New recordings reveal additional GCA corruption, while investigation reveals school criminally defrauded parents

Yesterday, we promised Anglican Watch readers we’d provide never-before-heard secret recordings of misconduct and corruption at Grace Christian Academy (GCA).  The first such recording is above.

Anglican Watch’s ongoing investigation also reveals numerous additional issues at GCA, including at least once instance in which the school criminally defrauded parents who donated to help buy a school bus. More on that in a moment.

The recording involves a meeting requested by GCA just six weeks after Grant Solomon’s murder and centers on the school’s concerns about Gracie’s attendance and academic performance. In the recording, we hear school staff:

1. Pushing to have Gracie attend school just weeks after Grant’s murder.
2. Making clear that Aaron Solomon is welcome on campus — despite a court order prohibiting him from coming onto campus and Gracie’s obvious terror of him.

At the meeting are:

• Angie
• Gracie
• GCA employee Dan Spencer (now principal of GCA high school)
• Former GCA employee Suzanne Bechman.
• Family friend Melanie Hicks.

Before listening to the recording, there’s a key point to consider: GCA routinely bars alumni from campus in order to “maintain the purity of campus culture.”

So, help us understand:

• How does welcoming Aaron Solomon comport with a “pure campus culture”?
• Why would a Christian school welcome a state-substantiated pedophile like Aaron Solomon?
• Where does GCA get the idea that it can ignore court orders?
• Why doesn’t GCA put the safety of students and staff first?
• Why isn’t Gracie’s wellbeing paramount in all decisions?

We encourage readers to listen to the obvious distress in Gracie’s voice in the recording.

At the time the recording was made, Angie Solomon was traveling to and from the school with a bodyguard due to her fear of Aaron. 

The recordings make clear that the school was unwilling to prevent Aaron Solomon from entering campus despite the following:

• Written warnings from academic professionals about the potential risk Aaron Solomon posed to Gracie and other GCA students.
• The protective order, which as initially issued, expressly prohibited Aaron from entering the GCA campus.
• Aaron’s violation of the protective order the day after it was issued by attending Grace Christian Academy functions. At Aaron’s request, the court later removed GCA from the places Aaron was prohibited from visiting. When attorneys confronted Aaron in court about his violations, his defense was that he was stupid and didn’t understand the plain language of the protective order. Anglican Watch calls BS on Aaron for this pathetic attempt at an excuse.
• Aaron’s continuing efforts to contact Gracie, which were violations of both the original and amended protective orders. Those are documented in the PDF at the end of this post.
• Gracie’s medically documented terror of her father. The relevant letter from Gracie’s doctor is included in the PDF below.

Moreover, even when the protective order no longer listed GCA, why on this green earth would GCA want anyone on campus who, like Aaron, is a substantiated child sex abuser? Do GCA parents think that their kids are safe at a school that welcomes child sex abusers? And let’s not forget: Aaron Solomon is pastor Steve Berger’s “buddy.” 

Suffice it to say, our “buddies” here at Anglican Watch do NOT include child sex abusers. Or child abusers of any ilk.

Further, the school wanted Aaron to approve homeschooling on the basis that the parents had joint custody. So Grant died in mysterious circumstances, there’s a protective order against him, Aaron’s running around violating the order and terrorizing his daugher, and the school wants to insist that he be involved in decisions.

Nice.

We also note the profound hypocrisy of Robbie Mason’s claim that it needs to keep student information confidential. We have documented repeated instances in which Amy Curle and other school staff inappropriately disseminated legally confidential student information within the school, including about Freedom for Gracie volunteer George Brewer.

Nor are these the only indications that GCA lacks an ethical perspective and concern for students. Specific incidents include:

• Defrauding parents by raising money for a “new” school bus as previously mentioned. Yet the school bought a used school bus, even though it was so old that parts were no longer available and the seller expressly recommended against buying it for these reasons. Thus, failure of any significant component meant the school would have to buy a new bus. Raising money based on false pretenses is the VERY DEFINITION OF FRAUD. And spare us excuses and explanations — this is a school that pulls in $11 million a year.
• Suzanne Bechman, a math teacher at the school, was aware of the abuse that Grant and Gracie endured long before this meeting. Interestingly, she does not appear to have any educational qualifications that would qualify her as a teacher. Moreover, despite Robbie Mason firing her husband from the school, her daughter, Anna Kate Bechman, teaches at the school.
• School nurse Theresa Goodman told one student, with anaphylactic allergies that he’d have to “be an advocate for himself.” The school later “solved” the situation by isolating the student. 
• Theresa Goodman allegedly knew of multiple allegations that Aaron Solomon was abusing Grant and Gracie but refused to report as required by Tennessee law.
• Lying about school alumni in order to bar them from campus.
• Filling teacher positions with individuals not licensed to teach in Tennessee. While Tennessee law does not regulate church schools, parents we spoke with felt that, for the tuition they pay, faculty should have full teaching credentials.

Below is documentation related to the audio recordings, including:

• The letter from Gracie’s physician.
• A letter from an educational professional expressing concern for the safety of ALL GCA students if Aaron Solomon is allowed on campus.
• Documentation of issues involving Aaron’s behavior.
• Documentation that Aaron repeatedly violated the protective order.
• The email chain in which GCA tried to force Gracie to attend school just weeks after her brother Grant was murdered.
• The protective order and related pleadings.

We close by noting that, even with letters from Gracie’s doctor, a protective order, the state’s substantiation the Aaron is a child sex abuser and a pedophile, Gracie’s obvious terror, and multiple meetings about Aaron’s abuse, the school NEVER reported child abuse as required by law.

Never.