Dear Referring Professional Community,
We understand that there has been a flood of opinions and assumptions about Mount Bachelor Academy made in various forums lately, and we would like to clear up some of these rumors as well as update you on the status of our legal efforts.
First, we would like to reiterate that our initial focus has been and will continue to be on our students and families. The action by the Oregon DHS defies explanation, as we believe it was both entirely undeserved and unnecessarily urgent, thereby creating an enormous burden of distress and disruption to our students and families. After each student was carefully transitioned to alternative care or home, we began working to resolve academic issues. Upon notice of our suspension, we had nine students who were to graduate in December. At our attorney's insistence, the state agreed to modify the emergency license suspension so that MBA will be able to allow all students who had planned to graduate by the end of this year to complete their course work and receive diplomas on schedule.
Second, many of you have questioned why we have not mounted a more aggressive defense in the press, which has up to this point, produced numerous inaccurate and misleading reports. Given the complexity of the issues and the difficulty of discussing therapeutic approaches with public audiences amidst sensational headlines, we as a company decided not to pursue an extended defense in the press. Instead, we are focusing our efforts on the best legal options to defend the reputation of Mount Bachelor Academy and its outstanding, caring staff. Let me reassure you that we stand 100% behind the exceptional work accomplished at Mount Bachelor Academy and the talented professionals who worked tirelessly to help our students exceed even their own expectations. We did provide statements detailing our commitment to the school and its staff, yet the media often chose to ignore or incorporate mere portions of these statements.
It is with great regret that I share the reality that Mount Bachelor Academy will not reopen any time soon. Given the abrupt order to suspend operations and remove students within 48 hours, DHS effectively shut the school down. Rather than allowing us to make further adjustments to the program to address their concerns, as we had been doing for seven months, they determined that an emergency evacuation was needed.
Unfortunately and inexplicably, we have yet to be provided a copy of the full, unredacted report detailing the DHS allegations and findings. Although this full report will be central to our appeal of the allegations, we have already begun to "put the wheels in motion," so to speak.
Our attorneys are active on several fronts simultaneously. Before most of the students had left the campus, our attorneys had already appealed the emergency licensure suspension and the order requiring us to make further changes to the curriculum. The attorneys are pressing hard to get the complete and unredacted copy of the investigation report. They also are preparing to appeal the findings of the Office of Investigations and Training which substantiated the allegations of child abuse and neglect. We intend to challenge those findings vigorously, both on behalf of MBA and on behalf of its Executive Director personally.
Finally, our attorneys are exploring the possibility that the state may be financially liable to parents for the impact of the cruel and unnecessary manner in which the school's license was suspended. We have received reports by numerous parents of their intent to pursue their own legal action against the state for the unnecessary impact on their child and family.
We appreciate the outpouring of support we have received and continue to receive on behalf of the school and its employees. We hope that this communication helps to clarify the situation for you. We will do our best to continue to update you as more information becomes available and to the extent possible as we proceed with legal action.
Sincerely,
Phil Herschman
President, Aspen Education Group
