Heartland Christian Academy (HCS) is a private Christian school located within the Heartland Community in Shelby County, Missouri. Founded in 1995, targeting students with behavioral issues as a part of CNS International Ministries, the school treats troubled youth and adults using work therapy and Christian instruction. It has a daycare and serves students from preschool to high school.
| Heartland Christian Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 39°56′37″N 91°59′26″W / 39.9437304°N 91.9904957°W |
| Information | |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Protestant |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Website | hlandacademy |
History
editFounding
editHeartland Christian Academy was founded in 1995[1] by Charles Sharpe, a millionaire businessman who worked with Ozark National Life Insurance Co.[2] Sharpe said he had a calling from God to found Heartland Christian as a nondenominational Christian school for children with a troubled past who had been through broken homes, foster care, and the juvenile court system.[3] The school is part of a 20,000 acre religious complex built by Sharpe. As of 2001, the complex was reported to include a hotel, a community of brick duplexes, two restaurants, a gas station, a private airfield, 3,200 milk cows and a large cattle operation.[4][verification needed] The school treats troubled youth and adults by using work therapy and Christian instruction.[1]
The school serves teens, adults, and entire families who come to work and shed bad habits.[4] Work is part of the deal,[clarification needed] (in 2013 the complex, including the school employed 500 people)[5] as is a total abstinence from all drugs, including tobacco.[4]
Allegations of abuse and police raid
editThis Section may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (October 2023) |
In the past, Heartland Christian Academy has been subject to several investigations related to alleged abuse of students, often stemming from the school's use of corporal punishment. On October 30, 2001, state officials raided the school and 115 children were removed. The academy won a civil suit stating that the raid was unwarranted, and the court barred state officials from further removals without solid evidence of abuse.[5] Charges against several staff were either dropped or resulted in acquittals.[6]
Earlier in the summer of 2001, there was an incident in which eleven teenaged students were allegedly forced to stand in cow manure, some from the ankles and others up to chest-high. A raid from the sheriff followed, and five workers were arrested. Sharpe defended the workers, saying the manure punishment was bad public relations, but not illegal, abusive, nor a health risk.[3] The school referred to the practice as "school appreciation day".[7]
11 students were removed by law enforcement, but within a week 8 had been returned by their families. Sharpe stated that the real abuse was how the children lived outside the school, stating that no student at HCS goes to school afraid of guns. He called the school a haven from abuse, drugs, pregnancy, school shootings and hopelessness.[3]
Sharpe stated that "If shoveling manure is abuse, then I was abused and every kid raised on a farm with livestock was abused. No, they are absolutely wrong. This is about discipline," and claimed authorities wanted to shut down Heartland, because of religion, in which he included the use of corporal punishment.[8] Sharpe has further described those who criticize his work: "They are evil, There's not another term for it. They hate us. They literally hate us." Ultimately charges against two of the employees were dropped, while the other three were acquitted.[9]
Trials and civil suits
editIn 2002, Sharpe's attorneys convinced a federal judge to ban future raids on the school, but to allow the state to continue to investigate any further reports of individual abuse.[4]
In 2004 a US District Court ruled that state juvenile officers had violated the ministry's constitutional rights in the raid. The judge stated that that kids at the school are "loved at all costs" and the ministry should "have the expectation and the right to be free from conspiratorial government predators." He also stated that a state juvenile officers statements were not truthful, and were part of an attempt to close the school due to his own "blind opposition to faith-based operations."[10]
In 2005 the state paid Heartland $800,000 in court costs.[2] In 2010 the school initiated a federal lawsuit against the state for the removal of the students in 2001. Attorneys for Heartland told a jury "The goal was not to protect kids," "The goal was to shut down Heartland". The state insisted that they had the best interest of the students in mind.[9]
2021 Oversight legislation
editIn 2021, state lawmakers in Missouri proposed new legislation to provide oversight of unlicensed religious schools. Heartland negotiated with lawmakers on the wording of the law. The law mandated background checks for all employees of boarding school, mandated that unlicensed facilities notify the state that they existed, and required compliance with several assorted health and safety standards. After the law went into effect, Heartland sued the state, claiming the law violated their rights under both U.S. constitution and federal law. Republican Representative Rudy Veit of Wardsville expressed surprise regarding the lawsuit, stating he thought the school's concerns had been addressed.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b "AUTHORITIES VIRTUALLY CLOSE SCHOOL AFTER NEW ALLEGATION OF CHILD ABUSE ; STUDENTS ARE REMOVED FROM HEARTLAND CHRISTIAN ACADEMY". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 1, 2001. ProQuest 404144444. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
Millionaire Charles Sharpe founded the 200-acre complex in 1995 to tre at troubled youth and adults by using work therapy and Christian instruction. He told WGEM-TV that he would do everything possible to have the children returned.
- ^ a b "Founder of Missouri Christian school dies; state raid there led to years of lawsuits". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 3, 2017. ProQuest 1864970173. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ a b c Bragg, Rick (July 5, 2001). "Christian School Questioned Over Discipline for Wayward". New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
But now, five staff members at the school have been charged with multiple counts of felony child abuse. They are accused of taking discipline too far, forcing students to stand in pits of cow manure at a dairy near the school as punishment for misbehavior.
- ^ a b c d Franck, Matthew (November 26, 2002). "Heartland Academy is winning its battle in the courts". ProQuest 457240906. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Keel, Abigail; Famuliner, Ryan (October 20, 2014). "Heartland, Missouri". KBIA. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
So what do 500 people have to do in the middle of a cornfield? Well, a lot actually. Sharpe runs a construction company at Heartland, which builds all the houses for residents to live in. They are suburban homes, with lawns maintained by Heartland staff, a stone's throw from the nearby businesses also owned by Sharpe.
- ^ Bauer, Laura; Thomas, Judy L (July 22, 2022). "Boarding schools fleeing abuse claims in other states find 'Promised Land' in Missouri". The Kansas City Star.
- ^ "SCHOOL'S CONTROVERSIAL MANURE PUNISHMENT HAS SHERIFF, FOUNDER AT ODDS LAWMAN CALLS STUDENTS' SHOVELING AN ABUSE; FOUNDER SAYS IT'S DISCIPLINE". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 16, 2001. ProQuest 404148319. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ Scott, Charton (July 16, 2001). "Manure punishment brings charges of child abuse". La Belle, Missouri: Charleston Gazette. ProQuest 331118037. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
But the local sheriff calls it child abuse, saying kids at the Heartland Christian school and community were forced to stand in filth for up to two hours. Corday Thomas, 13, was one of the youngsters who shoveled manure for breaking strict rules against being disobedient, disrespectful or unruly. "Yeah, it smelled pretty bad, but I am thankful they cared about me to make me do right. It didn't hurt me," said Corday, who said his mother sent him to Heartland from Kansas City because he was violent and using drugs.
- ^ a b The school also cited a pattern of aggressive and antagonistic behavior by government officials, even creating a special team of juvenile officers, family service and law enforcement personnel. Heartland claimed that this team went so far as to call their own hotline to substantiate false claims of abuse.Hahn, Valerie Schremp (October 27, 2010). "School for troubled kids opens suit in 2001 raid; It says state officials engaged in harassment campaign in their pursuit of abuse allegations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ProQuest 760786730. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Franck, Matthew (May 23, 2004). "RULING MAY OPEN WAY FOR SUITS IN RAID ON REFORM SCHOOL ; OFFICERS VIOLATED RIGHTS OF ACADEMY, JUDGE SAYS". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ProQuest 402420643. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
Webber said Waddle "is not being truthful" when he said the raid was part of an emergency that was needed to protect children. Rather, the judge said, Waddle had planned the raid at least a week in advance and sought to close the school partly because of his own "blind opposition to faith-based operations."
- ^ Weinberg, Tessa (October 20, 2021). "After negotiating to revise new Missouri law, Christian boarding school sues to block it". Missouri Independent. ProQuest 2625278340. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
"The question we always come down to is, 'Who's watching the watchers," David Melton, the general counsel for CNS International Ministries and Heartland Christian Academy, said at the time. "That's the problem that we have. What happens when you have somebody that does not have a charitable view of religion."
External links
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