http://www.tvtalkshows.com/montel-willi ... ontel.htmlMontel Williams Fan Message Board
Of personal interest to Montel...
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Kristen_Weiser 24.160.49.125
Dear Montel Williams,
I am a former student of Rocky Mountain Academy and it's sister school, Cedu. Recently I was told you may have a personal interest in the Cedu Family Of Schools. There have been several news stories about The Cedu Family Of Schools which I'm posting here for you, your fans, and all parents.
Here's article #1:
__________________________________________________ ____
Tuesday, July 19, 1994
BOY HANGS HIMSELF IN DORMITORY
Section: THE HANDLE
Page: B3
Author: Kevin Keating Staff writer
A 16-year-old Rocky Mountain Academy student hanged himself in a dorm at the
private school Friday, authorities said.
The boy, who was from Richardson, Texas, was found by another student at the
secluded Boundary County school. The boy's name was not released.
He apparently tied a belt to a pipe on an overhead sprinkler system and
hanged himself, said Boundary County Sheriff Bruce Whittaker. He was found
about 7:30 p.m.
Staff at the school for troubled teens tried to revive the boy and called
for an ambulance. Whittaker said the teenager was pronounced dead a short
time later at Boundary County Community Hospital.
The death is still under investigation. Several reports said the boy may
have been taking medication for manic depression. Authorities would not
comment on any details until the investigation is complete.
Richard Geiger, program administrator at Rocky Mountain Academy declined to
comment Monday.
The private school specializes in teens who have had trouble at home or are
drug and alcohol abusers.
About 140 students, ages 13 to 18, are enrolled at the school, which
commands a tuition of more than $3,500 a month.
Students who have attended the school in the past include Barbara Walters'
daughter and Roseanne Arnold's two daughters.
All content © 1994 SPOKESMAN-REVIEW and may not be republished without
permission.
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Kristen_Weiser 24.160.49.125
Articles 2 & 3
Thursday, June 13, 1996
WILDERNESS SCHOOLS NEED SELF-POLICING
Section: THE REGION
Page: B6
Author: D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board
Column: Our view
Wilderness therapy programs have had their successes.
For example, sweethearts Lee Cunningham and Anna Seymour of Bonner County,
Idaho, owe much to the Rocky Mountain Academy in neighboring Boundary County
for helping them turn their lives around. Said Lee: ``If it wasn't for that
school, there's no telling where I would be. I learned a very good work
ethic. I learned what true friendship is about.''
Yet, a cloud hangs over such programs.
Four teenagers have died in the past five years while participating in
survival-type therapy. Employees of a Utah program will stand trial this
year on charges involving the death of a 16-year-old during a desert outing
in 1994. The teen died from a perforated ulcer after allegedly being
deprived of food, shelter and clothing.
Nearer home, a North Idahoan could face trial this summer on charges -
including assault, deviant sexual conduct and criminal endangerment -
stemming from his operation of a ``behavioral growth school'' at Anaconda,
Mont.
Of course, managers of Inland Northwest wilderness schools don't like being
lumped together with controversial programs. Yet, they have themselves to
blame for the problem. Few rules guide them. And they've been reluctant to
police themselves.
The rapidly growing industry would be wise to submit to a voluntary
accreditation program - before an incident attracts bureaucrats and
cumbersome regulations. Some already do seek approval from organizations
such as the National Association for Legal Support of Alternative Schools.
Desperate parents should have an independent source to consult about a
therapy program before they refinance homes or raid college funds to pay the
hefty tuitions. They deserve an assurance that their little monsters won't
be harmed, or worse.
These therapy programs fill an important niche for parents dealing with
uncontrollable youngsters. Youths from all over the country are flocking to
some 20 regional programs to learn how to get along, how to stay off drugs,
how to study, how to know themselves.
In the process, the therapy programs have given the Inland Northwest an
important economic boost. CEDU Inc., which runs four programs for troubled
teens in Boundary County, alone employs 280 people.
Now, however, Idaho has no rules for programs in which children stay nine
weeks or less. Washington has stricter licensing requirements but also many
exemptions, including ones for boarding schools and seasonal programs that
last less than three months.
There's too much room for mischief.
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Wednesday, April 1, 1998
SUIT SAYS SCHOOLS FOR TROUBLED TEENS SET STAGE FOR ABUSE
STATE REPORT SAYS ALLEGATIONS BY FORMER STUDENTS ARE VALID
Section: THE HANDLE
Page: B1
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.
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Kristen_Weiser 24.160.49.125
Articles 4 & 5
Sunday, September 5, 1999
TROUBLED HOMES
ACADEMIES FOR WAYWARD YOUTHS HAVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS WITH RULES
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1
Author: BY SUSAN DRUMHELLER STAFF WRITER
Illustration: Color Photo
Caption: SHELTERED LIFE. During a break in classes, the boys at Elk Mountain
Academy play a game of volleyball on the court in front of the school
building. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review
Parents across the nation spend thousands of dollars to send their
misbehaving teenagers to private behavioral schools in North Idaho.
Ironically, some of those programs seem to have a hard time following the
rules.
Just months after vowing not to increase their numbers at Elk Mountain
Academy, owners Carl and Loretta Olding have asked the county to allow the
school to house up to 12 more students at their woodsy campus below
Scotchman's Peak.
And now, county and state officials are investigating Glacier Mountain Inc.,
a group home north of Sandpoint that may be violating the terms of its group
home license and county code.
Another group home for youths has expanded from Bonners Ferry to Sagle,
Idaho, but doesn't have a foster care license with the state for either
facility, or a special use permit with Bonner County to operate a school.
Neighbors of Elk Mountain Academy keep watch as that school now seeks
approval for up to 36 students.
The teenagers at Elk Mountain come from all over, but primarily from
California. Their parents pay $3,375 a month to straighten them out and keep
them from bad influences.
It's a family model facility, where up to eight boys live in each residence
with house parents, some of whom raise their own small children there, too.
The biggest structure on campus, the Achievement House, has living
facilities on the top floor, classrooms on the second floor, and a gymnasium
and wood shop on the ground floor.
Students help build the buildings, as well as the Oldings' new garage/ guest
house at their private residence on the Hope Peninsula.
To make the students feel more at home, the Oldings hauled in tons of sand
for a beach volleyball court - perhaps the only beach volleyball court in
the Cabinet Mountains.
These are not dangerous kids, the Oldings and their staff insist - despite
the neighborhood rumors of gun thieves and worse.
``We don't get crazies here,'' said Mark Rocha, a youth minister and Elk
Mountain employee. ``We're talking about youth. We're not talking about a
nuclear reactor here.''
Education consultant Lon Woodbury sends a lot of kids to Elk Mountain - the
type who ``when in a safe environment, the decent kid comes out.''
He said that private behavioral schools have to launch aggressive public
relations campaigns to overcome the fear factor in the community.
``People assume they're criminals. Most of these kids aren't,'' Woodbury
said.
But it's not so much the kids that concern the neighbors. It's the
administration.
``Until they learn how to abide by the laws, they shouldn't have more kids
there,'' said Jeannie Roach, one of a coalition of neighbors near Elk
Mountain.
Neighbors have a running list of violations at Elk Mountain: building
dormitories without the county's blessing or knowledge, exceeding its
licensed capacity, housing students in incomplete buildings without proper
safety inspections, failing to test water and even a poaching incident.
Most of the problems have been resolved, but any trust between neighbors and
the Oldings has vanished.
And some neighbors still grumble about the roar of Elk Mountain's dirt bikes
in their peaceful outback.
``Who's kidding who?'' said Carl Olding in reference to one vocal opponent
to the bikes. ``We'll never be buddies.''
Elk Mountain recently was licensed by the state as a children's treatment
facility, which allows for more than 12 students. But the license still is
on provisional status.
The school also persuaded the county to issue a conditional use permit that
allows up to 25 students for two years, when the permit will be reviewed.
But that permit didn't include the academy's Base Camp program, which houses
as many as 12 additional students for six to nine weeks in an unfinished
cabin on the heavily treed mountainside above the main campus.
It's those students that the school still needs permission to house. Two or
three teens were up there this summer, cooking up Campbell's soup for dinner
and sleeping on bunkbeds without mattresses.
``They've flaunted the fact that they don't have to abide by the rules,''
Roach said of Elk Mountain. ``If they get away with it, we'll wind up with
100 little schools around here that get away with breaking the rules.''
One little school under scrutiny is Glacier Mountain Inc.
Like the directors of many local teenage residential facilities, Glacier
Mountain's directors got their start at another behavioral school in the
region.
``People learn how much money others are making, and they start adding it up
on their fingers,'' said Brenda Hammond, former director of the now defunct
Eagle Mountain Outpost. ``But anyone who goes into that business, to be
successful, can't be in it for financial reasons. It's very draining.''
Olding started planning Elk Mountain Academy while working for less than $8
an hour as a counselor at Eagle Mountain Outpost. He and his wife started
their family-based group home in Clark Fork in 1993.
Their group home was allowed under Bonner County's zoning laws only after
the county's legal counsel agreed that attention deficit disorder qualified
as a disability. Olding claimed that all of his students had the condition.
Glacier Mountain markets to ADD support groups, according to Woodbury.
``Since when does a delinquent teenager qualify as handicapped?'' wonders
Marty Taylor, Bonner County's planner. ``I'd be interested in seeing more
review of that.''
In Glacier's case, both Larry Bauer and John Baisden used to work at CEDU
Family of Services, which operates Rocky Mountain Academy, Northwest
Academy, Ascent and Boulder Creek Academy in Boundary County.
Baisden was CEDU's director of admissions from November 1994 until July
1995. Now he and Bauer operate a group home in the Colburn area on Oliver
Road.
Baisden was reluctant to discuss the business, which is under investigation
by the state licensing arm of Family and Community Services and by Bonner
County Planning and Zoning.
Baisden said the home takes up to eight kids, but had no students as of the
last week of August.
``We don't have any plans of being an Elk Mountain or a Rocky Mountain
Academy,'' he said. Baisden would not say how many people Glacier Mountain
employs.
But according to an inspection on Aug. 10 by Jean Hughes, an environmental
health specialist at Panhandle Health District, the home had 12 teenage
residents. She reported that the unfinished basement was being used as a
classroom.
According to Glacier's state license, it can have only eight residents. And
because it lacks a conditional use permit as a school, it cannot teach
students there.
``We did do instruction,'' Baisden said. ``We're not going to do that
anymore. We don't think that's the real world. When they go home, they go to
real schools.''
Glacier Mountain has provided inconsistent information to the county about
the facility, according to a letter from Taylor that was in Health District
records.
Bauer has told Taylor that the students attend classes at the group home,
but another letter about a week later said they would attend public school.
In the first letter, he stated an intention to obtain a conditional use
permit to become a children's treatment facility, which allows for 13 or
more residents.
The Health District also is looking into the home's water and sewer systems.
Hughes said the district could not approve either in a letter to Jim Puett,
a state licensing specialist.
Like Glacier Mountain, the operators of Northwoods Trailside School like to
keep a low profile.
The school was founded in Bonners Ferry in 1993 and is run by former CEDU
employees David Yeats and Matt Fitzgerald. They have two homes, with up to
four boys in each, in Bonners Ferry.
They recently started taking in boys at Fitzgerald's home in Sagle, too.
``We want it very small and very unobtrusive to North Idaho,'' said
Fitzgerald, who left CEDU because of philosophical differences. CEDU's
schools have more than 100 students each.
Fitzgerald said they don't work with ``at-risk'' kids as much as those who
their parents fear will fail in a big-city atmosphere.
``We deal with kids who want to come here and like to be here,'' he said.
Northwoods has yet to apply for a permit from Bonner County to operate a
school in the Sagle area. It is in the process of applying for a foster care
license, which allows up to six unrelated children in a home.
Northwoods isn't the only facility expanding.
Elk Mountain is moving part of its program across the border.
``To be at Elk Mountain is to be in a bubble,'' Olding said. ``How do you
get loaded at Elk Mountain? If anyone smarts off in class, they're out
picking rocks immediately. They live in this surreal world where there is no
temptation.''
So Elk Mountain has spawned Elk Creek, 86 acres the Oldings just bought near
Heron, Mont., where they plan to build another home for boys who progress to
their second year at the academy. Those students will go to public school in
Noxon, Mont.
The Oldings already have four students enrolled in Noxon, but for now the
teens still live at the academy north of Clark Fork.
Noxon High Principal Bob Goodrich has had students from other group home
settings. Northwest Montana seems to be a magnet for the behavioral school
industry, he said.
One well-known school is the boot-camp style Spring Creek Lodge near
Thompson Falls, which is expected to soon have more students than the entire
Noxon School District. Those students never leave the facility.
``It's one of the enterprises of Sanders County that's somewhat lucrative,''
Goodrich noted.
Elk Mountain's move to Montana was partially motivated by pressure from
neighbors. Montana has fewer restrictions on group homes and private
schools.
``We get a lot of, `Well, we'll just move to Montana,''' said Puett, the
Idaho state licensing specialist.
In Montana, Olding sees an opportunity to offer more services to students
who aren't ready to leave the support system that Elk Mountain offers.
He also has 86 acres to play with - plenty of room for a dirt bike track
that won't bother anybody, he said.
``No matter what happens,'' Olding said, ``I'm going to continue to do this
work, whether it's in Montana or Idaho.''
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Saturday, October 30, 1999
FEDERAL JURY SIDES WITH WOMAN IN RAPE LAWSUIT
EMPLOYER ORDERED TO PAY $164,595; COUNTY HASN'T FILED CRIMINAL CHARGES
Section: THE HANDLE
Page: B1
Author: By Susan Drumheller Staff writer
Illustration: Color Photo
Caption: Armstrong
An ``intervention specialist'' who delivers kids to private behavioral
schools and camps in North Idaho was ordered by a federal jury to pay a
former employee $164,595 for allegedly drugging and raping her.
Twila Stephenson filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Richard
Armstrong of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, in November 1996, accusing him of
slipping drugs into her drinks, then raping her.
Armstrong runs a company called Boundary Lines, which specializes in
transporting teenagers from their homes to private schools, such as the
Rocky Mountain Academy.
Stephenson worked for Armstrong as a counselor from 1993 until April 1996.
The jury deliberated for four hours after a fourday trial in Coeur d'Alene.
Jury members determined that Armstrong raped Stephenson while she was
unconscious, that he caused her to be unconscious and that the conduct was
outrageous.
``We were surprised by the verdict,'' said Stanton Rines, Armstrong's
attorney.
The evidence included two taped confessions, said Craig Mosman, Stephenson's
attorney.
``Somebody who commits those acts ought to be in prison,'' Mosman said.
Boundary County officials never charged Armstrong, despite the fact that
Mosman and Stephenson filed a report with police and offered to provide
evidence, Mosman said.
Mosman said he never discussed the case with Boundary County Prosecutor
Denise Woodbury, who was not available for comment Friday.
Stephenson has left the state and now lives and works in New Mexico, Mosman
said.
She claimed she was fired after the alleged rape when she confronted
Armstrong about crushing sleeping pills into her drink after she refused to
have sex with him.
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Kristen_Weiser 24.160.49.125
Articles 6 & 7:
Monday, May 24, 1999
SANDPOINT TRIES TO SERVE YOUTH
TOWN MEETING AIMS TO IDENTIFY CAUSES OF VIOLENCE
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1
Author: By Susan Drumheller Staff writer
Recent school shootings in Colorado and Georgia, plus a string of bomb
threats closer to home, have captured the attention of adults in Sandpoint.
``It's really scary,'' said Sharon McInturff of Safe Homes/Parents Who Care,
a parent support organization in Sandpoint. ``The problems we have with
substance abuse and violence, it's not just a school issue, and it's not
just a parent issue. It's a community issue.
``If we don't get a handle on it, we're seeing the outcome - it's the
violence that's erupting in schools across the states.''
Getting to the root of the problem is part of the reason Mayor David Sawyer
called a town meeting for Wednesday night at the Panida Theater.
The meeting, called ``Our Youth and Our Community: Coming Together,'' will
give the public a chance to air concerns about safety at school and other
issues concerning youth, while at the same time exploring solutions.
``Our main concern is healthy kids,'' Sawyer said. ``If we don't do
something like this, we're not going to have coordinated programs and the
relationship with youth in our community is just going to get worse.''
According to the most recent Idaho Kids Count profile, Bonner County has a
higher percentage of high school drop-outs, violent deaths among teenagers,
teenagers not working and not in school, and children living in poverty than
the state average.
Idaho Kids Count is a state effort to track the status of children and each
year publishes a county-by-county report.
Turning around some of those statistics is the long-term goal that
organizers of the town meeting have in mind.
The meeting grew out of concerns voiced to Sawyer during the bomb scares at
Sandpoint High School. Sawyer had just returned from a conference called
Building Character Cities, that taught how to offer guidance to youth in a
society that doesn't offer much guidance, Sawyer said.
``There's very much a common thread across a wide spectrum across political,
social and religious beliefs that there is a lack of teaching values, and of
mentoring values, to each other,'' he said.
In meeting with different youth workers and volunteers in the community,
Sawyer came up with the idea of holding a town meeting.
Organizers don't want it to become a gripe session, although they do expect
some discussion about the way authorities handled the recent rash of bomb
threats. School Superintendent Roy Rummler and Sandpoint Police Chief Bill
Kice will be on hand to talk about school safety.
``It's not just to respond to all the recent events, but to see what our
community can do to pull together for our youth,'' explained Frederic
Wiedemann, a psychologist and founder of the Unifying Fields Foundation, an
educational non-profit organization. Wiedemann will be the moderator of the
meeting.
``I'm going to be there,'' said Rich Geiger, a parent of a Sandpoint high
school student, and clinical psychologist who works for CEDU schools. The
Sandpoint-based organization runs Rocky Mountain Academy and other schools
for troubled kids.
``I'd like to have a community that's more responsible for youth,'' Geiger
said. ``Teenagers need structure and they need attention. There's far too
many youth wandering around our streets in the middle of the day. That means
they're not structured and they're not involved.''
Geiger also has some concerns about the way the school district responded to
the bomb threats, calling the new security measures ``a reactionary
Band-aid.''
``I moved to Sandpoint because I didn't want my daughter to have to walk by
armed guards to get into school,'' he said.
If Sawyer's vision is realized, the high school would have little need for
tight security measures in the future. He hopes to bring the whole community
together into a network that can work in concert to impart healthy values to
children and teenagers. The Town Meeting is just the first step, he said.
``We don't have a bandwagon yet,'' Sawyer said. ``If we can create a
bandwagon more people will come to the table.''
He mentioned Lewiston's Lewis and Clark Coalition for Families and Youth as
an example of a community-wide effort to help raise healthy, happy
teenagers.
The Coalition was formed about 10 years ago and has successfully landed
several grants for youth-oriented programs.
``Our theme is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,'' Jay Ney,
one of the founding fathers of the coalition. Ney said one of the greatest
accomplishments of the coalition was simply to raise awareness in the
community.
``The denial that some people have, that some things only happen in certain
cities...people realized it wasn't in another city, it was local,'' Ney
said.
McInturff said a network in Sandpoint would go a long way to direct the
efforts of the many splintered groups in town.
``We need to get together and start working together,'' she said. ``We can
do a lot more that way.''
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Thursday, January 9, 1997
TROUBLE AT ACADEMY WORRIES NEIGHBORS
FIVE SENT TO HOSPITAL AFTER VIOLENCE AT IDAHO SCHOOL FOR TROUBLED TEENS
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1
Author: By Kevin Keating Staff writer
A melee at a remote school for troubled teenagers has left neighbors fearing
for their safety and police puzzled over a fight that sent five people to a
hospital.
For nearly two hours Tuesday evening, students were out of control, beating
staff members with fire extinguishers. An ax was used to hack up buildings
and a car at Northwest Academy, a private school on some 200 acres south of
here.
Two school employees were injured in the melee, as were three students. One
of the workers was choked and suffered a dislocated shoulder when hit with a
fire extinguisher.
``We don't know what started it, but a fire alarm was pulled and about 20
students started a ruckus,'' said Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl.
The battle between staff and students broke out about 7:15 p.m. About 25
students and five employees were on the school campus in the woods up Ruby
Creek Road.
The students range from 11 to 18 years old. Many have behavior problems or
histories of drug and alcohol abuse. They are not allowed to leave the
academy grounds, where they are schooled for up to two years.
Apparently, some of the students tried to run from the school and counselors
attempted to restrain them when a ``near riot'' broke out, authorities said.
Students hit workers with fire extinguishers and punched them. They also
took up axes used to chop firewood and damaged some of the buildings and a
car and tossed chairs into a fire, according to several people who were at
the school but did not want their names used.
All of those injured in the fight were treated and released from Boundary
Community Hospital.
Authorities declined to release the names of those injured. Sprungl did not
say whether the injured students were beaten by other students or by
employees trying to defend themselves.
``It's all very complicated and we are still trying to find out what
happened,'' Sprungl said.
He declined to give many details about the incident. He said it was still
under investigation by his department and the state's child protection
division.
No arrests were made and the students were allowed to remain at the school.
Two students ran away after the fighting, but returned later. Three
ambulances and every available deputy were called to the school after an
employee managed to get to a phone and call for help. The violence ended
when officers arrived. None of the students resisted officers, Sprungl said.
``We have never had anything like this happen at the school before. This
just got out of hand,'' the sheriff said, noting most of the trouble at the
academy is with runaways.
The school is operated by CEDU Inc, based in California. The company also
operates Ascent, a wilderness program on the same property, and runs Rocky
Mountain Academy, also located in Boundary County. All the schools cater to
troubled youth and tuition can run $6,000 a month.
School officials did not return repeated telephone calls Wednesday.
The school put out a press release calling the rebellion and attacks by
students a ``disturbance.''
``In consideration for the continued safety of our students and staff, the
local authorities were called in to assist the staff in restoring the school
operation,'' the statement said.
The violent night has some residents in the Ruby Creek area nervous.
``I don't want to be a sitting duck on the hillside with some kids who have
violent tendencies running around,'' said a woman who lives near the
Northwest Academy school. Fearing for her safety, she asked that her name
not be used.
Many neighbors initially objected to the school being allowed in the wooded
area that is dotted with homes. They feared the students would try to escape
and break into homes.
One neighbor said her tool shed and a nearby cabin were broken into. She
can't prove it was students from the school but said she never had problems
before the academy arrived.
``I'm not happy about it at all. They say they are controlled up there but
apparently they are not,'' she said.
Some of the other neighbors who complained about the school coming to Ruby
Creek have now been hired to work there as teachers and maintenance
personnel. They declined to discuss the school or what happened when the
fight broke out.
A former counselor at the school, however, said problems have been ongoing
at the campus and a counselor was kicked in the head by a student earlier
this month. Others still working there said the campus had been ``hot'' -
meaning students were getting unruly.
``In the past month there were three assaults I know of,'' said Ken LaMarsh,
who quit as a counselor in June, but still talks to staff members. When he
worked there, he said, students were caught breaking into homes and stores
and stealing cars.
``With those kind of kids, that stuff is going to happen. They (the
students) don't want to be there,'' he said, emphasizing he was not critical
of the academy program itself. LaMarsh said his concern is how the program
is being run. He claims the school has too few staff members to deal with
the violent youth enrolled there.
``The company will say I am a whining, sniveling former employee but that is
not the case,'' LaMarsh said. ``I am concerned about the staff and them
saying this is supposed to be a safe environment for the kids.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kristen_Weiser_at_Lycos 24.160.49.125
Articles 8 & 9:
Sunday, June 2, 1996
IMPORTING TROUBLED TEENAGERS
BEHAVIOR CAMPS BECOME BIG BUSINESS IN REGION
Section: MAIN NEWS
Page: A1
Author: By Julie Titone Staff writer
Correction: FROM FOR THE RECORD (Wednesday, June 19, 1996):
Mel Wasserman founded Rocky Mountain Academy and other CEDU programs for
troubled teenagers. Dan Earl was an academy administrator. Their first names
were incorrect in a June 2 article.
Illustration: 2 Photos (1 Color)
Caption: 1. Students learn to conquer obstacles at the Rocky Mountain
Academy's Alpine Tower. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review
2. Anna Seymour and her fiance, Lee Cunningham, attended Rocky Mountain
Academy, but their relationship got them kicked out. Seymour now owns a
Sandpoint beauty salon and Cunningham works for an engineering firm. "If it
wasn't for that school, there's no telling where I would be," Cunningham
says. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review
A new industry is quietly thriving in the Inland Northwest. It exists only
because of teenagers like the one Kristy Vallar used to be.
``If my parents wouldn't have sent me, I'd be dead or in jail right now,''
says the 20-year-old Vallar, who four years ago was running away from her
Bonners Ferry home, getting suspended, hanging out with gang-member
wannabes.
Where they sent her was a wilderness camp, and then a boarding school, whose
specialty is straightening out troubled teenagers.
``We have an epidemic in behavior problems in young people,'' says her
stepfather, Lon Woodbury.
Woodbury makes his living helping parents find the right place for their
out-of-control kids. More and more of those are in the region, in 15 or 20
programs strung from Spokane to Trout Creek, Mont.
Kids from all over the country are coming here to learn how to get along,
how to stay off drugs, how to study, how to know themselves.
They're taken by the handful into the homes of mom-and-pop psychologists, or
by the dozens into therapeutic boarding schools. Some attend public schools.
Some stay for years. Some come for only a few weeks for counseling sessions
disguised as wilderness trips.
The programs are described in many ways, from ``emotional growth'' and
``youth at risk'' to ``hoods in the woods.'' All are costly, ranging from
$2,000 to $10,000 a month.
Woodbury tracks about 100 programs for his directory called ``Places for
Struggling Teens.'' There are many he doesn't know about. Utah and the
Inland Northwest are the two big regions for wilderness-based offerings.
Woodbury's office is a converted house in Bonners Ferry. The town, whose
timber economy is struggling, benefits greatly from the booming
emotional-growth business.
CEDU Inc., runs four different programs for troubled kids in Boundary
County. Including its Sandpoint office, it employs 280 people in the Idaho
Panhandle.
``They have a maximum need for teachers, counselors, night watch people,
drivers, kitchen people,'' says Pat Stockdale of the state job office in
Bonners Ferry. ``It's year-round.''
CEDU was founded by Earl Wasserman, based on his belief that, in order to
learn, ``first you see, and then you do.'' He also has schools in
California.
In 1982, he bought a back-to-woods alternative school east of Bonners Ferry,
named it Rocky Mountain Academy, and sent Larry and Carmen Earl to run it.
They brought two other staff members and seven students.
``The kids felt like they were in Siberia,'' recalls Carmen Earl, now Carmen
Mier y Teran of Sandpoint.
So did the staff.
``I came from inner city San Francisco,'' says Doug Kim-Brown, who arrived
later and was eventually headmaster. ``When I saw a sign that said `Grizzly
Bear Alert,' my first thought was: `That's a rock group. There is culture
here!'''
At first, Rocky Mountain staffers were unsure if they were going to run a
trade school or wilderness program. But visiting psychologists and
counselors were enthusiastic about sending kids to the remote place, with
its creek and woods and mountain vistas.
Rocky Mountain Academy students used to number in the dozens. Now, it's an
accredited high school with the look of a sprawling hunting lodge.
Collectively, CEDU's four Idaho programs house 300 teenagers. Offering a
solution to nearly any kid's problems, the programs are marketed with
videos, elaborate booklets and an Internet home page.
Some things haven't changed.
Referrals from psychologists, school counselors and educational consultants
remain the lifeblood of the industry. Those specialists are courted by
emotional growth schools.
One reason there are more programs is that a lot of staffers, including
Woodbury, left Rocky Mountain Academy to strike out on their own.
Some wanted independence. Some were burned out. Some thought they could
provide better or less expensive therapy. Not counting fees, tuition at
Rocky Mountain is $4,150 a month.
Kim-Brown runs Echo Springs, a Bonners Ferry program that helps college-age
kids who aren't emotionally ready to be on their own.
Larry Bauer and John Baisden just launched Glacier Mountain Expeditions.
They take kids on six-week backpacking trips.
``It's a very open field,'' says Bauer, a former Rocky Mountain admissions
counselor. ``There are so many troubled kids.''
Dave Yeats used to teach at Rocky Mountain. He and his wife, Megan, now run
Trailside School in Bonners Ferry. They take six kids into their home.
Yeats likes the flexibility that a small program offers, but doesn't accept
the tougher kids.
A few Rocky Mountain Academy runaways have stolen cars and committed crimes.
A 1994 suicide at the school made small headlines, and there's occasional
publicity over some celebrity's child attending there. But, aside from
scuttlebutt about TV comedian Roseanne being spotted in Bonners Ferry, the
programs mostly enjoy a low profile.
The same is true across the state line in Montana, where treatment of
troubled kids is also a growing industry. It started in 1979, when Steve
Cawdrey founded the Spring Creek Community. That grew to serve 60 kids
before closing down five years ago.
Four schools in the Noxon/Trout Creek area are owned by former staffers of
Spring Creek, which recently reopened.
Other programs have come and gone, such as Sandpoint's Eagle Mountain
Outpost. Carl Olding used to work there. Now he runs his own Elk Mountain
Academy for a dozen boys near Clark Fork.
``We're looking for a different kind of kid than Rocky Mountain - kids just
starting to get in trouble,'' says Olding. ``If a kid runs away, as happens
about once a year, he can't come back.''
Then, he'll be his parents' problem again.
That kind of family grief is the underpinning of the industry. Jeannene
Morphis of Spokane knows about that. She and her husband, Bob, found
themselves helpless to deal with Bob's daughter Caesy.
``She was slashing her wrists, burning herself, hanging out with heroin
addicts,'' recalls Morphis. ``It didn't matter what school you put her in,
didn't matter what friends you wouldn't let her be with.''
The couple tried therapists. They tried a Christian boarding school. Nothing
helped.
Finally, the Morphises heard through the grapevine about an educational
consultant who might help them.
For the last five months, Caesy's been at Cross Creek Manor, a Utah boarding
program where kids wear slippers until they can be trusted not to run.
``She didn't want to go. She cried. One time she threatened to kill
herself,'' says Morphis.
Now, says her stepmom, Caesy is making real progress.
To pay for that help, the Morphises refinanced their home. That's common.
Other families raid college funds, turn to grandparents, seek out the few
scholarships that are available. The lucky ones are wealthy or have
insurance that will pay.
Sometimes parents see improvement and, watching the bills pile up, pull
their children out before they're ready.
``The first year, there's a lot of tearing down'' of a teen's destructive
side, said former Rocky Mountain counselor Brad Hanson. ``If the child
leaves then it's `Whoops, we forgot to build it up.''' Anna Seymour recalls
being stripped of her image at Rocky Mountain, which she attended in
1987-1988.
``I was kind of a stone-rocker. And they said `You can't wear black, you
can't wear makeup.' It took me a few months to get used to seeing myself in
the mirror,'' Seymour says. ``I hated it at first, then I started to like
it.''
Seymour left before graduating, but not because of money problems. She and
her sweetheart Lee Cunningham went beyond the hand-holding that was allowed.
Both were sent home.
Now 24 and 25, the couple recently got engaged. Unlike most Rocky Mountain
graduates, they stayed in North Idaho. Seymour owns a Sandpoint beauty
salon.
Cunningham works for an engineering firm. He wishes programs like Rocky
Mountain Academy were more affordable.
``If it wasn't for that school, there's no telling where I would be,''
Cunningham says. ``I learned a very good work ethic. I learned what true
friendship is about.''
There's been little research documenting the long-term results of emotional
growth schools, according to Woodbury. But there are many testimonials like
those of his stepdaughter.
Kristy Vallar says she almost walked out of Montana's Mission Mountain
School when she turned 18.
``I was free to go. But something the counselor said made me feel like
somebody actually cared, there was somebody that was going to help me.
``At that moment I decided, I'm going to go in my room and unpack.''
All content © 1996 SPOKESMAN-REVIEW and may not be republished without
permission.
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Article 11 of 29, Article ID: 9611070139
Published on 11/07/1996
WOMAN SUES EX-BOSS, ALLEGING SEXUAL ASSAULT
LAWSUIT CLAIMS MAN DRUGGED, RAPED AND SODOMIZED WOMAN
A former Boundary County woman has accused her former boss of slipping drugs
in her drinks, then raping and sodomizing her while she was unconscious.
A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court this week against Richard
Armstrong of Bonners Ferry.
