Proposed military academy under fire from neighbors

Benjamin Grove

Monday, June 29, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.

Battle lines are being drawn in Indian Springs in a war of words over a controversial 850-cadet military academy.

The prep school's organizers, who began planning Taps Military Academy of Higher Excellence three years ago, vow to break ground on the $28 million school as early as this year.

"If we have to open in a five-bedroom apartment building, we'll do that," said Charles Baker, the driving force and visionary behind the academy. "We believe that much in Taps."

But opponents, including many of the town's 1,300 residents and Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, are leading a charge against the proposed school.

They say the academy's leaders aren't qualified or prepared to open what would be Nevada's only military prep school.

"They are scam artists," Von Tobel said. "I think they are trying to pull a quick one on Indian Springs."

Controversy began to swirl around the proposed co-ed academy June 11 at a regular monthly meeting of the Indian Springs Town Advisory Board.

Between 75 and 100 locals packed into the Indian Springs Community Center with concerns about Taps' plan to take over two mountains -- 1,033 acres -- south of Indian Springs, now owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Las Vegas Sun did not attend the meeting but reviewed an audio tape recording.

Taps leaders said the purpose of the meeting was to clear the air and explain their plans for the school. What unfolded was an hourlong exchange -- at times testy -- between locals and Taps leaders.

Baker fielded some pointed questions from locals about how he planned to finance the school and its impact on a town that has struggled with development issues. Several residents said they did not want to give up the mountains some call "Grandma and Grandpa."

"I don't want to be here if you don't want me here," Baker finally said, after a series of questions.

"I don't want you in my backyard," shot back a resident.

In an interview last week, Baker said he went into the meeting with open arms, adding, "We were attacked." Baker has said he is eyeing other options if the Indian Springs site doesn't work out.

Several in attendance at the Indian Springs meeting said they had reason to be angry and suspicious.

Some said they were most angry with comments Baker made in reference to Clark County schools: "I would send my kids to Indian Springs, Nevada. Will I send my kids to Las Vegas, Nevada? No, because they'll become a whore, a prostitute or they'll become gambling fanatics and drop out of school."

In an interview later, Baker, a Rancho High School graduate, said he did not mean that all Clark County students were prostitutes or gambling addicts, rather that Las Vegas schools had a gambling-town image.

Still some at the meeting took offense.

"That just set the room off," said Byron Goynes, who is running for Clark County clerk, one of several political candidates who had come to the meeting to campaign. "His approach and presentation is what buried him. I thought they were completely unorganized. They were shaky, is the best way I could describe it."

Ann Brauer, a member of the town advisory board and a teacher at a middle school, agreed.

"They told us at the meeting that they had the Department of Education's approval, but that didn't appear to be truthful to me," Brauer said. "They told us they had the land worked out with the BLM, and that wasn't true either. What they said was, 'Just trust us.' But we didn't see why we should trust them when they didn't provide us any specifics."

Another member of the advisory board, Jim Chase, said, "They told a real good story up-front, but they refused to back it up. The general perception I had was that this thing was deader than a doornail."

But Baker said the project is stalled, not dead.

Baker said he told the Indian Springs crowd he had approval from the Nevada Department of Education because he thought he did at the time. Since then, department officials have told him that his application was incomplete, he said.

Baker said officials at the department have been rude and unhelpful.

Holly Walton-Buchanan, who processes private-school licenses, said the group had completed only two of 10 parts of the application. According to Walton-Buchanan, Taps did not include adequate budget specifics, information about the BLM property, curriculum outlines or teacher credentials.

"I could have put them on the July board meeting agenda for them to plead their case, but I will tell you that the people on the state board are very concerned about just giving a license to people to start a school out of nothing," Walton-Buchanan said.

Baker also does not have the BLM land he wants for the school.

It can take months, up to a year, for BLM officials to process and approve an application after they receive it, said Rex Wells, BLM assistant field office manager.

"We have not received an application from them (Taps) yet," Wells said.

What Taps does have is a business license, on file with the secretary of state, that lists Taps as a nonprofit organization. Baker runs a sparsely furnished, three-room office at 1001 S. Third St., where he met with the Sun for an interview.

Baker also has about 17 volunteer staffers, including Clark County teacher Sharon Glavey, who would coordinate academics. Retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Philip Ross, a 21-year veteran, would organize military drilling and protocol.

"You have to have discipline," Ross said. "Once they leave school, that's still with them the rest of their life."

Baker told the Indian Springs crowd he had two years of U.S. Marine Corps training. Marine officials at the Pentagon said Baker, who at the time used the name Charles Fennell, was on active duty from May 26, 1988, to May 17, 1989. Baker said he was raised with the name Fennell but the name on his birth certificate is Baker.

Baker, 29, said he left the Marines after his father was murdered in West Las Vegas. Baker, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 15 years, said he grew up in a rough neighborhood on Donna Street in North Las Vegas.

Baker said he served stints with the Job Corps and Conservation Corps in California after high school.

Baker also explained his police record. In 1991, Baker said he and several friends impersonated police officers to get free movie passes at the Red Rock Theatres.

"It was a mistake I made in my life," Baker said. "I learned from it. You can't deny anything in your past."

Baker said he envisions his school serving many students who are at risk of dropping out of high school or have difficult family lives. Tuition would be $14,500 a year -- more than that of most private schools in Nevada.

Baker said he planned to finance his school and scholarships for needy students with grants and private donations. He said he could not develop more than a proposed budget because he does not yet have the money.

He said the 20-classroom school, which also would include four dormitories, mess hall, chapel, stables, gymnasium, infirmary and rifle range, could eventually expand to hold 3,000 cadets.

He said his plans were not unrealistic.

"We have printed up 5,000 applications," Baker said. "If we released those today, we wouldn't have any left."

Those who have signed on with Baker say they are sold on his vision for the school.

"I believe in Commander Baker," said Hawaii native Bret Fabre, who said he had been looking for a way to help children. "I believe our kids need a lot of help. They need direction they are not getting anywhere else."

National observers say there is a growing demand for military academies, of which there are about 35 in the nation.

Only three of those operate in the West, according to Lewis Sorley, director of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools. Sorley said he gets about six calls a day from parents looking for military schools.

"They're looking for a more structured environment and a values-based military experience," Sorley said.

The New Mexico Military Institute, which has 983 cadets in ninth grade through junior college, turns away about half the students who apply each year.

"If you're a private school and offer structure and discipline, there's a demand right now," the institute's Col. Craig Collins said. "Public schools are not meeting the needs of all students."

Baker said he was determined to fill the military-school niche in Nevada, despite opposition. Taps had been his dream since he was in middle school, he said.

"I want to teach kids how to survive," Baker said he once told his favorite teacher in middle school. "She said, 'Wow, that's a big dream.' I said, 'I know, and I'm going to accomplish it.'"