverage for pretrial and reentry populations. Among the county’s most pressing requests is the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy, which commissioners say has placed undue financial strain on local governments and taxpayers by extension. “Just the fact that when you are arrested, you lose all of your availability to (Medicaid) funding for medical care, and then the citizens have to cover that medical care, is just not right,” said Commission Chair Kathy Bryant. In November 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ruled that Medicare’s benefits would be extended to individuals who are awaiting trial, on parole or probation, or residing in halfway houses. “This important update ensures these individuals can maintain access to Medicare benefits, supporting better health outcomes and smoother transitions back into the community,” according to the National Association of Counties. Marion County requests that delegate members support Medicaid’s definitions and align with Medicare’s changes of continuing versus suspending coverage for pretrial and See Priorities, page A4
Luisa Seward, left, and Dawn Christerson, who are both American Sign Language interpreters, sign for students as they play a game called Heads-Up, which is similar to Charades, in the Cat Period for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students at Forest High School in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, February 20, 2025.
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Deaf and hard of hearing students in Marion County Public Schools have access to ASL interpreters as well as specialized tools to facilitate learning. By Marian Rizzo Correspondent
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arion County students who are deaf or hard of hearing don’t have to live at a boarding school for the blind and deaf like the one in St. Augustine. They can get their education right here, close to home, with the assistance of certified American Sign Language interpreters on staff with the Marion County Public School System. Currently, 80 deaf or hard of hearing students attend Marion County Public Schools, said MCPS Director of Public Relations Kevin Christian. The district has 21 full-time ASL interpreters and
10 substitutes supported by the district’s budget, plus extra funds for the purchase of specialized sound systems and other assistive technology, Christian said. In addition to ASL interpreters, the local district uses a variety of specialized tools to assist the hard of hearing. For students who already have frequency modulation (FM) auditory systems, cochlear implants or hearing aids, the teacher speaks into a small microphone that hangs on a lanyard around the neck or is clipped to the collar. Closed captioning also helps when using videos, Christian noted. “I’m glad we can do it for our students,” he said. “The goal is for those students who have hearing deficiencies to integrate
into the classroom with those who don’t have a deficiency, so all of them can learn together. If those students can function in the classroom, that is the best place for them to learn.” “Columbia University News” reports that in the United States, 85 percent of deaf and hard of hearing students attend mainstream schools along with their hearing peers. Since the 1970s, federal laws have encouraged the inclusion of the deaf or hard of hearing in general education environments where hearing technology has become more advanced, the CU web site stated. See A good sign, page A3
NONPROFIT NEWS
Stirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center receives $200,000 donation The donation from the Adam Hanson Better Communities Fund will help purchase property. By Susan Smiley-Height susan@magnoliamediaco.com
Ashley Quesnel on Goody, left, and Kathy Gray on Lilly, right, are led around the arena on their horses at the Stirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center in 2022. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]
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tirrups ‘n Strides Therapeutic Riding Center has announced a $200,000 donation from the Adam Hanson Better Communities
Fund, which will help purchase programs offer physical, cognitive the property where the center is and emotional benefits, fostering located, on Highway 318 between confidence, independence and Orange Lake and Citra. overall well-being for participants Stirrups ‘n Strides provides of all ages, according to Betty therapeutic horseback riding and Gray, executive director. other equine-assisted activities for individuals with disabilities. The See Therapeutic Riding Center, page A2
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Governor in Ocala ...................... A5 Citizen Boards............................... A8 Thelma Edwards........................... B2 Major Retrospective.................... B3 History talks................................. B9
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