Saturday, May 21, 2011

Byrnes Schools of Florence: Enrollment Still Down

Before we begin, the BSBS blog would like to thank all of those who have posted and/or emailed their support in recent days.  We're already number one in search engine rankings for anything related to Byrnes and bankruptcy, finances, salary, sex offenders, etc., and we're on the first or second page in most other searches.  For those who wish to help, link to our site from your site or your Facebook and help continue to drive traffic and search rank so we may continue to spread the word. 

Also, for those who've asked how they can help, a request for information:  In 2004, current Byrnes headmaster John Colby was headmaster for Patrick Henry Academy in Estill, SC.  From their financial documents, it looks like Mr. Colby's employment was terminated in the middle of his contract and he left the state immediately afterwards.  This is highly unusual and financial documents don't tell the whole story, so anyone who does know, please hit us up in the comments or in an email.  It may be nothing and totally innocuous, or there may be a story that goes with it that parents and faculty would be interested in hearing. 

A number have asked about our investigation into parents and others at the Byrnes School.  While this will be the subject of future posts as we gather more information, we can say that we've already found a number of parents who have filed for bankruptcy themselves, some very recently and not people you would expect.  We've found a current board member dodging the IRS and actually being sued by the IRS, not to mention his being sued for legal malpractice and other such things.  And we haven't even gotten to the juicy stuff yet!  Look for a larger post in the future as we lay out our findings and show the other parents what sort of people are sending their kids to Byrnes.

Enrollment at the school for next year continues to be down substantially.  March 31st was the deadline for early enrollment, so we should now have a good idea of what enrollment looks like for next year.  In perusing their most recent operating reports and tuition reports per their cash collateral settlement, it is clear that enrollment is still down well over 50% over where it needs to be.  Depending on how they've done their accounting, the number could be anywhere from 50-60% down.  Of course, when your finance director's only qualification is a degree from an online-only college, you have to allow for some fluctuation in the accounting.  She's already had to resubmit a number of forms to the court because they were missing something, so this may not be completely reliable either. So, while some students will probably trickle in over the summer, it's hard to believe that more than half of the entire student body will wait til the last minute to renew.  Clearly, people realize that the school will probably not be here much longer and don't want their kids left without a place to go, though about half are still believing the lies and the spin proffered by the board and administration.

A strong piece of evidence for this is a name missing from the enrollment list for next year: Ashby Gregg.  Mr. Gregg has been a long time Byrnes supporter and even president of the board at one time, but it looks like he has chosen to remove his children from the school for next year.  We noticed this omission back in March, but now that it's May and he still isn't on the list, we can assume that he's decided to send his kids elsewhere.  When a major supporter who is in the know takes his kids out, other parents need to evaluate their own decision and ask themselves what Mr. Gregg knows that they don't know.  Just like a restaurant where the owner won't eat the food, be careful what you swallow.

Maybe he realizes the just how precarious their financial situation is at this point.  Perhaps he doesn't want his children playing so close to a convicted rapist or one of the only convicted child sex predators in the county.  Maybe he got tired of being lied to by the lies of John Isgett and Tom Goodson, men whose lies and spins are well documented here in previous posts. In any case, Mr. Gregg's choice to pull his kids from the school should weigh heavily in parents' minds as they decide where to send their own children next year.

12 comments:

  1. I really wish whoever has this hatred toward's the school would think about the children they are hurting by posting all these things. As for the Finance Director's On-line Only college you are mistaken because her degree(s) are not just from an on-line college and actually Franklin University where she graduated with her Bachelor's is "not" just an on-line college. Mr. Colby is an excellent person and doesn't deserve to be talked of in this way. As for enrollment for Byrnes if you compare apples to apples and where they were the same time last year at this point my understanding is they are only down about 10%. Obviously you have too much time on your hands and although have read some of the reports do not know all the ins and outs. I as a parent truly hope Byrnes succeeds and is around for many years to come.

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  2. Thank you for posting as all viewpoints are welcome here. It's a stretch to imply that children are somehow being hurt by the publication of financial data and exposing the administration's lies, but to each his own. Thank you for the info on Franklin and we will fact check and see if we can ascertain if her degree is real or just an online one. As for Mr. Colby, John seems to be totally legit and doesn't have so much as a speeding ticket from what we can see. Frankly, his spotless record is why the mid-contract "departure" from Patrick Henry looks suspect. It could just have been a local political issue at that school, but we'd like to know more.

    As for enrollment versus last year, I do wish we had access to accurate data from past years, but unfortunately we don't at this time. Given the board's propensity for dishonesty, I would take any figures they give with a bit a skepticism. Considering how easily they lie about these things, that 10% figure is unlikely to be true. They have substantial motive to lie about this too considering that bankruptcy judges cannot modify the terms of mortgages in foreclosure which Byrnes essentially is at this point. You may have heard similar issues being discussed on the news as many have advocated the merits of rewriting the law to allow judges to do just that. As it stands, the only way out of this for Byrnes is to find a source of capital equal to the market value of the property and other assets plus ~130k in accounts receivable. The only way to lure another lender into a situation like this is to appear more solvent than you actually are, and Byrnes is clearly attempting to do just that. Unfortunately, Byrnes hasn't been solvent in recent years, and even a 10% drop means an additional $160,000 deficit each year, bringing the yearly amount needed from big donors close to the half a million mark.

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  3. Good Day. I will choose to remain anonymous for now but let me say that This morning as I was sitting in front of my computer in Montana that I had the overwhelming desire to contact a gentlemen who sexually abused me as a young person in south carolina. Last year I had an inkling to contact and confront this man when I noticed that he was involved in the Byrnes school. this infuriated me to say the least because I was aware of the predator behind the smile. So this morning I stumbled onto the dishonesty of this man coming to the surface and would encourage those digging to dig a little deeper. I am not aware of slander laws so i will not speak names but I cant imagine there are to many people involved in this bankruptcy issue. I wonder if he has done anything to any of the young men at the school. keep digging!

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  4. I'm so sorry to hear that such an awful thing has happened to you! I'm no legal expert, but from what we've all seen with the prosecutions of priests, there may be a very long statute of limitations when it comes to sexual abuse. I would personally encourage you to press criminal or civil charges against whoever did this and bring the truth to light. For the sake of future children who might be at risk, things like this need to be shouted from the rooftops. And, just as happened with the Byrnes math teacher who got busted in a child predator sting, other victims have since started coming forward. Sexual predators don't usually do their awful deeds to only one person, so you could be the one who helps open the floodgates.

    Again I'm sorry such an awful thing happened to you and I apologize for taking so long to post your comment. If you'd like to tell more and keep it private, you can comment and I won't publish it or you can email privately at byrnesbk@hotmail.com and tell your story privately so we can investigate further.

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  5. J.B, I am interested in what you are saying but I was wondering why you are saying it? What have they done or not done to you to make you show interest in this situation? Thanks

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  6. Hi and thank you for participating in the discussion here! Truthfully, my interest isn't a personal vendetta but rather a deep loathing of lies, distortion and dishonesty. So often, we have no way of truly exposing such things because the truth is hidden behind walls of privilege and confidentiality. When the administration tells us what's happening we usually have no choice but to trust them, but now with the bankruptcy it forces all the dirty laundry into the public record. Perhaps they figured that nobody would take an interest and fact-check their public assertions, but they were wrong.

    These dishonest and smarmy people are responsible for molding the minds and character of hundreds of children. Having such unscrupulous people at the helm definitely has an affect on the children as it teaches them a distorted view of right and wrong. Putting selfish interests above those of the children's academic success robs them of many opportunities that children at other schools receive.

    Collectively, all of this breeds a culture that has resulted in numerous Byrnes graduates flunking out of college or at least almost doing so. It's resulted in even a recent valedictorian getting knocked up. It's resulted in an SAT average below the other local private schools and even below the AP kids at the local public schools.

    The actions and attitudes of those at the top will inevitably trickle down to those on the front lines. Thanks to the bankruptcy filing, we are allowed a peek into the inner workings of the school and we can see just how poorly managed it has been. We can see how easily the board lies to the media and the public at large. I hope every prospective parent comes across this site and thinks long and hard about where they want their child to be and who they want their child associating with.

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  7. JB I need your help.I am currently involved in a legal suit dealing with the lies of staff and adminstration of Byrnes along with the lack of saftey for the children attending. Is there a private way to send you my email or phone #. Please I could really use your help.

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  8. Sure, you can contact us at byrnesbk@hotmail.com if you would like. I will caution you that there may not be much we can do. Sure, we can find and have found countless examples of lies and dishonesty, but I'm not sure how that would help your particular case. Feel free to get in touch though, but understand that legal advice is probably best sought from your attorney and all we can offer are the thought and impressions of a layman.

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  9. why are you doing this?

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  10. Again I'm fascinated with how the questions always turn to my motivation rather than the evidence of what is presented here. The reasons don't change what's true and we only print what we have solid evidence of being so. I'm afraid a discussion as to motive negates a discussion of the real issues raised in these articles.

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  11. Interesting. If you did work at Byrnes and the letters JB are not your initials, I think I have you narrowed down to two people who hate lies and misleadings. Once unjustly fired and another who simply left. Alas, your identity truly is not important here despite my curiosity and want to thank a particular former teacher if he/she is you. If you taught me how to keep a lab notebook you may know who you are and I thank you. If not, oh well.

    I disagree with you in part as I feel there have been implications Byrnes is an inferior school. I was a former Byrnes student and would argue they provide an excellent education. Aside from simple factual knowledge, I learned many skills from from Byrnes that helped me get into a top institution and sang a really cool independent research at project doing cancer research.

    However, I strongly agree that Byrnes needs to get priorities straight in terms of finances. Byrnes is a school, not a sports team. Letting students get sports scholarships has always infuriated me. They could not afford it and really I felt academic scholarships are more important at an ACADEMIC institution.

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  12. I would just like to say, as a student that attended Byrnes and graduated in the class of 2010, that this school will give any student the opportunity to learn and not be passed over in the classroom. Say what you want on your blog about the finances of the school or the liars. Truth is the only thing that matters is that the children who go to that school get a better education than a student at any other school in the county and maybe even the state. So J.B., PhD, you keep up the loathing and critical comments towards the school. You're only making a fool out of yourself.

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