The Louisiana School for the Deaf is a state school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge, the state capital. It was established in 1852 as a joint school for blind students. In 1860, its first purpose-built facility was completed and admired as an elegant monument to philanthropy. The schools were divided in 1898, and in 1908, Louisiana School for the Deaf was renamed. Construction of facilities has continued over the years. In 1978, black students were absorbed when their school was merged into this one. The expanded school now has 22 major buildings, including a football stadium, on a 116-acre campus south of Louisiana State University on Brightside Lane. In 2009, the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired (LSVI) was relocated here. Admission/Enrollment Louisiana School for the Deaf offers a comprehensive pre-K–12 education for Louisiana's deaf and hard-of-hearing children ages 3–18 at no cost to their families. Enrolling at the Louisiana School for the Deaf is possible by: Parental application: At each IEP conference, parents have the right to review the choices of educational placements available to their child. Louisiana law (Act 433) empowers parents to choose between the program offered by their local school system and the program offered by LSD. Parents can apply directly to LSD at any time during the school year. State Department of Education (SDE) referral: The local school system can refer a deaf/hard-of-hearing student to LSD through the SDE. The local school system can refer a deaf/hard-of-hearing student to LSD for an evaluation by the LSD Statewide Assessment Center for the Hearing Impaired (SWAC-HI) to determine levels of performance and program needs. The student attends LSD during the evaluation process. History Before 1838, wealthy families provided private tutors for their deaf children (as for their hearing children) or paid for the children to attend a school for the deaf outside Louisiana. There was no public education in the state. The 1838 Louisiana legislature passed an act on January 16, 1838, to provide state-supported education of deaf white children by enrolling them at other state schools. As a result, 11 children from Louisiana were enrolled at state cost at the Kentucky School for the Deaf. In 1852, Francis Dubose Richardson, a member of the General Assembly, introduced a bill to provide $25,000 and empowered a Board of Administrators to oversee the establishment of the Louisiana Institute for the Deaf and