After many years of being bulletproof from accountability, F.L. Beam’s mean and abusive behavior to his inmates finally caught up with him. As I recall, a mentally ill inmate Beam had digging a grave angered Beam, so Beam beat him to death with a shovel. F.L. Beam, despite all his political connections, had gone too far this time. Beam was charged, convicted and went to prison. By now an old man, Beam died in prison as I remember.
When I read in the Shelby Star a few months back about the new Shooting Range having bullets ricocheting out of the range endangering neighbors. The Range hired the mentally handicapped folks (many graduates of North Shelby School) from Cleveland Vocational Industries, Inc. to pick up rocks at the range. Shooting Range Director Sam Lockridge was quoted as saying it was a “win-win situation.” That reminded me of the F.L. Beam situation. It also indicated to me that taking unfair advantage of the mentally challenged and handicapped students and handicapped people still exists in Cleveland County. Including the new North Shelby School Project where the Star headlined the ground breaking ceremony Sunday February 26, 2017. The Ground Breaking was just as phony as well as many other things associated with the new North Shelby School project. Read on. You will probably get mad.
Back to the time line:
F.L. Beam’s “rest home” situation, while sad that a mentally ill man was beaten to death and Beam went to prison, didn’t have much of an effect on the mentally and physically challenged in Cleveland County or North Carolina. What got the attention in Cleveland County was the son of a friend of mine who was deaf. There was no facility or program in Cleveland County, or Shelby School System for the deaf boy. The school system wasn’t about to start one and told my friend so in no uncertain terms. My friend decided to take what actions were necessary and when the talking ran out, she took Shelby Schools to Court. And won BIG! The Courts ruled Shelby Schools would implement a program for the deaf and Shelby Schools were smart enough to implement one.
These and other legal actions, probably more than anything else taught the schools in Cleveland County a lesson. They had to start programs for deaf students. Other handicaps and other court orders from other cases made them take action there as well. Actions that they did not intend to do otherwise. I have come to the conclusion that you can’t complain enough to the leaders in Cleveland County to make them do what is right. Only legal actions and elections get their attention. More information about that in other articles.
So, all of this is the reason a North Shelby School was started. Tragic abuse of the mentally and physically handicapped resulted in jail time for some, successful lawsuits by others. Brotherly love mattered very little. And, in reality, it still matters little.
These court orders required schools in Cleveland County to initiate educational plans for the mentally and physically handicapped student. The school boards decided, as they usually do, to herd all “these people” into one place. So, did the school boards in Cleveland County build a “special school” for these special students because it was the right thing to do?? Oh no. County schools had gotten rid of all their old black school property but Shelby Schools had not. So, a poorly constructed and poorly maintained old black school was fixed up a little and cleaned up a little and renamed the North Shelby School.
