"Concerns surround academy
By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder
TERRA BELLA - When Bell Academy opened its doors at the beginning of the school year in Terra Bella, controversy and accusations erupted immediately.
Officials were upset because the school is not licensed to operate in California. Others were upset because of its association with parent company, World Wide Association of Specialty Programs. WWASP has come under the microscope over the last few years for the way it disciplines its students.
The school is located at the old Good Shepherd Lutheran Home site on Road 256, and is large enough to accommodate upward of 300 individuals. The previous owners cared for developmentally disabled children.
Bell Academy Director Jade Robinson has a special use permit from Tulare County, which allows students to occupy dormitories on campus. He does not need a license to operate a boarding school, he said.
Andrew Roth, a public spokesperson of the California Department of Social Services disagreed.
"We only have preliminary information on them, but I can tell you they are an unlicensed facility," Roth said. "It is unusual to be able to operate a group home or facility of any kind without a license. To do so is a violation of civil law."
The Department of Social Services is taking a closer look at the Terra Bella operation because of its unlicensed status, and because of telephone calls it has received regarding the school's legitimacy and perceived potential for harm to students, according to Roth. As of today, the department had taken no action against the academy.
Rebecca Cooney, associate governmental analyst for the California Department of Education said there is no record in her office of the school having been certified.
A school like Bell Academy normally would apply at her office, at which time school officials would be subjected to a review by a state committee, she said. If all requirements are met and everything is found to be in order, a letter of non-public school certification is issued, which contains information as to how many students can be served, the kinds of activities the school can engage in and other regulations, Cooney said.
Cooney said her department has no record of Bell Academy submitting an application.
The Bell Academy's parent company is located in Utah. WWASP and a number of its specialty schools across the country have been under investigation since the mid-1990s. The TV news shows "Dateline," "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" have done stories on WWASP and similar campuses like High Impact in Mexico, and their treatment of children once they are away from their parents. The Mexico facility was closed down, according to reports from lawyers involved in the case.
Accusations against WWASP and its satellite schools range from inhumane treatment of students to not allowing parents access to their children.
None of those accusations have been levied against the Terra Bella campus. However, five parents whose children were enrolled in a WWASP satellite school have contacted The Recorder to express their concerns over how children were treated.
Lt. Donna Perry, a spokesperson for the Tulare County Sheriff's Department, said her office received one call in January regarding the school. An investigation followed and the charge was unfounded, according to Perry.
Parents and students from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities are welcomed at Bell Academy, which is a character boarding school that serves grades nine through 12, according to Robinson.
"This is a beautiful facility and the possibilities are everywhere," Robinson. "We want to make a good impression on the community, even though we know there is always going to be somebody who doesn't like what you do or who wants to find fault."
An area of fault-finding with the parent company continues to be with its negligence in obtaining required permits to operate. WWASP has been involved in lawsuits with parents from Florida to California. A class action suit involving more than 1,000 parents whose children were cared for by the organization is being drawn up against the organization.
The company earns upward of $65 million a year from parents who pay from $24,000 to $50,000 annually for their children to be serviced with the tough-love policy the schools promote.
Bell Academy is doing good work in the view of at least one community member. Mickey Grambell of Springville maintains a pommelo orchard and has orange and lemon groves. He visits the school regularly, and is pleased with what he has seen.
"I think that's a great group over there," Grambell said. "They've got about 20 or so kids, and they come up here and pick pommelos and oranges and lemons. They're a great bunch of kids, and the people in charge are doing a good job. Those kids can come up here and work anytime they want." "
http://www.portervillerecorder.com/arti ... news02.txt