Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => CEDU / Brown Schools and derivatives / clones => Topic started by: Anonymous on January 27, 2005, 03:02:00 PM
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Could somebody tell me (with a bit of detail) just what the big NWA riot was about, how it got started, how it went down, and what the major repercussions were about? I arrived at BCA not long after they happened, so I heard of them, but very very little about them...staff were not very eager to mention them. And of course I understand if you don't want to mention names - I'm sure it's better that way.
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As I understand it, the whole thing started when a staff member broke a students arm while restraining him, after the kid tried to walk out of a rap. Upon seeing this, the rest of the student body went nuts.
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Author: By Kevin Keating Staff writer
The parent company for three pricey schools for troubled teens near Bonners Ferry is being sued by two
former students for fraud, racketeering and battery.
The suit was filed in District Court on Tuesday. It alleges that Rocky Mountain Academy, Northwest
Academy, Ascent and their California-based parent company, CEDU Educational Services Inc., grossly
overcharge parents, and have ill-trained staff who verbally and physically abuse students.
Alleged abuses include one student's arm being broken by a counselor and several students being
punished by sitting on stools in the cold for as long as two days.
School officials referred questions to their attorney, David Wohlgemuth. He said he had not seen the
complaint and could not comment on it.
The lawsuit claims the schools' counselors are paid based on how long they keep students enrolled.
Counselors receive bonus pay if they can persuade parents to transfer their children into other schools or
programs run by the company, according to the lawsuit.
Programs can cost from $6,800 a month to $16,000 for a six-week outdoor course.
Much of the lawsuit stems from information parents and lawyers received about the school after a student
riot in January 1997. Five people were injured, including students and school staff members in Bonners
Ferry.
Boundary County law enforcement was called in to quell the riot. It launched an investigation of the school,
but no charges were filed. The riot was not reported to Idaho health and welfare officials. But after reading
about the melee in the newspaper, state Child Protective Services officials launched an investigation of
Northwest Academy, a rustic outdoor program.
``It is our belief that the cause of the riot was the result of frustration by students over mistreatment by a
number of staff towards these children,'' said a health and welfare report. The report is included in the
lawsuit.
CEDU charged former student Kevin Accomazzo's parents $30 to drive their son to the hospital after a
school counselor restrained and broke the teenager's arm, the complaint said.
According to reports by health and welfare officials - included in the lawsuit - the counselor grabbed
Accomazzo and put him in a bear hug to stop him from leaving a room. He wrestled the teen to the ground,
and they both heard a ``snap.''
In their report, health officials said the counselor laid on top of Accomazzo for 10 to 15 minutes before
sending someone for medical help. After the teen's arm was put in a cast, the doctor ordered him not to lift
anything heavier than a pencil.
But Accomazzo was put back to work at the camp, chipping ice, shoveling snow and hauling pots of water,
according to the lawsuit. His arm failed to heal properly. It had to be rebroken and a plate surgically
implanted, the lawsuit said. Weeks after the surgery, Accomazzo was forced to sleep in a damp, unheated
tent.
``It is our opinion that this injury should never have occurred,'' the report by health and welfare officials
stated. They recommended Accomazzo be pulled from the school and the counselor ``should not ... work
with children in any capacity at CEDU.''
Accomazzo's broken arm was not reported to state health and welfare officials as is required by law.
The school has a consultant, Rich Donavon, to make sure it complies with state requirements. Donavon, the
former director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, claimed the broken arm was an accident and
didn't need to be reported.
``During the previous two years we have made it clear to the administrators of CEDU, including consultant
Rich Donavon, that any suspicious injury needs to be reported,'' the health and welfare report said.
``Injuries such as that experienced by Kevin Accomazzo clearly should have been reported, along with the
findings from a medical examination.''
The school was also chastised by health officials for making students sit on stools in the cold as
punishment. Some students were allegedly placed on the stools for as long as two days. ``Allegations
regarding abuse and neglect by specific employees of Northwest Academy are found to be valid,'' the
health and welfare report said. A copy of the report was sent to state officials who license the academy.
Accomazzo and his parents also claim they were bilked for thousands of dollars. The Accomazzos paid
$16,000 for a six-week outdoor program called Ascent.
In addition to tuition, the family was charged $60 to $80 a month for laundry, and $40 for their son's ride to
the dentist. A van typically took six students to Sandpoint for a dental visit, a 30-mile ride. All the students
were charged $40 for the trip, according to the lawsuit.
``These charges are exorbitant,'' said the lawsuit filed by local attorneys Steve Very and Todd Reed, who
also is a deputy prosecutor for Boundary County. They asked a judge to bar CEDU from continuing to bill
parents for ``unconscionable'' sums of money and sending out false billing statements.
Claims made by Stanton Lewis, another former student who filed suit, are similar to those of Accomazzo.
The lawsuit alleges CEDU has breached its contract by not providing the education that was promised.
The CEDU program is one of the largest employers in Bonners Ferry. Some famous troubled teens have
attended the program, including children of Barbara Walters and Roseanne Barr.
Courtesy of The Postman
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I was told about this one by students. Unfortunately there is no news article to post because the School hid it just like the earlier ript the did not report it. This is CEDU's Honesty and Integrity
There were windows breaking and screaming and they used all the vans and a bus to haul away the kids.
A staff got a broken nose, threee kids were injured and went to hospital. Call that State licensing and Child Protective Services on that one - they really never found out. They even hid it from the three other schools and the staff there. I was working there and they hid it from all the therapists. Hiding this is what they call "being in agreement."
There is the Real CEDU for you.
Rocky Mountain Academy
Boulder Creek Academy
Northwest Academy
Ascent
CEDU High School
CEDU Middle school
St George Academy
Cover ups at all of them.
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It's like the Ministry song :wink:
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Are you happy with the news article?
Can i answer any more questions about CEDU Schools
Postman
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The news article was great, thanks Postman. Is there anyone who was actually there and can recount it?
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Postman,
Do you know the name of the counselor that broke the kids arm?
Also check your PM.
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What's a PM?
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Private messages
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewpmsg.php (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewpmsg.php)
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It went down exactly the way it was described in the newspaper article above
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I knew people who were there, but I dont remember the names - They were in a news article I read at teen liberty.org in news articles under Rocky Mountain Academy. Also the office of Todd Reed Attorney in Sandpoint would have them - since they handled the case and are handling the current one. My private messages don't work for some reason. Try using my other username - Roy - I haven't used it in a long time, but it is still there - thanks for the technical information.
Roy
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Well that might have sucked for that Kevin kid, but I knew him when he was at RMA and he was a total dick and anti-authority asshole.
Beyond that I read some article about him beating the crap out of some poor customer when he worked at a pizza chain after he left idaho - that kid was problems.
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On 2005-02-13 01:47:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Well that might have sucked for that Kevin kid, but I knew him when he was at RMA and he was a total dick and anti-authority asshole.
Beyond that I read some article about him beating the crap out of some poor customer when he worked at a pizza chain after he left idaho - that kid was problems."
:wstupid: so being anti-authority automatically makes you an "asshole"? we all know where we heard that one before! god you trolls are lame! anti-authority or not, there's no way you can justify breaking his arm!
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I don't think that is what the anon was saying, that this kid deserved a broken arm. He was saying that this kid was a jerk. He didn't deserve to be abused, certainly, but was a difficult kid to manage.
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On 2005-02-16 11:47:00, coco wrote:
"I don't think that is what the anon was saying, that this kid deserved a broken arm. He was saying that this kid was a jerk. He didn't deserve to be abused, certainly, but was a difficult kid to manage."
i think that's exactly what this troll was saying, that this kid deserved to have his arm broken. you're new here coco, so you probably haven't met any of the nasty little trolls that pop up around here on a regular basis. they are mostly confused cedu graduates, who think they're still at the school and insist on defending the program like the ass-sucking older students they once were. only a total tool of cedu's 'holier than thou' philosophy would suggest that being anti-authority makes someone a jerk, or an asshole. I mean seriously, aren't all cedu students difficult kids to manage? isn't that why they are sent there in the 1st place? perhaps if cedu staff spent more time listening to this kid, and less time trying to manage him, this entire tragedy could have been avoided! Of course cedu staff didn't even care about this kid, so why would they listen to him? i guess maybe the whole riot was unavoidable after all.
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I have to disagree that none of the staff there cared about the kids. I could name a few underpaid program staff that invested quite a bit of care about me and my fellow students, and that still send me e-mails today to see how I'm doing. I'm sorry to shift the subject, but that's just a theme I see a lot around here; people thinking that not a single staff member in that school had a good heart.
Then again, of course, there was a vast number of power-tripping and status-abusing program and admin staff that I definitely think have a nice spot saved for them in hell...don't get me wrong. I never knew the kid who had his arm broken - I came years after his time to a completely different school. I can't really comment on whether he deserved it or not, although I do strongly believe that if those kids started rioting, they definitely had a good reason.
I despise cedu as much as the next person, and that place still haunts me too, but let's give a little credit to those few diamonds in the rough that weren't completely corrupted.
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On 2005-02-17 10:55:00, dniceo7 wrote:
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I despise cedu as much as the next person, and that place still haunts me too, but let's give a little credit to those few diamonds in the rough that weren't completely corrupted."
I remember a couple diamonds in the rough among Cedu staff when I was there, unfortunately, they were all fired by the time I had left. I guess having a big heart and truly caring about kids is not the way to keep your job at Cedu.
.[ This Message was edited by: SON OF SERBIA on 2005-02-17 15:34 ]
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That's the sad truth...the good ones are either fired, end up getting corrupted anyways, or get so disgusted by the pressure to buy into the bullshit that they just leave. Most of the ones I was fond of left and work in completely different industries now.
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I do believe that there are some good souls at cedu. I have experienced some bad ones, but they are mostly good ones who do truly care about the kids at BCA. I agree that they push the kids way beyond their capabilities(meaning the program staff's abilities) and can do some real harm.
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The road to hell is paved with good intentions...
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There were good souls and they are there a very short time before they are railroaded out. Wendy and Greg - program staff, Mark - the therapist, Jack the Therapist, Jenny - the therapist, Roy Phillips PhD, and Cowboy Bob. They were all great and they were all railroaded and harassed out because they wouldn't "buy in" to CHILD ABUSE
Boulder Creek Academy Child Abuse
Northwest Academy Child Abuse
Ascent Child Abuse
Milestones Child Abuse
CEDU Child Abuse
25 Lawsuits from families charging child abuse at CEDU - Northwest. And who were the people who most loudly objected to it? See their names above.