BURLINGTON — As a long-time school for troubled boys moves from the isolation of Cypress Island to a string of group homes on the mainland, the school’s operators are trying to reach out to wary neighbors with mixed success.

The school, known as Secret Harbor, had long been ensconced on property it owned on Cypress, but which it has sold to the state. The school has used the proceeds of that sale to buy residential properties in Skagit County with the goal of distributing the boys among several group homes.

Natalie Gustafson, a group care counselor at the school, has lived and worked with Secret Harbor boys for nearly five years. Since she started working there, officials have talked about the inevitable move from Cypress Island to the mainland.

Now that the move is at hand and as Secret Harbor’s time on the island draws to a close, some neighbors to the small group homes are concerned.

Eddie Gordon, who lives near the home in Mount Vernon, said he hates to say “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard), but stories from Secret Harbor’s time on Cypress Island are hard for Gordon to ignore. He said he has heard of burlaries, fires and other mischief connect to the school.

“I grew up all my life in the valley,” Gordon said, so he’s heard the stories.

As part of its effort to woo their new neighbors, Secret Harbor is hosting open houses at two of its homes in Skagit County. One is in Mount Vernon on McLean Road and another is on State Route 20 near Lake Campbell on Fidalgo Island. Residents will be invited to ask questions of the homes’ future staff members.

At a house on Burlington’s Lafayette Road, Secret Harbor’s first foray into a neighborhood setting, there have been no reports of trouble.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to a single complaint regarding the boys, according to sheriff’s records. Area residents maintain their distance, aside from a friendly wave now and again.

Gustafson, the counselor, said the boys who live there, all in their late teens, are learning what it’s like to be part of a community. Cypress Island, she said, was a hard place to transition from.

At the Burlington house, with plush carpeting in the common areas and two refrigerators to hold enough milk for six growing boys, it’s life as usual.
“Here there are opportunities to take them grocery shopping,” she said as she examined the contents of one refrigerator. “And it’s about time to head to Costco again.”

Brett, 17, groaned from the next room over. Dressed in dark clothes with a chain around one wrist, Brett said he preferred life on the island. He had more friends there. But he’s “super stoked” to attend Burlington-Edison High School this fall.

He’s been with Secret Harbor for nearly two years. A “troubled child,” as Brett calls himself, he was angry because his family couldn’t take him in.

But for all his reasons for not liking group-home life, Brett said the experience off the island has been good for him. He updates his MySpace page at the library, goes swimming with the other teens from the home and dreams someday of becoming a computer technician, or maybe an artist.

“The staff here really do care,” Brett said. “They get frustrated with our choices, and they wouldn’t get frustrated if they didn’t care.”

Todd Zamora, a group care counselor at the Burlington house, said the reaction toward Secret Harbor has surprised and upset him.

“I think it’s a shame,” he said Thursday night as he prepared burritos for the boys’ dinner. “Sometimes I wonder where these parents are coming from. They’ve heard stories, and you know how rumors go. People like to play off that.”

Residents near a proposed home at 939 State St. in Sedro-Woolley objected to the city’s hearing examiner in June, and the examiner denied Secret Harbor’s application.

The hearing examiner’s findings deny Secret Harbor a home in Sedro-Woolley — the second time the community has denied Secret Harbor since mid-2006. In the findings, hearing examiner Tom Moser said that while residents complimented Secret Harbor’s mission, its proximity to a church and elderly housing posed a danger to area residents.

Brian Carroll, president and CEO of Secret Harbor, said he was “outraged” the city denied the application.

“We didn’t think we needed to go through the (conditional use) process, but we agreed to do it because we wanted to be good neighbors,” Carroll said.
Carroll said Secret Harbor and city lawyers are discussing the case and he expects Secret Harbor to move students in later this fall, but not in time for the first day of school. Meanwhile, the city council could decide the case at its Aug. 13 meeting.

Carroll said the homes on the mainland will better help students transition to city life, although some activities that other teens take for granted — like dating — will be nigh impossible. Potential dates would have to fill out a form and consent to a criminal background check.

“That’s not going to work because these guys are in our care,” Carroll laughed. “We are hoping our kids will have friendships in the community and friends from school.”

Secret Harbor had in the distant past accepted children with criminal pasts. That is no longer true, Carroll said. Students in the program must now be able to live in a community setting.

The students in Secret Harbor are all from Northwest Washington, Gustafson said.

“We are saving the kids that are in our area,” she said.

Students learn skills like proper nutrition, anger management and how to apply for jobs, she said.

After the students move into the Mount Vernon and Fidalgo homes, Gustafson said the hype will die down.

“I’m confident this will work out with Sedro-Woolley,” Gustafson said. “People have concerns because they don’t know. People assume the worst.”

Secret Harbor open houses:
• Fidalgo Island: 4-7 p.m. Monday at 6076 State Route 20 (Oak Harbor spur)
• Mount Vernon: 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at 16135 McLean Road