I can?t see where HLA directly addressed any of the concerns stated in the complaint. Are they attempting to change the nature of the complaints with their wording/semantics?
? HLA has never, to its knowledge, enrolled ?violent? or ?severely disturbed? students (¶ 5).The complaint reads? [HLA claims/advertises that] its "
students are not court ordered and do not include violent or severely disturbed children." Further, during the Class Period HLA has also enrolled a number of "court-ordered," "violent" or "severely disturbed" students . The enrollment of these children has led, among other things, to several incidents during the Class Period in which students have been violently assaulted by other students. ~~
Judging by the comment above, there were seriously distressed kids "knowingly" admitted.
? HLA fully discloses to current and prospective students and their parents its policy of searching students to ensure campus safety (¶ 5). ?the school has made it a standard practice during the Class Period to strip-search students purportedly as a safety measure, another fact not disclosed sufficiently by HLA to parents prior to the enrolling of their children.
Come now, how many parents were informed that their child would be strip searched? I wasn't.
? It is standard practice in the education industry for schools to pay the traveling expenses of educational consultants and, on occasion, their family members, and there is nothing ?ethically questionable? about such practices (¶¶ 10,54). Buccellato pays the traveling expenses of many consultants and even the consultant's family members who happen to visit the Atlanta metropolitan region for personal reasons. In such situations, Buccellato arranges for the consultants to quickly meet him, with Hidden Lake picking up the consultant's traveling and incidental expenses. Each year, Buccellato also gives expensive Christmas gifts, some totaling over $1,000, to consultants as way of ensuring their fealty.
Does HLA still reminburse parents $250 for using an EdCon and discretely suggest that they pass it on to the EC?
? HLA discloses to students and their parents in the enrollment process that it monitors students? communications with others to ensure that students are honest and respectful in their communications (¶ 31). The issue?. Hidden Lake claims that it must monitor such communications to ensure that students do not attempt to "manipulate" parents and to ensure the "confidentiality of counseling sessions." Not surprisingly, this monitoring also ensures that it is very difficult for students to say anything negative about HLA while they are enrolled there, let alone disclose timely to parents the adverse facts concerning the day-to-day reality of their actual HLA experience. Indeed, this monitoring as a practical matter extends even to students' offcampus visits with family, as HLA dissuades its students from disclosing their experiences with threats of restrictions on students' return to campus.~~
Perhaps this policy needs to change. Denying contact with parents should not be used as punishment. That is unethical and abusive.
? Plaintiffs allege that the ?overwhelming majority? of the teachers on HLA?s staff have not been state-certified, but the fact is HLA?s teachers have fully complied with the requirements established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Georgia Accrediting Commission (¶¶ 4, 39). The plaintiffs apparently are not interested in
SACS and GAC requirements (not what they were sold), but instead, HLAs claims that all teachers are certified??..Families were told via HLA's parent Handbook, website, and other marketing and promotional materials, among other things : that "academic classes are led by state certified teachers who are supported in their work by a certified learning disability specialist"; that "all counseling staff are full time and are clinically trained, holding a master's degree or higher" ; that HLA employs "a full-time nurse on staff seven days a week"; that "prescription medications are distributed by a nurse or another trained staff member four times per day".
In fact, throughout the Class Period a large number and, at certain times, an overwhelming majority, of HLA's teachers have not been certified, while a sizeable number of the counseling staff lack bachelor's or master's degrees in areas related to social work, counseling, or psychology, and have not been clinically trained in counseling or social work . HLA has also during the Class Period only rarely employed a licensed learning disability
specialist, and within the past several months or longer has not even employed a registered or properly licensed nurse .
Indeed, over the past five years the number of certified teachers on Hidden Lake's staff have fluctuated at times between zero and three each year.
42. Significantly, moreover, Hidden Lake attempts to address these deficiencies by gaming the Georgia state certification system by having uncertified teachers apply for provisional licenses . Although these applications are usually turned down ultimately by Georgia officials within six months or so, HLA during that time portrays to families that these teachers are certified in accordance with Georgia state law. Further, some of these uncertified teachers who apply for the provisional licenses have no intention of actually following-up on the certification process, but apply only so that Hidden Lake can claim, however misleadingly, that its classes are taught by "certified teachers." In other instances, uncertified teachers do not even bother going through with the charade of applying for provisional licenses.
? Plaintiffs? allegations that Dr. Buccellato has referred numerous students to HLA because of ?personal economic incentives? (¶ 48) are false; in fact, Dr. Buccellato has referred only six students to HLA since January 2000. Even if 6 is an accurate number, $750,000 isn't significant? How many total over the years?
? Many of Plaintiffs? most inflammatory allegations derive from an email from HLA?s former admissions director, Clarke Poole, who opines on what he beieves is the impropriety of the admissions of certain students (¶ 48). Mr. Poole, however, has no qualifications to render any medical or psychological judgments on the students HLA has admitted and provides no basis for his unsupported belief that one unidentified student was another ?Hannibal Lecter.? ...an internal HLA email sent in February 2006 by Clarke Poole, HLA's former Director of Admissions during the period January 2000 through March 2006, to HLA's current Director of Admissions (and Public Relations), Nicole Fuglslang, detailed the exploits of three of these students, including one female student who sexually assaulted another
female student, and two male students -- who both reportedly were referred to the school by defendant Buccellato himself despite the clear risks these children posed -- who brutally attacked other students.~~
Does it really take a PhD to evaluate that there's a little more going on with these type kids than ODD and low self-esteem? Or to compare them with the admittance criteria?
? Plaintiffs allege several suicide attempts in recent months and acts of violence by students on other students (¶¶ 49-50). Those allegations are false. The complaint states that within the past year there were 5 attempted suicides. False? No ?knife stabbing?? No ?vicious gang-like beating?? No ?investigation by Lumpkin Co Sheriff?s Dept?? No calls to 911?
? Contrary to Plaintiffs allegations, HLA does not represent Clay Erickson as a ?properly licensed physician? (¶ 59). Mr. Erickson has neither practiced medicine since he came to HLA nor advised parents or students that he is a properly licensed physician. Oh course not, they just listed his Medical degree in his bio, after his license had been revoked for stealing drugs for his personal use. Deceptive? He?s still not qualified to hold his position as Addictions Counselor.
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... son#219071How many can testify to the fact that Erickson did perform medical duties? Could he sware under oath that he didn't?
? Hidden Lake has never paid Dr. Buccellato?s personal taxes (¶ 76), nor does Dr. Buccellato bill an ?overwhelming majority. . . . of his personal expenses? to HLA (¶¶ 78, 79).Buccellato uses HLA, Inc. as his personal bank and employment agency by, among other things : billing to it significant amounts of his personal expenses, including extravagant dinners, gifts to friends and family, and lavish vacations totaling thousands of dollars; using school maintenance staff to maintain and repair personal rental properties ; having the school
pay his personal taxes and service his loan payments ; arranging for present or former school therapists, such as Dr. Steven Taylor and Dr . Brad Carpenter, to work up to four days per week in his private psychology practice ; enlisting school employees to work part-time at St . Francis Day School, a school that Buccellato also helps operate ; and getting the school's food service provider to privately cater personal affairs, which he then bills to the school . Buccellato also arranges for HLA to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to Ridge Creek, Inc . ("Ridge Creek"), a for-profit corporation he founded in 2001 which is located adjacent to HLA, and whose property is mostly owned by Hidden Lake Academy, Inc . and HLA, Inc.~~
The complaint also states that HLA paid Buccellato?s personal taxes. Not true?
Why didn?t HLA address this?32. Despite claiming to be a "therapeutic boarding school" with a
comprehensive treatment program, Hidden Lake is not regulated as a mental health facility or a therapeutic residential child care program by the Georgia Department of Human Resources ("DHR") . Indeed, Hidden Lake has fought bitterly attempts by DHR to classify it as a mental health facility or a therapeutic residential child care program, to avoid being subject to appropriate state regulations . If Hidden Lake were classified as a mental health facility or a therapeutic residential child care program, it
would face strict policing from DHR and receive far greater scrutiny from state regulators than it does now . For instance, DHR would closely monitor, among other things, that HLA's teachers and therapeutic staff are properly credentialed.~~
Not something SACS or GAC is capable to doing.
