Cape & Islands News

Would you entrust your child to this Cape Cod summer camp?

Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter's C.A.R.P may be "Camp Bad News"
Disregard for state & local mandated health and safety issues
Has operated an unlicensed Summer Camp program since at Least 2009

By John Foster and staff members.

"There are permits required
for camps." - Erica Woods, Orleans Board of Health.

Parents of children at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School, in Orleans, might be surprised to learn the school's summer camp program, Charter Adventure Recreational Program (CARP), is not licensed to operate in the town of Orleans as required by law.

State regulators might be even more surprised to find this apparently illegal activity operating from a taxpayer-funded public school over a number of years.

The parents won't be any more surprised than the Orleans Board of Health was when we informed them about of a summer camp operating in their town for three years or more without filing for any of the permits or other legal requirements mandated by state laws governing "recreational camps".

The health department spokeperson in Orleans said she "knew nothing about any such camp in Orleans." Calls to the Brewster Board of Health drew the same response.

Unpleasant news for the Orleans Board of Health

Erica Woods, Orleans Health Dept. has asked us to send her the scans of the brochure. She spoke as follows:

• "There are permits required for camps."

  
  Grade 6 Homeroom & Science Teacher Brian Bates above and Anthony Williams, Grade 7 Homeroom & Language Arts Teacher below, are CARP leaders.
  

• "If they call it a camp, it's a camp." Massachusetts Regulation #105CMR430 provides minimum recreational standards for children.A camp operates on a site at least two hours per day; five days per week in a given two-week period. CARP as described would be subject to the rules.Some programs are exempted. CARP would not be one of them.

Ms. Woods said the State regulates camps, towns have minimal involvement. She had never heard of this program and was not pleased about that.

The Camp Brochures

Since 2009, students at CCLCS have received brochures (the ones since 2009 are on right), sent home to parents, offering a "five-week adventure/exploration camp" including "kayaking, fishing, sailing, swimming, cooking, clamming, crabbing, playing, hiking, climbing, tubing, building, biking and exploring". Although the program presents itself as a Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School offering, payment is to be delivered to two teachers at the school, Brian Bates and Tony Williams, by "(cash or check)."

The tuition is $60 per day and participation is limited "to any student entering 6th, 7th or outgoing 8th graders at CCLCS." Checks are to be made payable to "Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School - CARP".

Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School has been swept up in a whirlwind of controversy since a news story on its unionization with the American Federation of Teachers drew attention to the troubled school. In the past few weeks the school has been rocked by one revelation after another - from lower than expected MCAS scores, to failure to make adequate yearly progress on student testing, to a leaked statement from departing director Kathy McNamara citing a hostile work environment and a virtual junta of teachers driving out one director after another.

Last week a parent sent the 2011 CARP brochure to our offices and asked us to investigate the summer camp program. This is the first case of apparent illegal activity at the school that has been uncovered by Cape Cod Today. Since the unlicensed operation dates back at least to 2009, the matter is considered especially serious.

Repeated calls and emails to the Lighthouse Charter School's personel involved drew no replies.

Massachusetts Sanitary Code, Chapter IV, 105 CMR 430.000 lists the Minimum Standards for Recreational Camps for Children. 105 CMR requires operators to recreational camps to register their programs with the local Board of Health, subject to the approval of the local health authorities. Cape Cod Today contacted Boards of Health in both Orleans and nearby Brewster. We learned that neither town showed any registration of the C.A.R.P. program or any other recreational camp association with Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School.

When reached by telephone this morning, CCLCS the person who answered the phone (Marion Lay, Administrative Assistant)  told Cape Cod Today that the summer camp was run from the school, and that the campers "marshaled at the school each morning" at 225 Route 6-A, Orleans, and left from there for each day's activities.

Tough state and local requirements

The state regulations specify that "Whoever operates a recreational camp for children without a license shall upon conviction be fine not less than $10 nor more than $100 in accordance with M.G.L. c. 140, § 32E. Other daily fines are specified in the regulations, as well.

Massachusetts' reporting requirements for a recreational camp for children are quite rigorous. These include proof of training, numerous policy documents, criminal/sex offender checks on all employees and volunteers. The physical facility is subject to inspection by local health authorities, as well.

The regulations further state that "An applicant for an original license under this section for a recreational camp for children shall file with the board of health at least 90 days prior to desired opening date."

Repeated attempts to reach CARP staff members listed in the brochure were unsuccessful.

Sources indicate that the Orleans Board of Health contacted the school today by telephone to advise them that CARP is not licensed to operate.

The CCLCS stories so far:

• Cape Cod's Broken Lighthouse
  
• Lighthouse Charter School’s MCAS Shocker
  
• A parent speaks out about problems at Lighthouse Charter School
  
• Association of American Educators writes to the fellow teachers and board of directors of the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School
  
• Lighthouse School’s Threat to Monomoy Regional District
  
• What effect will a new Lighthouse Charter School have on the Mid-Cape?
  
• A concerned board member speaks out on CCLCS
  
• The Lighthouse was on, but no-one was home
  

On right are the CCLCS brochures for C.A.R.P. for the last three years.