Change in leadership fractures Naples Catholic school community

Parents who formerly sent their children to the Royal Palm International Academy founded a new school, Sacred Heart Academy

Naples Daily News/December 17, 2000
By Rachelle Bott

A difference of philosophical and religious beliefs has caused a rift in one Naples Catholic school community, and the result is the creation of a new school, Sacred Heart Academy.

More than two months ago, new leadership took over the Catholic school Royal Palm International Academy that opened in Naples in August 1998 with six students who were formerly home-schooled.

Parents have said they created the school so their children would have a strong educational and Roman Catholic background. But when a new leadership took over this year, some teachers and parents were unhappy and left the school. Former school members report that six teachers quit in one day, but the new principal wouldn't tell parents why. "We had a disagreement on how the school should be run," said former Principal Patrick Smith.

Parents who left said the school didn't deliver the services it promised. Students weren't getting 1-on-1 attention and parents weren't welcomed at the school. But Jay Dunlap, a Royal Palm spokesman, said that isn't true. "We informed all the families from the start what the program was about," Dunlap said. "From the very first, their vision has been to employ the integral formation philosophy."

The integral formation philosophy focuses on integrating an academic formation, a spiritual formation based in the Catholic faith, a human formation of morals and virtues and an apostolic formation, or teaching students to serve their fellow man, Dunlap explained.

Those who didn't agree with the new leadership at Royal Palm started Sacred Heart.

Communication, overall, failed between the school's administration and the parents. The lack of communication made some parents suspicious, so they started investigating this new group, which they call the Legionaries.

The Legionaries is an order of priests with affiliations around the world. They run seminaries and Catholic schools across the country. This religious affiliation is primarily focused on prepping young boys to join the seminary, Smith and Anderson said.

There have been several reports of controversies from different Legion schools across the country, including Atlanta, where parents are trying to keep the group from taking over an established Catholic school.

But Royal Palm officials deny the Legion is running the school. Instead, an organization called the National Consultants for Education is operating the Catholic church.

The two men report other allegations of misconduct by the Legionaries, a group they say is deceiving the Naples community. The allegations include sexual misconduct by the founder of the Legions and a focus on drawing money in from the community. "If these allegations are true, it doesn't appear their true agenda is to build Christ's kingdom," Anderson said. "They've targeted Naples because it's a wealthy community."

Dunlap called Smith's allegations a smoke screen from the real issue, which is a legal battle over land use and financial problems. Dunlap said Smith has campaigned against the school and has caused the Catholic institution a lot of trouble. "(Smith) was involved in self-dealings that jeopardized the school's legal status as well as the tax-exempt status," Dunlap said.

Some financial problems forced the school to remove Smith from the Board of Directors, Dunlap said. Smith is angry over that move and thus "orchestrated a campaign to discredit the school," Dunlap said.

Last month, Smith filed a lawsuit against Royal Palm, claiming the school had illegally removed him from the board. In response, the school filed a suit against Smith for refusing to turn over 10 acres in North Naples, where a permanent campus is built for the school.

The legal fights were worked out this month in a one-day meditation. The results left both sides happy, legal counsel said. Royal Palm got the land and Smith received payment for the $3.5 million he invested into the land. "I feel good about the mediation," Smith said. "Now we can go on and do what we want. All ties are severed."

Smith said he isn't worried about finding land for his new school because there is plenty of property in Naples. Some parents who left Royal Palm told Smith they were concerned about the Catholic school gaining rights to the North Naples land because now they would be allowed to settle. "But I don't think that will happen," Smith said. "The damage they bring with them is there and people will figure that out."