The Virginia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, as it was originally named, was first opened in Staunton by the State of Virginia in 1839. It was fully co-educational from the time of its founding although it only accepted white students. The first superintendent was Joseph D. Tyler, who was paid a salary of $1200 per year. The first teacher hired was named Job Turner, who served the school for 40 years. J. C. M. Merrillat was a native of Bordeaux, France, who served as the first principal of the Blind Department. He became superintendent of both the Deaf and Blind departments in 1852. His nearby residence, the
J. C. M. Merrillat House, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In the late 1960s the school had 550 students. At the time there were more prospective students than space, and hence there was a waiting list. In the early 1970s the
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) required the state of Virginia to come up with a plan to desegregate VSDB and the state school for black deaf and blind students in
Hampton, Virginia, the
Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton. The Commonwealth developed a plan to do so in 1974, which was deemed acceptable by HEW. In 1978 the state unveiled a $1.8 million capital improvement plan for the Hampton campus. The 1975
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act required that local school districts have the capacity to educate all students in their boundaries, so the demand for the state deaf/blind schools declined. By 1983 there were about 300 students. In 2009, the General Assembly declared the school independent of the
Virginia Department of Education with its own board of visitors. == Blind Department ==