From: Clarke Poole
Sent: Sat 2/25/2006 9:57 PM
To: Nicole Fuglsang; Bill Gray Jr.; Len Buccellato; John McMillon; John McMillon; David Reifenberger; David Jordan; Mark Keith; Christy Jones
Subject: FW: HLA Student Profile.....
Nicole,
I can understand precisely why you said you do not want to continue to address my concerns over student safety and unethical practices on e-mail. However, there are several final points I want to make for the record.
(1) You stated with total certainty that two of the students referred to below received "significant financial aid because their families could not afford the HLA tuition." Upon my questioning the accuracy and veracity of your statement, you also said "I know because I was a part of the approval process while they were at RCI and then moved on to HLA. I know for a fact the level of aid they were getting at RCI & HLA as I worked with both families directly. I am the source of this information." The adamancy with which you state your position is compelling. However, it is totally false.
I went to Bill Gray's office at 4:30 Friday afternoon and asked him to personally check the financial records for the three students in question as a means to help me refresh my memory. He did so in my presence. None of these students received one cent of financial aid. (Jane Doe 1)?s family received the Ridge Creek rebate the first month she attended Hidden Lake Academy, rather than the third month as is normally the case. However, the amount of tuition paid by her family was exactly the same as any other family. There was no financial aid requested or granted to any of these three families, period. This raises the question in my mind as to why you so steadfastly insisted that you were right in spite of my urging you to check your facts.
The whole business of financial aid was, of course, a red herring designed to deflect the focus away from the point of my letter: that the safety of Hidden Lake Academy students is being compromised by the improper and unethical admission of totally inappropriate and dangerous students. As I noted, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the concerns I had raised. Just for the record, (John Doe 2)?s psychological evaluation, conducted and signed by Len Buccellato, includes a diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder, Pedophilia, and Personality Disorder with Antisocial Features. I am still waiting for your response as to why this boy, as well as the others, was approved by Len Buccellato to attend Hidden Lake Academy.
(2) You are the Director of Public Relations for both Hidden Lake Academy and Ridge Creek, as well as Director of Admissions for both institutions. In this job, you are the public face and voice of both programs. It would stand to reason that we would want in this very important position someone whose integrity is above reproach, since you speak for both programs. The fact that you intentionally attempted to mislead, obfuscate, and deflect rather than address honestly my concerns regarding student safety and ethical placement is, in my opinion, an insult not just to me, but to everyone in either of these schools, students and staff alike, as well as the parents of students and the educational consultants who they hired to assist with placement.
On January 31, 2006, you sent out a notice to all staff, and perhaps others outside HLA, that the "new student riding program will be completely operational by February 1st, 2006". It was obvious to all with eyes that this was impossible, since it was nothing more than a small area of scraped dirt the day before. I sent a reply to you stating "This is exactly what gets us in trouble with parents and consultants." I never received a reply. The "riding program" is still in exactly the same shape as it was the day you sent the announcement... no horses, no program.
If this approach to "public relations" is condoned by management, then it is no wonder we are constantly losing both students and staff. It is wrong, dishonest, and shameful.
Man, he gave Nicole a dose of reality.
It just goes to show that Nicole (who trolls this board, BTW) and people like her will say
anything to make a buck or to avoid responsibility for wrongdoing.
Parents, these are the people caring for your children. Is this the type of behavior you want modeled? Can you be sure your kid isn't bunking with a sociopath, psychotic or pedophile?
Is any of it worth the risk?
