The Crotched Mountain School plans to transfer ownership of its Greenfield campus to Gersh Autism, a New York-based organization that has agreed to keep the existing day school and therapeutic boarding school open for children and adults with disabilities. The announcement came Monday evening, several months after the Crotched Mountain Foundation announced its intent to close the Greenfield campus, citing financial trouble.
“We are elated to know that our current students will be well taken care of, and that Crotched Mountain School and our mission will live on and expand over time to meet this growing need,” Crotched Mountain CEO Ned Olney wrote in a statement Crotched Mountain released Monday night. “We believe Gersh Autism is well suited to continue and build upon the legacy of service and quality we have all worked so hard to create over the last 67 years.”
Gersh Autism runs schools for students ages 5 through 21 in New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, Washington, and Puerto Rico, as well as residential facilities for adults with autism.
“We are thrilled to be able to help keep this wonderful school open now and into the future in order to serve those who need it most, especially during this extraordinary period of uncertainty,” founder and CEO Kevin Gersh said in a statement. “Combining our skills and experience with the strong foundation already in place at Crotched Mountain School will create truly pioneering programs, adaptable to many different individuals and carrying out the shared mission to help those with special needs thrive.”
Ownership is set to transfer Nov. 1, the day Crotched Mountain School was slated to close. In a press release, Gersh Autism representatives wrote that they’re working to prevent any interruption in service for current students and residents and their families, and will be working alongside the Crotched Mountain Foundation through November to smoothly transition financials and operational responsibility.
Gersh Autism will also be taking on Crotched Mountain School’s Ready, Set, Connect program and CMARS adaptive program, Olney wrote in a letter to supporters.
In a recent interview with NHPR, Gersh was dismissive of an ongoing lawsuit his three sisters filed last September, alleging that embezzled funds enabled the company’s expansion and enriched its founder. It wasn’t apparent that the lawsuit would affect Gersh Autism’s ability to acquire and run the Greenfield facility, Gersh representative Michele Falinski said. Although the NHPR interview also reported that Gersh intended to rename the Greenfield campus Legacy by Gersh at Crotched Mountain, Falinski said the name was still under discussion. It’s too soon to know the number of students staying on, she said, and discussions are ongoing about current staff members.
Crotched Mountain representatives did not respond to questions by press time.