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Ivy Ridge request
denied 'BLINDSIDED': State says 'behavior modification center' can't
be run as private school
December 1, 2006
By Chris Garifo
ALBANY — The Academy at Ivy Ridge
will not be allowed to operate as a private high school in New York.
The state Department of Education
has rejected the Ogdensburg institution's application to be
registered as a nonpublic secondary school, citing academic program
deficiencies and health and safety concerns for its students.
"The Department's review revealed
that AIR is principally a behavior modification center and not a
school that should be accorded the privilege of administering
Regents examinations and awarding diplomas," wrote Jean C. Stevens,
interim deputy commissioner of the Education Department's Office for
Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education, in a letter
Wednesday to Ivy Ridge Director Jason G. Finlinson.
"That letter blindsided me," Mr.
Finlinson said late Thursday afternoon.
Ivy Ridge has been working with the
Education Department as part of the application process to correct
any deficiencies the agency found, he said.
"We responded to the state
Education Department in everything they asked," Mr. Finlinson said.
"We changed things and added new policies."
According to the letter, state
education law requires an institution seeking status as a nonpublic
high school to prove that its academic program is "substantially
equivalent" to what public schools provide.
Ivy Ridge utilizes a Bible-based
computer program called Switched-On Schoolhouse that allows students
to proceed at their own pace. The Education Department found that
the program does not provide "sufficient interaction with teachers
and peers or adequate instructional guidance by teachers."
To satisfy the department, Ivy
Ridge aligned its curriculum with Regents standards, Mr. Finlinson
said.
"Our academics are as good as any
school in the state of New York, pubic or private," he said.
The department's reasons for
rejecting the application were "pretty vague," Mr. Finlinson said.
"We want more details so we can fix
the deficiencies and move on," he said.
The department also found student
health and safety deficiencies at Ivy Ridge, including inadequate
systems to protect students, a chain-of-command that gives one
student group power over another, students being prohibited from
having any phone numbers or addresses, overly restrictive policies
over students' restrooms use and "inadequate staff training related
to student restraint."Mr. Finlinson said he doubted an incident in
April 2003 — in which a staff member was accused of coercing two
underage female students into providing him oral sex while on a trip
to the Ottawa airport — had any bearing on the Education
Department's decision.
Ivy Ridge staff investigated the
allegations, determined they were true and fired the employee, Mr.
Finlinson confirmed.
"He was dismissed immediately when
we found out about the incident," he said.
Education Department spokesman
Thomas Dunn, in an e-mail response about the incident, said only,
"The letter speaks for itself."
Critics of Ivy Ridge and similar
institutions claim that the facilities use overly harsh restraint
methods that often injure students.
Ivy Ridge has denied such
allegations.
"They've listened to our naysayers
too much and not paid attention to the material we've sent them,"
Mr. Finlinson said.
Ivy Ridge has seen its enrollment
drop markedly since an investigation completed last year by state
Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer determined it was fraudulently
claiming to be accredited and was issuing bogus high school
diplomas. As a result, the institution agreed to pay nearly $1.23
million in penalties and restitution.
Enrollment now is 150 students,
from a high of about 500 just 18 months ago. Staff also has been cut
sharply, from 250 to 110. Despite that, Ivy Ridge will continue, Mr.
Finlinson said, adding that he would appeal the department's
decision.
"We're still getting students in,
nothing has changed, we're still holding the course," he said. " We
feel we meet the requirements for secondary education for nonpublic
schools.
Ivy Ridge had been expecting the
application to be given to the state Board of Regents; in fact, the
request apparently was placed on the board's July agenda but then
pulled and kept off subsequent agendas since then. In August, Mr.
Dunn said the action was taken because of "questions about their
program."
In her letter, Ms. Stevens wrote
that "the department and the Commissioner cannot recommend approval
of AIR's application for nonpublic high school registration, and the
application will not be advanced to the Board of Regents."
That action will cause harm beyond
Ivy Ridge, Mr. Finlinson said.
"They're not looking at it from a
human side," he said. "We have a big impact on students, families,
the people working here, the community; we add a lot of positives to
this area."
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