Font ResizeReal estate developer Bob Jones is enamored with the idea of a school for special needs teens and won't be discouraged.
Not by critics who say he walked away from a similar school last year without paying teachers. Not by parents of autistic children who say he ruined their school. And not by his personal bankruptcy.
"The public school system is broken, not a little bit, but a lot. I've seen the difference we can make in kids' lives," Jones said Wednesday from the porch of his $1.4 million home. "Our model works. I've seen it with my own eyes. I'm sold on it. I have a passion for it. It's what I want to do for the rest of my life."
In January, at about the same time he filed for bankruptcy for the third time, Jones opened two schools: the John Locke Academy, a mainstream high school; and the School for Autistic Healing, catering to special needs students in grades 6-12. The schools charged $6,500 in annual tuition, enrolled 14 kids and were housed at the New Pilgrim Baptist Church in West Jordan under a temporary lease agreement. School is out for the summer and the lease has expired.
"We don't plan to renew the lease," said the church's senior pastor, Corey J. Hodges.
But Jones is looking to relocate. An investment group he says he represents, Trojan Family Pride, was under contract in June to buy the old Utah Fun Dome site in Murray. But the deal fell through and the Fun Dome is back on the market, said Gary R. Nelson of
Jones still is interested but won't say how he proposes to finance the deal. Nor would he disclose the names of his investors.
Meanwhile, 138 people claim in court filings that Jones owes them $6.5 million: banks, contractors, suppliers to the construction industry and parents of students and former employees of the now defunct Utah Southvalley Community School (USC), formerly known as Woodland Hills.
Woodland Hills had operated since the early 1990s, serving students with Asperger's syndrome and other cognitive and behavioral impairments, before USC acquired it in 2007.
Jones, USC's owner, promised to institute a comprehensive sports program and save the financially strapped school with an injection of cash, including some of his own money. He changed the name to USC and began recruiting students with full scholarships to play on its athletic team.
Tuition-paying parents of special needs kids, meanwhile, complained their children's needs were overlooked and left the school. Some have won judgments in small claims court for tuition refunds.
Parent JR Green, once a staunch supporter of Jones, says she's still owed $6,000 in tuition and that it would be "criminal" for Jones to launch another special needs school. "How is it possible for him to start over? All those teachers who worked those hours and he didn't pay them? How does he get away with this?"
The Utah Labor Commission, representing former employees, has won about 30 judgments against Jones. Most remain unpaid.
"Now that he's filed individual bankruptcy, it makes it difficult to collect," said Brent Asay, the commission's wage claim unit manager. "We have no jurisdiction in bankruptcy court and are prohibited from taking action to collect on judgments or from pursuing [new] wage claims."
The Utah Division of Consumer Protection confirmed that Jones is negotiating a payment plan for the back wages.
Some creditors have collected on debts by claiming ownership in foreclosed properties under Jones' name at Willow Terrace Estates in Tooele, Silver Lake Village in Utah County, Bluffdale Mountain Homes, and the Holladay Springs, Sundance, Frontgate and Belmont developments.
Jones' personal stake in those properties is unclear. But he says he personally signed $130 million in loans on 2,400 homes and 22 developments. Most, if not all, have been foreclosed, he says. The only home that Jones lists as exempt in bankruptcy papers is his primary residence near Wheeler Farm.
Drew Kehl at Sunwest Flooring is now the owner of one of Jones' homes in Holladay Springs.
"We managed to get a house back from him and get it free and clear of subcontractor liens. Now we have to sell it to get our money back," said Kehl, who figures he's still owed $40,000.
Kehl said Jones came to his Murray store about six to eight weeks ago, soliciting investors for his new schools.
"We listened to his proposal and thought, 'what a joke.' He can't even pay us what he owes us and he's trying to get us to invest," said Kehl.
State education officials have little oversight over private schools but Jones was able to secure provisional accreditation from the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. Financial solvency is one of the standards that must be met, but accreditation specialist Georgia Loutensock at the Utah State Office of Education, who contracts with Northwest, says she had no choice but to take Jones at his word. The schools hadn't been operating long enough to have an independent audit, and "we can't ask to see their bank statements," said Loutensock, who last visited the schools in May.
On May 1, Jones applied to receive money under the state-funded Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship program, but was denied after failing to file proof of financial viability, said Travis Rawlins, the program's director.
Accreditation also requires a business license. But the Utah Department of Commerce shows no record of the John Locke Academy, the School for Autistic Healing, or Trojan Family Pride.
Jones contends all three entities are registered. He says he has no ownership in Trojan Family Pride and disputes claims that he was responsible for the downfall of Woodland Hills.
"I haven't done anything illegal. I never saw a dime. All I did was invest my own money," said Jones. "How can you call a guy a crumb for that?"
Cathy Goss of West Jordan says she enrolled a son and a 17-year-old daughter with a learning disability.
"She's made more progress there in two quarters than she has her whole time in the public school system," she said.
