CEDU's King George School's Head Thinks on Feet, Stays Open Despite Order to Close

Evidently there's a parent at King George who has deep enough pockets to buy the assets of the school and reform as an independent school,  Darieous Education LLC.

"This is a relationship-based program, and they closed this like it was a factory," a counselor at one of the schools told the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash.

Brown Schools operate 11 boarding schools and educational facilities in Idaho, Texas, Vermont, Florida and California, according to its Web site. Facilities in Austin and San Marcos were sold to Psychiatric Solutions Inc. in 2003.

SUTTON -- An exclusive private boarding school in this rural town is fighting for its life.

The King George School was notified late Friday that CEDU, its California-based parent company, had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code earlier that day.

Administrators were told Friday to send students home and close the school. Head of School Dr. Karen Fitzhugh refused to do so, however, and has vowed to carry on.

"These people need to know it's not all about money," Fitzhugh said Monday. "It's about human beings. We have an obligation to our staff, students, parents and vendors."

Fitzhugh said she was told by George Miller, trustee in the bankruptcy case, she would have two weeks to come up with an alternative.

Fitzhugh moved swiftly, notifying staff members and parents Saturday. By the end of the weekend, a new company had been formed. With the help of parents who are also lawyers, Darieous Education LLC was born. The name is Latin for "Hold firm the good," Fitzhugh said.

A parent is offering to buy the assets of the school, she said, and lease the buildings to the new corporation so the school can continue.

"We want to expedite this because of the students," Fitzhugh said. "It's been hectic since Friday night. This team is committed. There is no reason for them to do this other than they care for the kids."

The committed team is the 43 staff members of the school who are now working without pay. The first hint of CEDU's financial problems came Wednesday when employees were told they would not be paid on Thursday. Checks were promised by today. Since these people are paid every two weeks, this means they are owed three weeks pay. Still they carry on.

"Parents are amazed we are still here, working without pay," Jay Ramsey, a resource coordinator, said.

Ramsey was leading a staff meeting Monday during which employees were given forms to file with the bankruptcy court to get their back pay. They also discussed retrieving data from computers and storing that information on disks before their computer service goes down. Some were still trying to reach parents who were vacationing during the spring break. The phones never stopped ringing on Monday.

The King George School has 40 students enrolled this year. Fitzhugh said this is enough to sustain the school. Most of them are away this week for vacation, with only 10 remaining on campus. While the school has had Vermont students in the past, this year all students are from other states and Canada.

"This is the largest business in Sutton," Fitzhugh said. Some of the school's land and buildings are in Sheffield, right across the town line."The Northeast Kingdom is not exactly awash with jobs." She added that the local vendors, which have served the school so well, need to be paid.

The school is an alternative education for troubled youth. It is also very expensive with tuition costing $5,500 a month, according to CEDU's Web site. CEDU is not an acronym, but a homonym which means, "See and do." The company started the original emotional-growth boarding school, which was founded in 1967, according to its Web site. It had seven private schools across the country and several public schools in Texas and Florida, Fitzhugh said.  "We're the last one standing," Fitzhugh said.

Whether she, her staff and the parents will be successful in their fight to preserve the King Farm School remains to be seen. But Fitzhugh holds fast to her credo: "The difficult I can do immediately. The impossible will take a little longer."

Chapter 7 calls for liquidation of assets to pay creditors, as opposed to Chapter 11 which gives a company the chance to reorganize and carry on.

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

[Linda J. Houghton]

As the original founder of The King George School, knowing that the current School Head and others have recognized the original mission of this school, makes my heart sing. Thank you, thank you for assisting in the mission to provide relationship, whole person education, even in the face of the "bottom line" need of a corporation.

Linda Houghton