It is common for many parents to prepay their daycare or tuition for the full month on the 1st of each month. In the case of Creative Frontiers, there were multiple payment options. One could pay a full school year ahead with discount incentives, one could pay monthly or one could even pay weekly. If paying for the entirety of the school year, the lump cost was $6,458 for the 9.5 month school year. This works out to roughly $680 a month. The summer program cost $720 a month to pay monthly or if a parent chose to pay weekly it was $207 a week, costing more than $100 a month extra for that convenience. When Creative Frontiers was shut down on Monday July 18, 2011, parents paying monthly were still owed for 9 days of service. The calculation to determine refund amount is fairly simple. Hark back to fifth grade word problems with me for a moment. July should have had 21 days of service at Creative Frontiers School. $720 divided by 21 days equals a cost of $34.29 per day. $34.29 times 9 days of services not rendered equals $308.61 – the amount owed to parents paying monthly.
You say, Doubting CFS, that math isn’t hard! I say, I agree. So why have there been no refunds? Well, according to Courtney Adams, daughter of Robert Adams and fiance to Zsolt Benedek, the current owner of the business entity, the only copies of the accounting files for such a large business were on the computers seized by Citrus Heights PD and that is the reason why after 60 days, parents have not received refunds. The problems with this statement are numerous though. 1) HOW can you run a business without backup records? 2) Why not allow parents to show proof of payment and then grant refunds? 3) Are parents supposed to simply wait and trust in a family that has lost the trust their community gave them?
The definition of libel states:
li•bel [lahy-buhl] Show IPA noun, verb, -beled, -bel•ing or ( especially British ) -belled, -bel•ling.
noun
1.Law .
a. defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
b. the act or crime of publishing it.
c. a formal written declaration or statement, as one containing the allegations of a plaintiff or the grounds of a charge.
Now, let’s talk about libel. Who is being libelous exactly? KOVR reports the news; they did not say that there is a criminal complaint against Robert Adams for failure to refund parents. They did not say “Hey, Bob Adams, you are a deadbeat!” They did interview a parent that gave factual information, possibly interlaced with their opinion; however opinion is covered under the First Amendment. Did the reporter defame Robert Adams? No, she may have asked questions that made the Adams family squirm a little in their seats but no defamation took place. Has CHPD defamed Robert Adams? No, they have investigated a criminal complaint and found sufficient evidence to move forward with charges and an arrest. So who IS being libelous? We have seen the comments about victims and their dishonesty. We have seen the public bashing of CHPD, the city of Citrus Heights and the media. We have seen their verbal attacks against supporters leading up to former parents unwilling to be identified any longer.
I am curious though as to what we haven’t seen. Where was the business continuity plan for an organization so large? We have seen Adams’ daughter stumble and stutter over why communication was relegated to Facebook and only IF the family sought out Creative Frontiers. We didn’t have the files yet a month later, the files were here the whole time. We haven’t seen an adequate response to as to why Creative Frontiers has not reached out to the families they served. We haven’t seen an adequate response to when refunds will be issued. We haven’t seen an adequate response that proactively staves off investigative journalism.
In a healthily functioning business, a business continuity plan is created. This plan outlines the actions that will be taken in a major crisis, which employee will perform those actions and at what step they will be performed. The business reaches out to their customers with a concise formed statement through regular business channels – phone or mail. Someone is designated to field questions and create a FAQ that can be easily accessed by customers. Healthy businesses do not relegate their customers to use a form of social media rarely referenced by them. They do not shy from hard questions they don’t want to answer, because if someone asked it, at least 10 more are thinking it. A healthy business does not dangle carrots with promises of unreachable reopening dates while major milestone opportunities are missed by their customers. They meet their financial obligations, refunding customers of monies owed, and refuse to accept payment for potential services while not having a business license.
At one of the "meetings" discussion turned to "MONIES OWED". Courtney told us trusting individuals to keep our receipts, cancelled checks, etc. because they fully intended to repay if necessary. (We could expect their money in a couple of months.) (On this she was very vague.) However, they would be issuing "credit" towards the new school year for most, since so many of the children would be returning. The next "great idea" was their "incentive" program, where you would receive a 10% credit for each child referred to CFS. There were disclaimers, though. The child would have to attend for a full year, then the credit would be issued for the "following" year. They also guaranteed the school would / could never be shut down again, but to further win our trust, they would sign a contract. When pressed about this fantasy contract, the subject was quickly changed.
ReplyDeleteThis was the Thursday before the school was to reopen, where another verbal guarantee was issued.. "WE WILL OPEN ON SEPT 6" - But by the time I got home and watched the news, it had changed to possibly the 8th or even the 12th. Well, guess what, it is now the 22nd of September and nothing has been said about a tentative reopen date.
How are we to trust these people? There were never any comments such as, "We will reopen unless Mr. Bob gets arrested". This was always a possibility. They knew it, we knew it and most of all Bob knew it. They asked us for our commitment, trust, donations, time and support, yet they have fulfilled nothing they promised. Even more troubling, they asked for us to keep the faith, which also meant, keep our children out of school till they reopened. Have there been any announcements regarding a reopening date now? Does their commitment to repay the the parents still stand? They left us hanging once again.
I have plenty of questions, and so far the only hard facts I have gotten have been from this website.
I don't care about some crazy hippie in Vermont trying to rally supporters. His rantings and ravings are becoming nothing but "noise". The kind of noise you "zone out" till you no longer hear it, or see it or realize it is even there. I don't care what the fanatical supporters have to say, they are all just stroking each other's twisted egos. Anyone who "likes" any of the drivel coming from those few outspoken commenters are following like a bunch of foolish, misinformed, senseless, blind sheep. Do they think their constant banter is doing their "cause" any good? Quite the contrary, they are looking more and more desperate and mindless.
For those of us Creative Frontiers owes money to, we know who we are, they know who we are, and they know they have no intentions of paying us. I am going to move on, not look back and forget about it all. My kids no longer ask about the school, nor do they care about it. We all suffered when it shut down but we have moved on.
Thank you to the person who has made this blog available. My eyes are open now, I am no longer a supporter. I consider myself well-informed and hope more of the parents of former CFS children read what you have to say. They might not like what you put before us, but if they read it with an open mind, make their own determinations, they will see through the empty promises, attempts to discredit the informed and let go of the idea it was all a conspiracy, like I did.
I think they are talking about slander in this case... Libel is written word where Slander is spoken.
ReplyDeleteBut, they are now claiming that the entire Sacramento media scene is "out to get" Bob and CFS. A vast conspiracy to bring down their school and destroy Mr. Adams reputation. Why though? Lots of different reasons have been posed. The city wants the land, or they want to shut down a great private school as it takes away from the public school system, or the DSS has something against Bob, or the CHPD has something against Bob..... and it goes on.
Of course there is NO conspiracy. Just several different agencies doing their jobs and looking out for the citizens in their jurisdiction. The DA is not on a war path to nail Mr. Bob as an abuser without proof. The CHPD and DSS did not come out to protect the kids and shut down the school in such urgency lightly. They had information we were all not privy to at the time! But now that information is available here and in public record. But that still isn't good enough for the rabid supporters. CHPD has an ax to grind and prove their name. Again I ask why.... Why would they all separately be out to ruin one good man.
Well it's obvious people. Because he is not a good man. The evidence has led them to suspect and go after him for violating our trust. Even if you aren't willing to believe he crossed the line with touching inappropriately, you can't discount that he should have known better. known better after being accused TWICE before. How many times have you been randomly accused of such a thing. most people I know (teachers included) can say zero.
It's mind boggling that you can't see the obvious truth in front of you. This blog is an excellent (and fair) resource. Just like the bee, the TV news media etc. There is NO CONSPIRACY. Just lots of open minded people looking at the facts and evidence and forming their own opinions.