I am from Missouri, I was kicked out of my first boarding school in Montana, therefore I was sent to SBA, aka CLA. I am assuming their choice of this boarding school was due to financial concerns. I wasn't thrilled to be admitted to this place since it was in another country, but little did I know, that was the least of my concerns.
To start off the facility is a hazard to all of the students, supposedly the walls are all coated in chemicals that don't allow them to burn. All of the window have bars and doors are locked therefore if there was a fire then the students could be in danger. In most cases when the students are punished they are sent to "observation" which is isolated square enclosures located outside. Students are either restrained and dragged there or comply and walk there.
The protocol meal served for students in observation is a salad with no dressing, a glass of water and sometimes fruit if someone sneaked it to you. I've seen students locked in there for up to 3 months. At meal time if a student doesn't consume 80% of their meal they will be sent to observation.
The water is often freezing cold and the water is contaminated. There are many opportunities for students to run away when out on outings. Whenever I first arrived, a former student, Paige Cropsey and I were planning on running away on a volleyball outing.
Gilberto Espinosa was the staff in charge of taking us since he was the one on shift with the female students during the morning and mid afternoon. Paige actually spoke with Gilberto and asked him if he would cover for us, he told her he would tell the police that we headed for the border while we in reality ran the other direction. He also offered to buy us hair dye to change our hair color and that we should begin exposing ourselves to the water by adding small amounts into our water bottles so it wouldn't make us sick when we drank water off the streets. We told another student about our plan and she turned us in to make herself look better so we were put on run watch for a few weeks. I heard stories that there were staff that used to work there that would bring in weed for students in observation and smoke together. Another story I heard was that Megan Yang, another former student, had multiple sexual relations with staff and students from the male side. Another story I heard is that Paige Cropsey was offered a deal from Hugo Wright, if she had sexual relations with him then she would earn her stage.
The program consists of stages. Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preperation, Action, Maintenance and Transition. After all of those stages are obtained students are generally free to return home. I was at this facility for 11 months. There were many times when I was caught kissing boys and doing things I weren't supposed to do and I wouldn't get in trouble for it, but other students were. I feel like I was favored by staff because I am a blonde American while most other females are Mexicans. I remember one night I was in the tv room, it was dark in there and I had my blanket over me. Gilberto was sitting right next to me, we were also alone and the door was closed. He told me he really liked me and I was pretty, I had been at this for around 9 months at this point. I was shocked I had to ask him again what he had said because I thought I had heard it wrong but no I didn't. He then grabbed my butt and chuckled. I was very uncomfortable but didn't want drama so I didn't tell anyone about it. There was a staff named Paulina that was dating Paige Cropsey there. I actually did tell Hugo Wright about this and he seemed unfazed.
After Paulina left, there was a man named Arturo that took her place. He let two students make out in his classroom and made sure no staff were coming. The female was Janny Stockman. Gilberto ended up having sexual relations with me in a van one night, it was awful. Please just get this place shut down.
Sources:
- The original testimony from Google Maps
- About the facility (1000 places You don't want to be as a teenager)
