When is HLA finally going to close???

[TheWho]

Guest wrote:

Note to "The Who": Why are you bringing up Aspen? Is that because Aspen is considering buying HLA? That's been rumored. Maybe you're just confirming it.

No, nothing I heard directly, but I do have some thoughts on the subject?.. they have a small place called ?Stone Mountain school? down that way but very little else in the southeast, well maybe "New Leaf", but they are doing well focusing on 10-12 year old girls and wouldn?t want to break the integrity there.  Stone Mountain needs lots of work and is more of a wilderness program (with a few buildings) than anything else.  Strategically it makes sense if they could pick up the HLA property, sell off some land to pay back taxes on it, throw on a coat of paint etc. they could implement a more of a clinical based program modeled after ASR, maybe call it ?Wahsega Academy? and either sell off the Stone mountain school or use it as the wilderness portion (depending on SUWS capacity and expansion).  They cant keep building and expanding in Cummington because they will lose their small school atmosphere and the new direction is ?specialize and focus on a specific problems? which would allow them more freedom to do this if some kids went to Georgia.  This would also solve their growing pain problems.  Although any success would be hinged on a relationship with the Lumpkin school district and whether this guy Dewey Moye (who is also on the board of the Georgia Accrediting Commission)  would extend his hand to Aspen for an academic certification partnership etc.  Without the academics portion (or as a minimum a non-traditional ed status, special purpose or a provisional accreditation) they won?t consider it in my opinion?..So it is just speculation as a possibility on my part, no rumor confirmation.

[RobertBruce]

It appears the citizens of Dahlonega have had enough, they shot down the tax abatement for Mountain Brook because they didnt want another program in their area. I doubt that would do anything to welcome another program swooping in after HLA is gone. They just dont appear to want it.

[TheWho]

It appears the citizens of Dahlonega have had enough, they shot down the tax abatement for Mountain Brook because they didnt want another program in their area. I doubt that would do anything to welcome another program swooping in after HLA is gone. They just dont appear to want it.

What you say may be true, but, I saw it a little differently.  It seems the people of Dahlonega were a little disenchanted because HLA was looking for financial help from the town in the form of an abatement when HLA didn?t seem to want to be part of the community.  It seems they were not doing enough to hire local people and basically give back to the community, so why should the town give them a loan?

If another company came along and offered to contribute more to the town in the form of hiring local people, paying taxes and able to pull their own weight financially they may be better received.

[Deborah]

You clearly are not informed, as usual.

[TheWho]

You clearly are not informed, as usual.

Here is where I got my information:

Hidden Lake Academy, as reported in one issue of the "Lakeside Reflections", the school paper, has been planning to build a sister school which would be called Mountain Brook Academy. HLA requested a somewhat controversial 10-year tax abatement for MBA to the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners. Many people announced that they were opposed to this including the pastor of the influential local United Methodist Church, Rev. Jeff Ross. Former professor and US Army Colonel Billy Wells, who is in charge of North Georgia College and State University's leadership initiative, was also strongly opposed to the abatement and voiced his concerns in the local paper, The Dahlonega Nugget:
Our property taxes support our children's schools. They support roads like the one the county apparently paved for you at Hidden Lake. If you are so interested in giving, then why can you not give your fair share of taxes like everyone else? Are the children of Lumpkin County not important to you...The public deserves some clear answers ... not Madison Avenue ads, spin and pressure tactics.
As far as providing jobs for current residents, an analysis of your Web site indicates that 60 percent of your academically-credentialed staff, those who make the best salaries, originally came from out of state. Probably even more came from out of the county. Also, do you plan to construct additional faculty housing so employees do not have to pay property taxes? I suspect you will create jobs ... and then bring in the people to fill them

So it doesn?t seem to be the school per se, based on this article anyway.  I am sure there is more to the story but the people seemed to feel HLA was not a good neighbor and wasn?t supporting the community.

[Deborah]

There are a few more articles and letters to the editor from the local paper, which are posted here, that tell the whole story.

[Troll Control]

Well, I've taken the first steps of a "not in my backyard" campaign against letting any of these behavior mod facilities into town.

I have sent letters to the local planning board and to the county commissioners as well as some influential locals explaining the depth and breadth of false information, phony credentials, business model, lack of accreditation or licensed employees, etc in Aspen Education Group (who I believe will make the move to acquire the HLA property) along with copious documentation of their patient abuses.

This one is going to be dead before it hits the ground, just like we killed MBA through lobbying and education of the principals.

FYI, the townfolk and the town government are both very weary of the problems caused by HLA and are reticent even to debate the sale of the property to what they refer to as a "juvenile private prison."

So, we'll see.  I and a few others are on top of it and talking to the people that matter down there.

[RobertBruce]

It's a sad day in Mudville, apparently HLA had a clause written into all the contracts stating that if a parent wised up and decided to sue them as so many have, the parents were respondsible for the all court cost and legal fees.

This was probably done to try and scare parents and disuade them from suing.

Well as it turns out no one is really afraid of them afterall.

The judge ruled that the clause violated Georgia Law, and the parents, or the plantiffs in this case are not respondsible for any of HLA's legal fees.

Doesn't that just suck for them.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been on in a while.  What has happened with the lawsuit?  Any news on closing the school or the bankruptcy filing?

[Anonymous]

DJ, if you care so much why don't you start your own program they have good facilities at HLA or see if Aspen would back you to build a program as a show piece to show the rest what they should do?

[Anonymous]

DJ, if you care so much why don't you start your own program they have good facilities at HLA or see if Aspen would back you to build a program as a show piece to show the rest what they should do?

Because there is no program that works based on this flawed model.  Sending kids to RTC's without diagnoses and threat to life and limb of self and others is wrong.  Not sure why you can't see this.

Just ask The Who.  He incarcerated his own kid without her having any quantifiable problems.  Ask him.  He'll tell you.  They did not even engage in family therapy, just sent the kid, alone, to a shit pit for no reason that The Who can explain.  Except maybe that conditional love thing he has with his kid.  Maybe he just doesn't love her - or didn't the day he sent her away for nothing that he can explain.

[RobertBruce]

Twice.