CEDU Closing: Families Provide for Boulder Creek Academy Faculty, Staff

Interview with Paul Johnson, former head of Boulder Creek Academy

Account set up to help CEDU staff

BY ELIZABETH CIEPIELA Staff Writer BONNERS FERRY -- CEDU parents set up an account at the in-town Wells Fargo branch on Tuesday to help sustain staff and faculty who haven't been paid for three weeks and whose retirement savings are frozen following the abrupt school organization's closure and bankruptcy filing late last week.

"It's entirely to help the staff. It will stay locally at Boulder Creek Academy," said former Boulder Creek Academy School Director Paul Johnson. CEDU students are foremost on Johnson's mind, and he's focusing on getting the kids into other placements. In the meantime, he's brainstorming with other former CEDU faculty and parents on how to re-open the schools. "They are incredibly dedicated. These are people who work incredibly hard. People don't do this to get rich." He marveled that the same parents who are outraged CEDU closed without notice are opening their arms and wallets to laid off CEDU faculty.

"Many of these parents lost money that they prepaid in tuition," he said. Tuition at Boulder Creek was $5,900 a month. Some parents prepaid for up to year's worth of education, he said. They won't be seeing those dollars again. "Not only were they ripped off by the company," their kids were discharged by the schools, he said. He's angry at the sudden closing but he continues to work to save the students and the school. "I'm shocked. I'm furious. The reason I'm furious is I just don't understand why it had to happen this way."

The CEDU corporation could have sold the schools rather than file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, he argued. They could have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy -- in which a corporation may restructure its finances under supervision but operations would continue. Most of all, he's angry the treatment of troubled teens and young adults has been interrupted. "We have an obligation to these families," Johnson said. "So all the staff have been coming in and doing whatever we can. I'm certainly not expecting to get paid."

Adding to his frustration: No checks for three weeks and frozen 401Ks. Johnson confirmed that many CEDU staff have not been paid for nearly three weeks, if not more. He also confirmed Tuesday through CEDU's Human Resources that faculty's 401Ks have been frozen pending an audit, which can take months in a bankruptcy situation. "My understanding is we can't access our 401K accounts. I've been told that by several staff and I had it verified by HR today." He said that since January, CEDU faculty and staff contributions toward their 401K accounts never made it into the accounts.

The money simply was not put there by CEDU. "That's criminal in my mind," Johnson said. Speaking of CEDU's owners, Johnson said, "I'm sure they've inflated themselves. And I'm sure they're protecting themselves. And that's the reason they filed Chapter 7." But he added, "The reality is it doesn't matter whose fault it is. The kids were entrusted to these schools and they're the ones who paid the biggest price."

•How to Help: To donate, contact the Bonners Ferry Branch of Wells Fargo at (208) 267-7517 and ask to contribute to the Friends of Boulder Creek Academy account.

CEDU Posts

• Former CEDU Schools Reborn January 5 2007
• Update on CEDU Schools October 28 2005
• CEDU Properties Sold August 18 2005
• The Business of Troubled Teens August 18 2005
•  CEDU Closing: Buildings and Contents to be Sold May 8 2005
• CEDU Closing: On Edison Schools April 30 2005
• CEDU Closing: Pete Talbott's Resume April 27 2005
• CEDU Closing: McCown DeLeeuw Sued ByEmployees April 14 2005
• CEDU Closing: George Locker's Criticism of the CEDU Enterprise April 14 2005
• CEDU Closing: 1990 Snapshot of McCown DeLeeuw April 12 2005
• CEDU Closing: A Timeline of the CEDU Enterprise April 2005
• CEDU Closing: Letter from a Former Faculty Member April 2005
• CEDU Closing: Parents of CEDU Students Helping Economically Distressed Faculty April 7 2001
• CEDU Closing: Economic Impact on CEDU Employees Devastating April 7 2005
• CEDU Closing: 310 Employees Stiffed on Wages April  6 2005
• CEDU Closing: Who is To Blame? April 6 2005
• CEDU Closing: Running Springs Area Also Suffers Financial Impact April 6 2005
• CEDU Closing: An Alumnus Pleads, "Save CEDU!" April 4 2005
• CEDU Closing:  A Parent's Response to CEDU's Closing April 3 2005
• CEDU Closing: Bankruptcy Trustee Slams Door Shut, Then Open April 3 2005
• CEDU Closing: Parents Out Prepaid Tuition, Employees Lose Retirement. McCown Deleeuw Still Solvent April 3 2005
• CEDU Closing: King George Stays Open as Head Thinks on Feet April 3 2005
• CEDU Closing Shocks Industry Reporter April 3 2005
• CEDU Closing: Parent Company, Brown, Negotiating in Bad Faith?  April 1 2005
• CEDU Closing: More Details March 29 2005
• CEDU Closing: Brown Schools, CEDU's Parent, Files for Bankruptcy March 29 2005
• CEDU Closing: Margurite Sallee, The Brown Schools, and McCown DeLeeuw March 27 2005
• CEDU Closing: All CEDU Schools Closing Immediately March 25 2005
• CEDU Closing: Rocky Mountain Academy Folds Abruptly February 12 2005

Related Posts:

• Debunking "Tough Love" Programs April 11 2006
• Advice for Parents Seeking a Therapeutic Program for Their Children January 21, 2006
• Why The "Troubled Teen" Industry is Booming January 2, 2006
• The Road To Whatever August 25 2005
• Nonpublic School Governance April 23 2005
• Why Parents Seek and Pay for Therapeutic Boarding Schools April 14 2005
• NYT Article on the Therapeutic School Industry April 13 2005
• Therapeutic Schools: What Happens to Poor Kids April 10 2005
• Thinking of Sending Your Kid to A "Tough Love" Program?  March 30 2005

Questions Parents Should Consider Before Placing A Child

• NonPublic Schools: Part I--Overview
• NonPublic Schools--Part II Evaluating Mission, Values, & Goodness of Fit for Your Child
• NonPublic Schools--Part III Faculty and Staff Qualifications
• NonPublic Schools--Part IV: Evaluating Academic Program
• NonPublic Schools:Part V--On Accreditation
• NonPublic Schools:Part VI--More Detail on Financial Issues: IRS Status

Comments

[jeremy wheeler]

i went to rocky mountain academy if you would like information on the school emal me at hangtenguntheryahoo.com

[Tracy]

I was a student at the Cedu in Running Springs, California, in 1980.

It was a farce, and it amazes me it lasted that long.

[ashley]

i went to boulder creek academy and if you ask me that place should have been shut down a long time ago. the way the staff treat kids there is horrible and they brainwash you into believing you have things you don't.

[Amy]

I ran away the day I turned 18 from that horrible school. I can't belive the cult they created in northern idaho. I would never send anyone there. I hope it never gets reopened and I pray no other kids get sent to that terrible place.

[Evan]

Paul Johnson you are a bastard. I escaped there last year on the 23rd of december after they tried to keep me there for 19months, I was there for 7. Bca is a complete scam, they manipulate kids into believing ridiculous things and that if they werent there they would be failures in life. Pray that the school will shut down again, for the good of mankind.

[Shea]

I was a student at the new Boulder Creek Academy after it re-opened for two years. The school is a complete SCAM, they want to get as much money out of you as they possibly can,like Evan said. It was the absolute worst time of my life. The so called qualified staff and therapists didn't help me out at all they were more interested in making my life miserable by not letting me talk to my friends, or even have private phone calls with my parents. i am not lying when i say there was no therapy. if you are a parent reading this, i understand how you are seeking help for your kid. i hate to say it but if you send your kid to bca they will either have sex, use more drugs on campus, run, or be outcasted. I could only rely on close friends there for help.I have a friend named Melanie while I was there. She hates it there and its just making her sadder and sadder being there. She’s not happy, and after seeing all her friends leave, the only thing she wants to do is leave as well.Bottom line, if you want your son or daughter to be happy, don’t send them there, and you shouldn’t send them their any way. In short words, its not a “therapudic” boarding school, its a scam to get money from you. Also read what Evan had to say e was one of my friends there. Like Evan said, I hope that school gets shutdow for the good of everyone, and I will confirm Evans comment: Paul Johnson is a basterd. Shea