Clock Tower Schools looking to open

Application filed with DHS

GLEN MILLS » A newly formed nonprofit calling itself the Clock Tower Schools has filed an application for licensure from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services at the site of the shuttered Glen Mills Schools.

Those with knowledge of the application are keeping mum about it so far, and there is no information yet on how closely connected Clock Tower would be to the former school’s administration if approved. Though it shares the same address as the Glen Mills Schools, online records for Clock Tower’s incorporation with the Department of State do not list any officers.

“The Clock Tower Schools, a new nonprofit entity established in July 2021, applied for a license with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to provide critically needed care and education for minors committed by order of the courts,” said spokesman Jeff Jubelirer,. “We look forward to hearing from DHS.”

Jubelirer said it would be premature to provide any more information until the application process has played out, however.

Brandon Cwalina, a spokesman for DHS, confirmed receipt of the application in mid-September and said the department would review the materials submitted, conduct a site visit and potentially take additional investigative steps to determine suitability under the Human Services Code and DHS regulations before rendering a decision.

“There is no timetable for a decision, and the application will be thoroughly reviewed to assess the applicant’s ability to safely and appropriately operate a residential program,” said Cwalina in an emailed statement. “We cannot provide further information about the application at this time.”

The Glen Mills Schools, a nearly 200-year-old institution, came under scrutiny after a Philadelphia Inquirer report in February 2019 that alleged students suffered decades of abuse at the hands of employees. It has since seen the departure of former director Randy Ireson along with nearly all staff and students, which were removed under an emergency order from DHS.

All 14 of the school’s licenses remain revoked and it is the subject, with other defendants, of numerous lawsuits involving hundreds of plaintiffs alleging they suffered various abuses at the hands of staff over the years.

One attorney representing about 300 former students in a class action lawsuit previously said the school attempted to cover up alleged abuses because it was receiving about $52,000 per year in tuition for each juvenile placed in the facility, generating about $40 million in revenues annually. A 2020 IRS form 990 for nonprofit organizations for the year 2019, the last on record, indicates the school had $48.2 million in net assets.

Former Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale performed an audit of the school in the wake of the allegations and former Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland also initiated an investigation in 2019. Margie McAboy, a spokeswoman for current District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, said that investigation is ongoing, but the grand jury was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

DePasquale issued a report in June 2020 that concluded the school lacked policies and training related to reporting abuse, all of which put the safety and well-being of students at risk.

DePasquale’s June report focused on the period from July 1, 2017, through March 11, 2020, and found Glen Mills failed to obtain proper clearances for staff, contractors and volunteers; did not ensure that some individuals who had contact with children received required training related to preventing and reporting child abuse; and that avenues for students to report abuse were not always properly communicated.

The report made 35 recommendations, including ways to improve clerical operations, formalize various policies, update the student grievance process, and better track training and compliance procedures. The audit noted at the time that the facility, newly helmed by Acting Executive Director Chris Spriggs and board President Carolyn Seagraves, had already begun implementing many of those recommendations.

Spriggs said last year that Glen Mills Schools was working to reinvent itself under a “trauma-informed” program model. The school installed new cameras, implemented a new grievance system for students and hoped to hire a completely new staff indoctrinated in a different culture, he said.

Spriggs said Glen Mills had worked with Harvard Law School, the Massachusetts Advocate for Children, West Chester University’ psychology department for therapeutic supports and other stakeholders in developing that new model.

“We’re just trying to be ready,” said Spriggs. “If given the opportunity by the commonwealth, we want to be prepared to present them with everything we’ve put in place to ensure the safety and security of students, to be transparent and to provide a rehabilitative program that’s state-of-the-art.”

Glen Mills had also previously floated the idea of opening of a pilot program with about 20 students under the new model for the commonwealth to evaluate for a full scale opening further down the line.

The DHS Bureau of Hearings and Appeals dismissed an appeal to the Glen Mills Schools license revocation last month.