San Diego

The vacant principal post at Lafayette Elementary School, where about 140 of the 634 students are deaf or hard-of-hearing, will be advertised outside the San Diego Unified School District for applicants knowledgeable in American Sign Language or in dealing with deaf students, schools Supt. Tom Payzant announced Tuesday.

The decision comes one week after several parents of deaf children attending Lafayette complained that none of the district administrators who had applied for the position knew sign language.

Payzant said that, although the three finalists interviewed Tuesday for the principal post are all “strong candidates,” he and school trustees decided that they would reopen the vacancy and solicit from elsewhere.

He said the district would like to hear from people experienced in handling deaf students and who know the sign language. But he said the district will not make sign language knowledge a requirement or mandate certification of experience in teaching the deaf, despite such demands from the Lafayette parents.

Payzant said the three existing candidates will remain in contention during the new application process, which is expected to take at least two months.