Abuse Complaints Against Private West Virginia School Released

By | November 25, 2014

  • January 28, 2015 at 2:37 am
    dakotah bromell says:
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    this is bs i was at mms for three years right up to the point that it closed down i knew every staff and every person accused and i know that this is bs you take the alagtions for truth not knowing the person i know all these people and i know that this is all bull shit i was also at advent home learning centre which also closed down for three years so i know everything and al the people and i say this is bull crap yes it was tuff and it was hard as hell but it was because the people made it that way people wenrt perfect but i know that noone was chocked to unconciouness and if they were it would be handle quick i have more examples that have happned some even to me i mean if you need a witness to tlak none better than me i was there seen everyone and knew everything and i know that all of this is bull please be adults and alnalyize before you just make accusations

  • March 21, 2015 at 12:14 am
    David says:
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    I went To miracle Meadows for 6 months starting in May of 2005. Yes there was abuse, however in some instances staff were defending themselves. Some of the kids at MMS are there for violent behavior. This being said, I personally knew of a male staff member having a sexual relationship with a 16 year old female student. I saw a friend of mine put in isolation and denied food until he had written the rules for “social break” 15 times. This happened on another occasion to a female student, who lost a lot of weight, they would not allow her mother to speak to her. Eventually a concerned staff member took her off campus and got her in touch with her mother, at which point it was brought to light that she weighed less than 80lbs. I never saw anyone chocked, but I did see a staff member attempt to defend himself with a piece of 2X4 from a student with a box cutter. The worst thing I saw happen as far as abuse goes was a small child who I thought was to young to be there was constantly accosted by male staff members about his chronic bed wetting problem. The young boy was also not allowed to sleep in a bed, and slept on the floor on a piece of tarp. While at MMS we were not allowed letters that had not been checked first and our letters home had to be approved before they could be sent, anything in your letters that the staff considered a lie would get you in a lot of trouble. On more than one occasion my family sent me supplies, (shampoo,deodorant,etc.) which I never received, and were not sent back to my family as they stated they would do in their mail policy. Some staff are trained councilors,however most were just kids right out of college who as they put it “wanted to get out of Jamaica for a while.” I met Gayle Clark, she was an evil woman, the staff reinforced this ideal, often by telling the students that she made them very uncomfortable. She cared nothing about that school except tuition, or keeping students at her personal home to obtain financial support from the state. Even all those years ago she had been accused of tax evasion, and if you saw her home and farm, horses, and farm equipment, its not hard to believe she was keeping funds for private reasons. I may be a bit biased but I personally saw many lives destroyed by this place and I’ve never been happier to hear about a school closing down. I could write an entire book on the negative experiences at MMS, and those are just my own. Fights ranging from student on student, staff on students and staff on staff were a day to day occurrence. There was no counseling (except “private time” with staff which was usually just staff offering food or candy to students as a special treat), I stole a staff handbook from the boys dorm and found that I was the only one who had actually read it. When I quoted it to staff, they would threaten me with a “social break” or tell me that was none of my business. What really is disheartening to me is that who knows how many other kids who were abused are to scared or embarrassed to come forwards. It was common for staff to tell parents that their children were lying when allegations were made, and since most of the kids were there for their bad behavior, it made it very easy for staff to convince parents everything their child said was a lie. They accused me of not having certain high school credit and were making me retake classes, when I finally got in touch with my parents and was able to convince them I was not lying they asked the school for a copy of the same transcripts sent to them when I enrolled. The school could not produce them, saying they had never received them. My father who had personally sent them was furious, but not enough to take me out. This was a constant struggle and taught students that authority figures can not be trusted. Not exactly a good thing for building self-esteem. While you were at MMS as a student you were a liar, and a thief, and staff made that very clear. You could tell no truth. I’d like to end this with a message to the parents who sent their children to this hell hole, mine included. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF FOR SENDING YOUR CHILD TO THIS PLACE. I’ll sleep better at night knowing Miracle Meadows is no more. Oh one more thing, Gayle I really hated coming to your house to bail hey for up to 10 hours, good luck finding kids for forced labor now.

  • April 20, 2015 at 5:34 pm
    Jon says:
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    Don’t worry; Gayle will have to show up to court on May. District Attorney will request the judge to have the case reviewed dated way back to 1993. I went to MMS from 1995-97; if the judge allows it, Gayle Clark is so … screwed: I was the ONLY disabled person at Miracle Meadows School (Deafness) and had no special class for my needs. Non-RID certified interpreter doesn’t count, !



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