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Posted on Sat, Apr. 09, 2005
POLICE OPPOSE PLAN FOR
SCHOOL: Kemper Proposal Questioned
By STEVE ROCK
In a pointed and critical
letter to key city administrators, the Boonville, Mo., Police
Department expressed opposition to the potential sale of Kemper
Military School.
The letter, obtained through
state open-records laws, was written March 24 after a police captain
and a lieutenant conducted what they called a “background
investigation” of the people hoping to buy and operate the school.
“It is our recommendation,”
the letter says, “that the risks far outweigh any benefits of the
sale of this property.”
Both the Industrial
Development Authority and the City Council in Boonville have met to
discuss an offer from a group led by Robert Lichfield to purchase
Kemper. The school, which closed in 2002, has been owned by the city
since April 2003.
Supporters and opponents of
the potential sale can voice their opinions at a 7 p.m. public
hearing Monday at Boonville City Hall.
Lichfield is the founder of
the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, a
controversial association of boarding schools based in Utah. Some
schools in that network have been the subject of abuse allegations,
and a congressman asked the Justice Department to investigate.
An official with the
association has denied the allegations.
Lichfield would not be
involved in the day-to-day operations of Kemper but would sublease
it to Randall Hinton, Hinton has said. Hinton has stressed that
Kemper would not be a part of the boarding schools network and would
have no affiliation with the programs.
The letter from the Police
Department notes that Hinton has a long history of working at
schools in the network. Because Lichfield signed the deposit check
given to the city, the letter says, “Our assumption is there will be
some connection to (WWASPS).”
The letter goes on to say
that “it appears to us there are some concerns about the treatment
given to children in these institutions.”
The letter from the Police
Department also notes that Hinton would focus on “troubled” teens
and points out the proximity of Kemper to the city-owned YMCA
facilities.
“It is clear this would be a
huge public safety issue,” the letter says. “As we have stated,
there will be many troubled teens at this campus, and some could
even be violent offenders. It would be a public disaster if a
student on this campus hurt one of our children.”
A business plan presented by
Hinton to city officials said the school would enroll teenagers who
“need help in the areas of discipline, responsibility and leadership
skills” as well as those who have had problems with minor drug or
alcohol experimentation.
But Hinton said Friday that
the school would market itself as a military school and not as a
school for troubled teens.
The officers stress in their
report that the background investigation “should be considered
preliminary.”
“To conduct a proper
background investigation would mean sending people to visit some of
these institutions and to interview children within,” the letter
says. “It should also include speaking to people who have made
accusations.”
When asked whether he was
aware of the contents of the letter, Hinton said he had not read it.
He welcomed a complete background check and said the students
wouldn't be a threat to the community.
Ned Beach, president of the
Industrial Development Authority, said Friday that the authority
must stay neutral.
Beach, a Boonville
businessman, owns the rental home where Hinton is living with his
wife and three children. When asked whether that presented a
conflict of interest, Beach and Hinton said it did not.
Before moving to Boonville
more than a month ago, Hinton helped establish White River Adventure
in Puerto Rico, which he said is not affiliated with the school
network.
Hinton, 30, said he started
working with troubled children shortly after high school and was
“too busy helping kids” to complete a college education. He told The
Kansas City Star he attended Dixie State College in St. George,
Utah, and studied psychology.
An official at the Dixie
State registrar's office said Hinton completed 10 hours of credit in
1996, majored in computer information systems and withdrew from his
only psychology class.
Hinton said he took
additional classes at the college in 1998 and was surprised that the
registrar's office had no record of that.
Lichfield has been invited,
but Randall Hinton said Lichfield would not attend.
Earlier this week, the
chairman of the Friends of Kemper Foundation Trust issued a
statement to The Star that stressed his group's opposition to the
sale. The Boonville Daily News recently ran an editorial that said,
“We do not want their program, we do not want their ideas and we do
not want their practices anywhere in our city, our county or our
state.”
To reach reporter Steve
Rock, call (816) 234-4338 or send e-mail to srock@kcstar.com.
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