"Respect the people, respect the past, build a future that will last," protesters chanted outside the Iowa Department for the Blind building in opposition to changes to Iowa's blindness training.

The National Federation of the Blind of Iowa held a protest that drew about 30 people on Tuesday, Sept. 16, outside the Iowa Department for the Blind's downtown Des Moines office over policy changes under new leadership.

Director Stacy Cervenka assumed the agency's top role July 7 after Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed her in May. The Iowa Commission for the Blind, which sets the agency's policy, appointed directors before lawmakers passed the governor’s plan to streamline state government in 2023 and made the department head a gubernatorial appointee.

The commission on Sept. 12 approved an updat

See Full Page