State officials announced Friday that Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy School will close March 9 in the aftermath of the death of a Baltimore City teenager who lived there.
“We?re charged with protecting and treating our children ? we had no option but to remove the remaining children,” said Donald DeVore, secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services.
DeVore said the remaining eight Maryland youth housed at Bowling Brook would be moved to the Backbone Mountain Youth Center in Garrett County.
DeVore said the school?s board of directors informed Gov. Martin O?Malley of their decision last night by letter, and that the state had not pressured the school to close. Law enforcement and state juvenile services investigators have not yet finished their inquiry into the death of Isaiah Simmons on Jan. 23.
Supporters of the residential reform school in Keymar called Friday a “sad, sad day.”
“This is a sad ending to an excellent institution,” said Del. Donald Elliott, R-Carroll, who said the accusations of maltreatment at the school “had to be of limited duration.”
The school?s state operating license will be revoked when it closes.
Simmons, 17, allegedly began to act up and threaten staff members who responded by wrestling him to the floor and restraining him. The boy became unconscious and staff members unsuccessfully attempted to revive him, according to 911 calls made four hours after the incident.
Earlier this week, a nurse at the school said she reported to state juvenile services officials about a student who was badly hurt while being restrained by staff in August. The nurse said state officials did not respond to her complaints until after Simmons? death.
“It?s just unacceptable that a health professional would notify authorities there were problems and they didn?t follow up,” O?Malley said.
The governor also said he supported proposals in the General Assembly to increase the number of juvenile offenders treated in community-based programs.
The state still has a shortage of beds for youth in residential treatment programs, causing an increasing number to be sent out of state, DeVore said.
“We will be announcing plans in the future to make sure Maryland?s children are housed in Maryland,” he said.
