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« on: January 28, 2011, 01:46:59 PM »
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cc Chris Grimwood <cgrimwood@ridgecreek.org>
date Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 1:50 PM
subject Ridge Creek School
hide details Jan 17 (11 days ago)
Dear Parents,
It is important that we take a minute this afternoon to update you on a situation that occurred this weekend.
We went into the weekend with an unfortunate position, where as a company we needed to delay providing our staff pay checks. We currently have over $150,000 in uncollected tuition, which in combination with the economy has placed us in a difficult situation. There are plans in place for staff to receive these checks this Thursday, the 20th. We continue to have a core staff dedicated to the work being done with your children and the execution of the mission and vision of Ridge Creek School. The students, through whatever means, became aware of this situation and orchestrated a plan to create chaos and disruption on campus at lunch on Sunday the 17th. 16 students, simply stated to staff, “F-you, there are 45 of us and 7 of you,†and proceeded to walk out of the lodge. Our shift leader notified me, who called in an additional 7 staff to campus. We are blessed at Ridge Creek School to have the number of staff who live on campus and locally as we do.
What originally started as a student walk out ended with four students being charged by the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office after having broken windows on campus. Many of the students involved quickly settled back into the program upon the arrival of additional staff and were found to be in more of a follower role. A staff meeting was held this morning in which the incident was reviewed an each student staffed. The students behind orchestrating the event are being dismissed from Ridge Creek School due to the severity of their actions, most of which were new students into Ridge Creek. Student safety continues to be our number one priority, and we will continue to make whatever decisions are necessary to ensure that your children remain safe and are provided the opportunity to be surrounded by positive students and given the ability to make good decisions.
On that note, I want to take a moment to recognize the 29 students who had no involvement in this incident. These students truly showed their true character in a time of need, during which they followed staff directions, were supportive of peers and worked to provide a calm in an otherwise chaotic situation. One tearful conversation that truly sticks out was between members of our basketball team, in which they were worried they would have to forfeit the season due to the actions of some of their players, during which other students volunteered to join the team “even though I am not that great,†to ensure that they are able to complete the season that they have worked so hard in. It is this character that is the true character of a Ridge Creek School student.
I am sure by this point all parents are wondering where their child fits into this incident. Those parents of involved students were all notified yesterday of their child’s involvement. For the remaining parents, however, I am certain that you will hear all about it from your child via email and during your call this week. The students were in the dormitory while this happened, and only have limited information as to the actual details. It is understandable that they will want to discuss the “excitementâ€, however it would be more beneficial to discuss what characteristic they used when faced with the decision to join in or not, and how they were supportive while this was occurring.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, and I will do my best to respond within a timely manner.
Take care,
Chris Grimwood, MSW
Executive Director
Ridge Creek, Inc.
706-864-4730 x2206
Yea, I would say it is due to the fact that they are not getting paid.
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