Ridge Creek "School" - Trouble Retaining Professional Staff?

[Dysfunction Junction]

http://www.indeed.com/q-Ridge-Creek-School-jobs.html

It appears that RCS is currently operating without these positions filled.  I can't really understand how it can be run without key personnel such as:

Academics Director
Counseling Director
Headmaster
Special Ed Teacher
etc.

I suppose when the it's actually the inmates that run the show there (see DHS reports about dangerous understaffing by untrained personnel, rapes, beatings, etc) RCS doesn't need these people.

[Whooter]

Its a sign that the school is growing and doing well.  Our local hospital is looking for several doctors, nurses and a head of neurology.  If RCS was laying off people than it would be a bad sign but as businesses grow they branch out and hire more people so that each person does not have to wear several hats.

In small businesses sometimes the owner serves as the director of each department and his employees wear several hats etc.  Then once the business gets established, and is more profitable, they hire people to fill these positions and the owner steps back and takes on a more global position of running the company.


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[Dysfunction Junction]

They're operating without three "honchos":

Academics Director
Counseling Director
Headmaster

How can they operate without properly credentialed people in these positions?  The short answer is "badly" as they have always operated.

Sadly enough, the inmates run that jail anyway and according to parents who put their kids at RCS, the promised academics, therapy and medical attention aren't given anyway, so I suppose they can save money by not having figureheads in these positions because they don't provide the services, so why bother having someone be director of a department that doesn't do anything.

[Whooter]

They're operating without three "honchos":

Academics Director
Counseling Director
Headmaster

How can they operate without properly credentialed people in these positions?  The short answer is "badly" as they have always operated.

They are obviously doing it, DJ.  The place is still open for business and growing if they can afford to hire dedicated people to head these departments.  Sometimes the owner will wear the hats of all the department heads until the business becomes profitable enough to hire permanent staff.  I think this is a healthy sign for RCS.

 Lets say the head of academics at Yale dies of a heart attack.  Do they close the school?  Are the kids getting less of an education?  Should they charge less money until they hire a new department head?

Businesses have contingency plans which allows them to continue on.  Its a sign of a good business.



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[Dysfunction Junction]

They had people in these positions previously.  They left RCS.  Now they are operating without them.  Let's not try to make it too confusing, shall we?

Parents should know that RCS has no Academic or Counseling director, nor do they have a Headmaster.  Obvioulsy the people who held these positions before left abruptly, as there was no orderly succession.  Right now they are operating without these people and some of these positions have been open for months.  

That means if you have a kid at RCS, no qualified person is running the show in these areas.  Parents should be aware of this fact.

[Dysfunction Junction]

This parent explained the symptoms of not having professionals on staff at RCS:

Do your homework. We sent our son here on a recommendation from a consultant. After six weeks we pulled him from the "school." The school promised a lot and delivered little. Our son was put into a study hall type classroom to "catch-up" on his chemistry. He had not taken chemistry yet, so it was unclear as to how he was going to "catch-up" on his own. The sports consist of the boys shooting hoops. The soccer field and tennis courts are not maintained. I had to purchase a ten dollar football at Walmart, so the boys could play catch. The kids sit around like couch potatoes. Prescribed medication is either not given as prescribed or in our case was terminated without informing us to get our consent. Lastly, we have not received the tuition refund, so now we have to hire a lawyer. Please Google "Hidden Lake Academy" - the name of this school prior to their bankrupcy in May 2009.

Good advice, Susan.

Link

I can see how this could happen when RCS is missing key professional people from its staff.

[Whooter]

They had people in these positions previously.  They left RCS.  Now they are operating without them.  Let's not try to make it too confusing, shall we?

Parents should know that RCS has no Academic or Counseling director, nor do they have a Headmaster.  Obvioulsy the people who held these positions before left abruptly, as there was no orderly succession.  Right now they are operating without these people and some of these positions have been open for months.  

That means if you have a kid at RCS, no qualified person is running the show in these areas.  Parents should be aware of this fact.

In small businesses typically the owner is the director of each department.  As the business expands and becomes more profitable then the owner takes a step back and hires heads of each department.  I think hiring these people is a good sign that RCS is doing well.  If they were laying off people then I think the parents would have reason for concern.



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[Dysfunction Junction]

They had people in these positions previously. They left RCS. Now they are operating without them.

[Whooter]

They had people in these positions previously. They left RCS. Now they are operating without them.

Then they need to fill in the void until they find permanent replacements.  It takes time to do interviews and find the right candidate.  There are many options available to them.  They could contract the positions out to local professionals, have a temporary independent contractor come in, the owner could step up and fill in some of the missing pieces.  So they may already have these positions filled temporarily for now until they find permanent people.

I think the positive point is that the school is expanding and growing instead of laying off people.  In this economy it is a good sign for the industry.



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[Whooter]

My vote for Ridge Creek School Headmaster   ::OMG::

Ha,Ha,Ha  I think all the kids should be required to get that hair cut too.



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[Dysfunction Junction]

:bump:

This parent explained the symptoms of not having professionals on staff at RCS:

Do your homework. We sent our son here on a recommendation from a consultant. After six weeks we pulled him from the "school." The school promised a lot and delivered little. Our son was put into a study hall type classroom to "catch-up" on his chemistry. He had not taken chemistry yet, so it was unclear as to how he was going to "catch-up" on his own. The sports consist of the boys shooting hoops. The soccer field and tennis courts are not maintained. I had to purchase a ten dollar football at Walmart, so the boys could play catch. The kids sit around like couch potatoes. Prescribed medication is either not given as prescribed or in our case was terminated without informing us to get our consent. Lastly, we have not received the tuition refund, so now we have to hire a lawyer. Please Google "Hidden Lake Academy" - the name of this school prior to their bankrupcy in May 2009.

Good advice, Susan.

Link

I can see how this could happen when RCS is missing key professional people from its staff.

[Dysfunction Junction]

Our suspicions have been confirmed:

These positions, along with a number of others, are vacant because those who held them previously feared for their personal saftey, as well they should. No one, to my knowledge, is still working at Hidden Lake/Ridge Creek who was there a few years ago, or even one year ago. My prediction is that those they hire to fill these positions will not be there one year from now, unless they are all former corrections department employees who are used to dealing with dangerous criminals.

Our resident RCS shill has been caught red-handed lying yet again about RCS.

[Jill Ryan]

CURRENT STAFF LISTING  BY RIDGE CREEK(MAY NOT HAVE BEEN UP-DATED)  HIGHLIGHTED STAFF HAVE BEEN THERE FOR YEARS

 Ridge Creek Therapeutic Boarding School

Faculty
Academics

Anna D. Jones, M.Ed.
Jennifer Jones
Timothy Lawson, M.Ed.
Donald Mull
Sam Tanner
 Foy Tootle

 Admissions
Paige LeFevre-Mitts
J. Scott Smith  ??

 Therapeutic Counselors
 
Cheryl Ballow
Len Buccellato
Kason Elkins
Clay Erickson
Chris Grimwood

Recreation/Adventure
Josh Cannon
Bill Ingram
Ryan King
Nikki Line
Stephanie McCullum R.E.C.
Blake Nash
Shaun Pelley QP, WFR
Jamie Shankles, M.Ed.
Karen Wieloch R.E.C.

http://www.ridgecreekschool.com/faculty-members.htm

[Dysfunction Junction]

So, we're looking at about a 67% turnover for "professional staff" (several of the above-listed wouldn't qualify for those positions in the public sector or legitimate private sector facilities) from last year.  Thanks, Jill.  

We don't know the turnover rate of the line staff, but I suspect it's probably higher because they have to work in the same dangerous environment for near-minimum wage.  As DEE said before, most fear for their safety, so RCS would have to increase pay substantially to retain line staff in the detention center.

[Dysfunction Junction]

Whooter - we're talking about human lives, not a car. There's a big difference. We're also talking about positions that are essential for a legitimate facility. These positions are revolving doors because once someone gets hired on there they realize what a farce the place is and they leave. Or, as rumored, get sexually harassed by Bucci and then given some hush money.

As for small businesses, do some research and find out how many small businesses sued Bucci for non-payment and these occurred when HLA was "thriving". Find out how many businesses he ruined....

BTW - have you ever read all the rules and regulations from Georgia's ORS as they relate to a child caring facility? You might want to some day so you can speak intelligently to those rules and regulations.

Guest3, thanks for your insight.  Your response has been confirmed by DEE as well.  These positions are revolving doors as you say, not only because people realize RCS is a farce, but also because they actually fear for their safety as well.