UPDATE: Investigation Reopens into Defunct Forsyth School

(Credit: One World Academy)


UPDATE: 8-23-13, 3:40 p.m.

In a statement to Cumming Patch, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) has decided to reopen its investigation on One World Academy located in Forsyth County.

“Our Child Care Services (CCS) division met today [Thursday] with parents of children formerly enrolled at One World Academy," said Reg Griffin, chief communications officer, of Bright from the Start: Georgia DECAL.

"The department heard concerns from the parents, at their request, that the former child care program operated without a license earlier this year. The child care learning center in question is now closed. Based on the information presented, DECAL has reopened its investigation into One World Academy. Because this is an open investigation, we cannot comment further at this time. At DECAL, our top priority is the health and safety of our state’s young learners, ages birth to five years old." 

Also, Griffin shared the following statues:

20-1A-10(t): Any person operating an early care and education program without a license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $200.00 for each such offense. Each day of operation without a license shall constitute a separate offense.  

20-1A-10(u): The department may seek an injunction against the continued operation of an unlicensed early learning and education program.

"As to the money allegedly owed to the parents by the owner of the school that is a matter for law enforcement and/or the civil courts," Griffin said.

By Cady Schulman

Parents who lost thousands of dollars when One World Academy suddenly closed its doors say they’re developing their next moves, now that they’ve been told the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t plan to pursue a criminal case against the school’s director.

Christina Crumbley, who also goes by Christina Bunker, emailed parents at the beginning of July telling them that operations of One World Academy would cease, effective immediately. Doug Rainwater, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said that business failures are civil matters rather than criminal. But, two parents claim that Crumbley knew she was going to close the school before she cashed tuition checks.

“She had to have known,” said Craig Troy, whose daughter attended One World’s preschool. “In the email she sent, she said she had been agonizing over the decision for weeks. Weeks is more than one week, maybe two weeks at the shortest amount of time. Just two weeks prior, she had cashed one of the other parents’ checks. Absolutely she knew.”

That’s why Troy feels like the sheriff’s office “barely investigated” the case.

“They don’t know anything about her past history or the judgments against her,” said Troy, who paid $6,075 for his daughter’s tuition. “They don’t know there’s a pattern. They didn’t even look. They called her up and asked her a few questions, and she said, ‘No, that wasn’t true.’ I think it’s been swept under the carpet. I don’t think they tried very hard as well. A sheriff’s investigator who does that for a living should be able to come up with something.”

When asked for a response, Rainwater said none would be available until Monday.

One World Academy opened in March after Crumbley informed parents that North Atlanta International Academy was moving because the landlord hadn’t made payments. According to the Forsyth News, a Forsyth County State Court judge ruled that the school pay the bank $81,000 in past due lease and late fees, as well as more than $12,000 in attorney fees.

While it was open, One World Academy operated without a license. Reg Griffin, chief communications officer for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, said that school officials applied for a license on April 5 but withdrew that request on July 5. Griffin said that when department representatives visited the school in June and July, no one was present and the school wasn’t open.

However, Troy and Rodrigo Azevedo, whose two children attended One World Academy, told Patch that their children did attend the unlicensed school through the end of the school year.

“That is for me very scary because I knew one of the main reasons you have a license is in case of fire or if something happens in the school,” said Azevedo, who wrote a check to the school for $15,760.75. “From March until now, the kids were in a school with no license.”

According to the Forsyth News, Crumbley opened Language Discovery Academy in 2004 under the name Christina Bunker. That school closed in 2010 after Crumbley failed to pay around $43,000 in rent to Sharon Promenade, LLC.

Crumbley filed for bankruptcy in Dec. 2010 under the name Christina Bunker, according to Bankruptcy Report.

“None of us knew any of this was going on,” Troy said. “It kind of became obvious that what she was telling us about the school was coinciding with what was happening in her personal life.”

Now, the eight families who paid the school a total of approximately $30,000 want their money back. Besides a couple of initial replies, Crumbley hasn’t responded to them. The initial email the director sent informed parents that after accounts were reconciled and assets were liquidated, any remaining money would be distributed evenly among the parents.

“No, no, wait a minute. That’s the only information I get?” Azevedo said. “And, she never replied. She just disappeared.”

And that disappearance is another aspect concerning parents.

“That’s not the behavior of somebody who hadn’t done anything wrong,” Troy said. “If you’re being accused of stealing thousands of dollars and people are coming out publicly and making these accusations, if you’re innocent, you’re going to refute them. She’s not saying anything. She’s hiding. She sure is acting guilty.”

Crumbley did not return an email sent by Patch, and her phone number was disconnected. No one answered the phone at One World Academy, though the school’s website is still working.

For now, the parents haven’t decided what the next step is – either trying to get investigators to reopen their case or take their complaints to civil court.

“Every day we find something new,” Azevedo said. “Hopefully, we’re going to be able to reopen the case. If we can’t do anything from a criminal perspective, we want to do something from a civil perspective.”