A child-advocacy nonprofit is opposed to the state allowing the former Glen Mills School to reopen, writes Robert Moran for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Glen Mills school was closed and its license revoked following a 2019 child abuse and cover-up scandal.

“Glen Mills was a dangerous facility that closed for a reason, and now has been rebranded and relicensed with the same leadership and staff and monitored by the same state agency that failed to detect rampant abuse,” stated Children First, previously known as Public Citizens for Children and Youth.

A settlement last month with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services allows the Clock Tower Schools a provisional license to initially operate a residential treatment program for 20 court-ordered boys.

Clock Tower is paying for an on-campus, independent monitor. DHS will provide extra oversight during the provisional period.

Clock Tower was created in 2021, run by a longtime Glen Mills executive, Christopher Spriggs.

The settlement allows Spriggs and seven former staff members from the Glen Mills era to work at Clock Tower.

A DHS spokesman said there is an acute need for juvenile facilities in Pennsylvania.

Read more about opposition to the opening of a school at the former Glen Mills school property in The Philadelphia Inquirer.