The Adriel School’s campus in West Liberty houses troubled youths, ages 6 to 21, from around Ohio.
Before Hanes took over, the school was riddled by complaints from the community and local law enforcement. Many of those complaints involved students running away from campus.
Hanes said he’s trying to improve the school’s relationship with West Liberty.
“We’re trying to incorporate our kids into the community and also trying to incorporate the community into our campus,” Hanes said.
To do that he’s created an advisory committee. The committee is made up of both community members and school leaders.
“At this point I’m very optimistic that we’ve made a huge shift in our relationship with the community. A positive shift,” Hanes said.
West Liberty Police Chief Shane Oelker is a member of the advisory committee.
He’s seen “a pretty big improvement,” since Hanes took over.
“Calls for service are certainly down. We’ve seen kind of a rise the last couple weeks but that could just be maybe new students,” he said.
Hanes said if a child does run away from campus, then Adriel School is not for them.
“This is not a lockdown facility,” he said. “We can’t help kids that don’t stay on our campus.”
The advisory committee has met twice since its creation six months ago, according to Hanes.
Yoder said he’s seen evidence of improvement.
“The police department comes and plays football with the kids,” he said.
Plus, he’s seen more volunteers from the community helping out on campus.
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