Academy plans to expel rioters
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs. ... 20345/1002One cadet still missing after rampage at Lucedale school for troubled boys
By Julie Goodman
jgoodman@clarionledger.comThe director of the Eagle Point Christian Academy in Lucedale said Monday that his school was in session and operating normally following a weekend riot that landed nine cadets in detention.
"These young men that started this problem need to be held accountable," said John Fountain, who estimated there was several thousand dollars worth of broken glass on campus. "But the way the ball bounces in this type of thing, I'm probably going to take the heat for it."
A private security company remained at the home for troubled boys after a weekend disturbance left a dormitory damaged. Several cadets with injuries had been taken to the hospital briefly and released, Fountain said.
The riot began Friday at the private boarding school by cadets who wanted to "take over," he said, breaking windows, clogging toilets, vandalizing doors and damaging video cameras.
Four students ran away from the school Sunday afternoon. Three were caught and a fourth was still missing Monday. "He'll turn up sooner or later at somebody's house," said George County Sheriff Garry Welford.
Nine boys were sent to the Forrest County Juvenile Detention Center for being uncooperative with deputies, and were released to their families or to the academy.
Fountain said those students would be expelled from the school ? along with others. He said he expects the offenders to transfer to another school, go into the juvenile system or to their families. Some were charged with disorderly conduct.
"Windows are going to break and kids are going to get crazy and that's where I got to be held accountable and pay for their mistakes," he said. "Some of these kids, this environment just doesn't work for them."
Welford said it would be difficult to determine which boys were actually responsible for the property destruction.
Parents of former students at the school ? formerly the Bethel Boys Academy ? have alleged abuse, and some have sued the school.
On Monday, Fountain said there were no allegations of abuse connected to the weekend's incident.
The state Department of Health, which steps in when there are allegations of abuse or neglect, said it was aware of the incident but not investigating.
Bill East, a former prosecutor with the state attorney general's office, inspects the school quarterly as the academy's monitor, part of a 2003 Chancery Court consent decree that required the school to institute a range of changes from allowing restroom and water breaks during exercise to forbidding the use of electrical devices for discipline.
The decree was issued while the school was directed by Fountain's father, Herman Fountain, and abuse allegations drew the attention of state officials who sought to close the academy.
John Fountain's father was forced to relinquish all interest in the school, which admits about 100 students from all over the country. Fountain says he has worked to reform the academy.
The sheriff confirmed another teen had run away from the school recently wearing nothing but a sheet.
The dispatcher "could hear someone screaming and yelling in the phone," according to a copy of the Lucedale police report provided by the mother, who did not want to be identified.
"A lot of things are a concern to me down there," Welford said. But while he can't rule out the possibility of abuse at the school, most of the allegations cannot be substantiated.
The Department of Human Services said via e-mail the agency is not investigating because it had not received a request.
So
that's how you get them to let you out of a WWASP facility! I have a feeling "expelled" is code for "sent to Tranquility Bay".
