{"id":960,"date":"2026-07-15T11:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=960"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:02:13","slug":"arkansas-knew-this-private-school-harmed-students-but-kept-sending-funds-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=960","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Knew This Private School Harmed Students but Kept Sending Funds \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Vouchers-Arkansas-Growth-social.jpg?resize=2000,1050\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Arkansas Knew This Private School Harmed Students but Kept Sending Funds \u2014 ProPublica\" title=\"Arkansas Knew This Private School Harmed Students but Kept Sending Funds \u2014 ProPublica\" \/><\/div><p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reporting-highlights\">Reporting Highlights<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Private School Abuse: <\/strong>At an Arkansas school, a boy was hit by the school\u2019s founder and attacked by classmates in a group session the founder led, prompting a complaint and her arrest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State Money Still Flows: <\/strong>Despite a jail term for the school\u2019s founder, The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain continues to operate and Arkansas still sends it public funds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unregulated and Growing: <\/strong>By design, private schools get little oversight in Arkansas even as new opportunities to receive state money have spurred a boom in openings since 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights__disclaimer\">These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At her private school just beyond the city limits of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Mary \u201cTracy\u201d Morrison demanded the attention of the 19 students seated on the floor in a circle. She then directed a skinny 13-year-old boy wearing a cartoon Mario shirt to sit in the center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaise your hand if he\u2019s ever been mean to you \u2014 ever,\u201d Morrison, the owner, prompted the other middle schoolers, and some hands shot up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people don\u2019t think you\u2019re a nice kid. You lie. You lie all the time,\u201d she told the boy. She encouraged his classmates to name things they don\u2019t like about him.<\/p>\n<p>Morrison\u2019s voice got louder. She knelt inside the circle just inches from the boy and swatted him. On the head. On the neck. At first he flinched and started to raise his hands to block her. But she snapped at him to keep his arms down: \u201cYou don\u2019t have the right!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCome over here and put your hands on him, however you want,\u201d Morrison told the students.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A boy volunteered. \u201cI\u2019ll do it,\u201d he said, and the other students cheered and clapped.<\/p>\n<p>That student entered the circle, looped his arm around the boy\u2019s neck and choked him. Morrison gave him a high-five. The boy in the center cowered. Then other students took turns slapping, pinching and punching the boy. Morrison picked up a footlong plastic cylinder \u2014 it resembled a pipe \u2014 and thwacked him over and over, calling him a liar.<\/p>\n<p>The attack went on for nearly 40 minutes. At the end, Morrison made the boy apologize to his classmates for mistreating them. Three other school employees were in the room that day in April 2025 but didn\u2019t intervene. The whole thing was captured on video.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"An Arkansas private school owner leads a \u201cgroup discussion\u201d and encourages students to hit a peer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/-zgBAYiKaYg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">An occupational therapist named Mary \u201cTracy\u201d Morrison opened a private school just outside Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 2024, after the state made public money available for families to spend on private school tuition. A \u201cgroup discussion\u201d that Morrison led, in which she encouraged other students to assault a 13-year-old boy, resulted in criminal charges and jail time.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Excerpts of video from The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain obtained by ProPublica. Faces blurred in original video.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Morrison had founded her school, The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain, the year before, soon after Arkansas legislators decided to allow families to use public money for private school tuition through its Education Freedom Account program.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Delta Institute joined a surge of new private schools in Arkansas, mirroring a national proliferation. New schools are opening at a fast clip as state legislatures set aside more public money for parents to spend at private schools, without meaningful oversight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There were about 100 private schools in Arkansas in 2023, state records show. Now there are about 220. That doesn\u2019t count the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arkansasonline.com\/news\/2025\/aug\/23\/almost-100-microschools-now-registered-in-arkansas\/\">100 or so microschools in the mix<\/a> \u2014 a version of the one-room schoolhouse that wasn\u2019t tracked or publicly funded previously.<\/p>\n<p>But even with that boom, Arkansas largely has chosen not to regulate private or microschools or monitor what\u2019s happening inside them. Arkansas is so hands-off that the state only requires that private schools conduct regular fire drills, keep immunization records and have an American flag and a flagpole. It doesn\u2019t review schools\u2019 curriculum or the backgrounds and capabilities of their operators. Anyone is free to open one, including Morrison.<\/p>\n<p>Known to parents and students as Dr. Tracy, she wasn\u2019t a licensed educator and had never run a school before. Her resume says she has a doctorate in occupational therapy and cognitive neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. The university said that degree is only in occupational therapy.<\/p>\n<p>The Delta Institute didn\u2019t look much like a school \u2014 it operated in a white colonial house set down a gravel driveway off a country road, its bedrooms transformed into classrooms. But it had seemed like the answer that parents of students with disabilities, including autism, were desperately seeking. Families said they put their faith in Morrison, who presented herself as an expert in autism and ADHD. \u201cI am the best,\u201d she texted one parent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in bb--size-small-right p-bb--size-small-right\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tell-us-about-your-experience-with-school-vouchers\">Tell Us About Your Experience With School Vouchers<\/h3>\n<p>If your child has disabilities and you\u2019ve used \u2014 or were unable to use \u2014 school voucher programs, we\u2019d like to hear about your experience.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tell us about your experience with school vouchers\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/QhmKhOTGeGk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\">Haley Clark\/ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Morrison did not respond to interview requests and questions from ProPublica.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has said she wants to be known as the education governor, and state education officials didn\u2019t respond to specific questions from ProPublica about the state\u2019s oversight of private schools or how it responded to revelations about the Delta Institute. Her spokesperson said the governor championed the state\u2019s Education Freedom Accounts because they give students more and different educational opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Both the governor\u2019s office and the Arkansas Department of Education emphasized that the state intervenes to ensure students are safe and taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly. \u201cStudent safety is ADE\u2019s number one priority,\u201d Education Department spokesperson Kaelin Clay wrote in an email.<\/p>\n<p>The day after Morrison and the children assaulted her son, the boy\u2019s mother walked into the Craighead County Sheriff\u2019s Office to write out a report in neat, looping cursive. It was not the first report about Morrison\u2019s treatment of children at the Delta Institute that the sheriff\u2019s office took.<\/p>\n<p>Another mother had reported abuse about three weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-propublica-aside bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/newsletters\/the-big-story?source=vouchers-promo\">Get alerted<\/a> when a new story in this series publishes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More Money Fuels Growth\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Before Arkansas\u2019 LEARNS Act passed in 2023, creating its voucher-style program, state schools secretary Jacob Oliva promised that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/video\/jacob-oliva-interview-part-2-0hspqa\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">there is going to be accountability for the schools that participate.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the oversight role his department gave itself was related primarily to finances. The department has the power to conduct random financial audits of private schools, mandate that the schools report their tuition and fees and require schools to measure student achievement with tests of their choosing, but little else.<\/p>\n<p>Under pressure to tweak the rules this spring, the department again declined to monitor school quality and tinkered only with how parents can use the funds on items other than tuition, banning them from paying for travel sports teams, for instance. Even that was controversial; some lawmakers argued there should be less government interference. They argue the onus is on parents to decide whether their children are safe and learning, and if they\u2019re not, the families can go somewhere else.<\/p>\n<p>This upcoming school year, Arkansas expects that nearly 55,000 students will use their Education Freedom Accounts for tuition and other expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With most students getting about $7,000 each, the program cost about $310 million in taxpayer funds this past school year. Most of the students who used EFA money in Arkansas the prior year were already attending private school or being homeschooled, or were just starting kindergarten. Only 12% of participants reported that they\u2019d previously attended a public school.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When the program began, the department set up a hotline and an email address for people to report suspected fraud or misuse of the EFA funds. About a dozen emails raised concerns about student well-being.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-callout\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group story-card is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group story-card__description is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"story-card__dek wp-block-propublica-dek\">\n\tDo you have a tip about a school? A story about using \u2014 or not being able to use \u2014 vouchers? We need your help to understand how voucher-style programs are affecting families across the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But several complainants told ProPublica that they did not hear from state officials after sharing their concerns. One teacher said she got no response after she emailed in April that students who transferred to her school had been deprived of a \u201cbasic education\u201d at the microschool they previously attended, according to state records. She said first and second graders reported that they had spent the majority of their time playing.<\/p>\n<p>Contacted by a ProPublica reporter, she said: \u201cI don\u2019t mind that you are reaching out but it is very concerning and in a way aggravating that I have an investigative reporter reaching out instead of my own state.\u201d She requested that her name not be made public because she works at a different microschool.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jazzmin Little said she hasn\u2019t heard back from state officials either, after telling them in February that the school where she sent her two children might be misusing state funds. The department told her it would review the information, according to emails, but she said she heard nothing more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll kinds of red flags I sent to them and they never got back to me,\u201d Little said. \u201cI don\u2019t even know if anyone has looked at it.\u201d The school\u2019s founder confirmed that the Education Department did not reach out to her after receiving the parent\u2019s complaint, which she described as a billing discrepancy. She said the issue would have been resolved sooner if the state had intervened.<\/p>\n<p>In order to accept EFA money, private schools have to agree to meet some requirements, including that they have or are seeking accreditation, have operated for a year and promise to perform background checks and fingerprinting on all employees. (There\u2019s no requirement that employees have no criminal history.) Schools affirm they\u2019ll teach English, math, science and social studies and administer a standardized test of their choosing once a year. There\u2019s no requirement to report students\u2019 individual test scores to the state or to parents.<\/p>\n<p>The bar is lower for microschools, some of which operate like smaller versions of private schools while others provide programs for homeschoolers. They don\u2019t need to be accredited or wait until they\u2019ve been open for a year to get funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The contrast with what is required for public schools is striking. Arkansas\u2019 Education Department monitors public schools, and state law regulates nearly every aspect of them, from teacher qualifications to what\u2019s on district websites. Every district is required to post a tranche of \u201cstate-required information\u201d online that must include breakdowns of monthly expenses and even a list of every dyslexia intervention program used.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Bryan King, a Republican, said he supports school choice but said he voted against the LEARNS Act because there wasn\u2019t enough accountability given the amount of public spending. He proposed legislation this spring that would have required all schools receiving EFA funds to administer the same standardized test \u2014 and for funding to be tied to student performance on that exam.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t afford this and my concerns were about financial responsibility, accountability, transparency, everything about it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The proposal did not advance. King was attacked in the primary this year for being against \u201ceducation freedom,\u201d and Sanders backed his opponent. King still prevailed.<\/p>\n<p>None of the legislators who were the lead sponsors of the LEARNS Act responded to questions from ProPublica about how the state is overseeing student achievement and safety.<\/p>\n<p>Several Arkansas groups recently tried <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forarkids.org\/the-ballotmeasure-polling\">to get an amendment on the November ballot<\/a> that would require all schools that accept EFA funds to follow the same rules and minimum academic requirements as public schools. The groups, however, failed to gather enough signatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are going to take public money, then you should meet public standards and be publicly accountable for how that money is spent,\u201d said Bill Kopsky, executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, a nonprofit that was formed in the 1960s and focuses on social justice.<\/p>\n<p>He said the state\u2019s recent voucher expansion has led to \u201cthis whole new industry of pop-up, subprime private schools that have almost no regulation. They go into shopping malls or the basements of churches,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the three years of the EFA program, the state has only intervened at two schools, records show. And it\u2019s never permanently blocked a school from taking public money, including at the Delta Institute \u2014 even after it became clear that terrible things had happened there.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cYou Are in the Biggest Trouble\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Craighead County Sheriff\u2019s Detective David Bailey, a Jonesboro native who patrolled the area often, didn\u2019t even know there was a school set back off the country road.<\/p>\n<p>He discovered the Delta Institute in the winter of 2025 after a student ran off and the school asked for help finding him. He didn\u2019t know it at the time, but police and child-welfare records show the boy had allegedly fled after Morrison sprayed him in the face with water and held his legs down. He jumped out a window, barefoot, to get away.<\/p>\n<p>The Craighead County Sheriff\u2019s Office encountered the school again in March 2025 when Renee Johns, whose children Jacob and Addison went to the Delta Institute, reported abuse there.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Johns had moved her family to Jonesboro from about an hour away to attend the school. But things had unraveled. Jacob wasn\u2019t getting the therapy he needed, and he and his sister were falling behind academically. But Johns said she was most troubled by a video Morrison had texted her one day to explain why Jacob was being kept after school.<\/p>\n<p>It showed Jacob, a 10-year-old with autism, and two other boys scrubbing the floor and walls inside the school with rags. Morrison berated them: \u201cThis doesn\u2019t get to be about fun. Go!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth hands, cleaning!\u201d she barked like a drill sergeant to one boy on his hands and knees. \u201cYou\u2019re working like a slug! Get at it! Get at it! You are in the biggest trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio bb--size-small-left p-bb--size-small-left\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Private school owner forces students to scrub floors and walls as punishment\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/a839EyxEU5E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The owner of an Arkansas private school is heard berating students while they scrub floors and walls. The owner sent the video to a student\u2019s mother to explain why the boy was being kept after school.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Obtained and redacted by ProPublica. Two of the children\u2019s names and faces are redacted to protect their identities.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The sheriff\u2019s office alerted child-welfare authorities. Then, three weeks later, a second mother walked in to report her son\u2019s assault within the circle at school. Bailey got a warrant for that video.<\/p>\n<p>Teacher and counselor Ashley Williams was standing by while another employee copied the footage of Morrison berating, hitting and directing other students to assault the 13-year-old boy. Horrified, she excused herself, hustled down the stairs of the house, out to the gravel parking area, and vomited.<\/p>\n<p>Less than 12 hours earlier, Williams had filed a detailed report with welfare authorities based on what some students had told her about Morrison\u2019s \u201ccircle time.\u201d She had written, \u201cThis is not the first time abuse like this has happened.\u201d Months earlier, she continued, Morrison had taped two children together by their arms.<\/p>\n<p>More came out in Bailey\u2019s interviews with parents and current and former employees and in interviews that child advocates conducted with the students, documents show: allegations of \u201cwaterboarding\u201d a child and cutting another\u2019s hair as punishment. Slapping a student. A wooden paddle named Fred.<\/p>\n<p>Some parents, meanwhile, defended Morrison and praised her \u201cunorthodox methods,\u201d according to interviews and police records.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Morrison worked to keep parents on her side. She texted a large group of staff members, some whose children attended the school, to say she had made a mistake during the \u201cgroup discussion\u201d but blamed the violence on the students.<\/p>\n<p>She warned that the floor-scrubbing video she had sent Johns would likely be made public and that she and the other employees would be arrested. \u201cYou can expect our mug shots on social media,\u201d Morrison said, and apologized for letting everyone down. But she also called it a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mug shot will have me with a middle finger,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Flimsy Investigations<\/h3>\n<p>Within days of the April 2025 incident that the prosecutor called a \u201cmakeshift \u2018Fight Club,\u2019\u201d Morrison was charged with 11 felony counts of permitting child abuse and other related crimes. Three other employees were charged with permitting child abuse and failure to report child maltreatment.<\/p>\n<p>The day news broke about Morrison\u2019s arrest, the state Education Department stopped EFA payments to the Delta Institute. Nearly half the students there were using the EFA program to pay tuition, and the school had collected more than $300,000 so far.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are no records of a visit to the school or an investigation by the state Department of Education. When asked if the department had gone to The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain, officials did not answer. Instead, a spokesperson said that complaints or suspicious activity triggers a review and \u201coften results in a site visit,\u201d though they declined to say how often that has happened.<\/p>\n<p>Reporters again asked the department directly if it had visited the school. The spokesperson responded: \u201cWe have addressed the Developing Brain\u2019s suspension from the EFA program multiple times, including in statements sent to your outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Delta, public money flowed again two days after it was stopped. An assistant education commissioner who oversees the EFA program told a colleague he was convinced that the school had implemented \u201cappropriate safeguards,\u201d according to an email. He wrote that Morrison had resigned as the head of the school and a new school board had been formed.<\/p>\n<p>In the three school years of the EFA program, records show, state education officials have temporarily suspended funding to one other school, a Christian-based microschool called Homestead Academy that focuses on outdoor and individualized education. It rents space from a church near Hot Springs. Outside, there\u2019s a playground and hammocks, as well as a red-and-white striped shed painted with \u201cIn God we trust\u201d where fireworks are sold in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Over a month last fall, the state got a series of concerning calls and emails from parents and at least one former teacher, records show.<\/p>\n<p>Some shared safety concerns or described children playing unsupervised in a wooded area. Others shared concerns about insufficient academic instruction. One caller said Homestead felt more like a daycare than an organized school. In the first few months of the school year, 13 of the 46 students withdrew, state records show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease stop\u201d funding the school, one parent pleaded.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"501\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A U.S. flag planted in a green lawn waves in the foreground in front of a white building with a small steeple.\" class=\"wp-image-86872\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=556,371 556w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1112,741 1112w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260627-Adkins-Vouchers-111-1.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Homestead Academy, a microschool in Pearcy, Arkansas. Despite complaints from parents and a former teacher, the school still receives state funding.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Katie Adkins for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Oliva, the state education secretary, heard directly from a Homestead parent who said the school did not follow a curriculum and had not adhered to the education plan for her daughter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are there not stronger regulations and accountability measures for EFA-funded programs?\u201d she wrote in bold letters. (The parent asked that her name not be used because she works in education and fears retaliation.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis sounds like a serious and dire situation,\u201d Oliva wrote back to her. \u201cWe will review immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A state education employee reached out to Homestead\u2019s owner in late October and told her that the department would be stopping by the next day for a \u201cbrief visit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While there, Education Department employees watched students say the Pledge of Allegiance and then observed 10 to 15 minutes of instruction before meeting with owner Lindsey McCollum.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When asked for student work, progress reports and discipline policies, McCollum said she would send them later. \u201cIn hindsight, we should have said we were happy to wait while they made copies for us, but we did not,\u201d according to an employee\u2019s written report about the visit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Afterward, the state suspended EFA funding to the school. Oliva told McCollum in a letter: \u201cYour actions have jeopardized the welfare of students and the responsible use of public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It took 10 weeks for EFA funds to flow again. The state required that McCollum provide certain documentation and was satisfied by her response: a financial review of the school, policies on student supervision, curriculum plans and student worksheets. Several parents also sent letters in support of the school, describing it as a nurturing environment where their students enjoyed learning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were compliant and transparent,\u201d McCollum said in an interview. She noted that both she and the other teacher at the school are certified educators and stressed that \u201cstudent safety is of utmost importance and our school has procedures in place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The school, she said, is almost entirely funded through the EFA program, with about 30 students from kindergarten to ninth grade. She said almost all students have returned year after year. \u201cFamilies have the option to choose and still are choosing us,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have families who know that their kids who hated learning are now loving to read and write and loving to learn,\u201d McCollum said. \u201cThat is our heartbeat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The state Education Department said it \u201cwastes no time\u201d in suspending private schools from receiving public money, and that both Homestead and Delta convinced the state that they were worthy of being reinstated. \u201cIn both instances, we worked vigorously to ensure operations were flipped in the right direction before families were allowed to spend taxpayer dollars on either school,\u201d according to the department\u2019s statement to ProPublica.<\/p>\n<p>The parent who emailed Oliva said that she had enrolled her 10-year-old daughter at Homestead hoping for something different than the public school. But she said her daughter fell behind academically. Last fall, she pulled her from the school and reenrolled her in public school.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She didn\u2019t know that the state had restored funding to Homestead until told by a reporter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo way,\u201d she said. \u201cThis has to be happening with other microschools. That upsets me for the children of Arkansas.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Still Open for Business<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-large p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"821\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?w=1149\" alt=\"A white, two-story colonial-style building with multiple pillars and a balcony. A grey car is parked beside the building. Trees cast shadows on the dirt driveway.\" class=\"wp-image-86873\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=300,214 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=768,549 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1024,731 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1536,1097 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=2048,1463 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=863,616 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=422,301 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=552,394 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=558,399 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=527,376 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=752,537 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1149,821 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=556,397 556w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1112,794 1112w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=2000,1429 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=400,286 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=800,571 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1200,857 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0009.jpg?resize=1600,1143 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain. The founder, Mary \u201cTracy\u201d Morrison, was jailed for permitting child abuse.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Houston Cofield for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Enrollment at the Delta school dropped to about 60 students for last school year, about half the size it was the year before.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lot of loss because of the negative media,\u201d Adrian Sportsman, who has worked closely with Morrison at the school, said when a ProPublica reporter visited this spring. \u201cI feel like it was blown way out of proportion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some students came back, she said: \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018There\u2019s no school like this school.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In March, the mother of the boy who was assaulted in the circle at school sued Morrison, her school, her therapy business and her insurance companies seeking compensatory and punitive damages for what happened to her son. In court filings, Morrison\u2019s attorney denied the allegations and said \u201cthe video speaks for itself.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The criminal cases were set to go to trial in May and June. None did. Charges were dismissed for two employees who authorities felt were less culpable as they\u2019d been in the classroom only briefly. The two employees did not respond to a reporter\u2019s outreach.<\/p>\n<p>A third staffer, Kathrine Lipscomb, who is an Arkansas-licensed teacher, interjected at times to direct the children to listen to Morrison and raise their hands to speak. In response to a reporter\u2019s question about her role in the incident, she explained in an email: \u201cFor part of the time, I was off behind the teachers desk planning for another class and not paying attention to the circle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor and Lipscomb agreed to a pre-trial diversion program in which Lipscomb would serve six months of probation. She must do 40 hours of community service with disabled children and complete anger management classes to avoid a conviction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She is now director of education at the school.<\/p>\n<p>Morrison pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 120 days on house arrest and five years of probation. She had to surrender her Arkansas occupational therapy license. And she agreed to not work with kids in any professional capacity during her probation.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody seemed happy with Morrison\u2019s punishment. But the prosecutor said the state decided the plea deal was the best option to make sure Morrison was held accountable. Under Arkansas law, the state would have to prove substantial physical harm to the victim in order to convict on a charge of permitting abuse to a minor, and juries can judge that differently, said Sonia Hagood, who prosecuted the case for the state. For instance, she said, a recent jury decided not to convict a defendant because the victim did not suffer serious physical injury.<\/p>\n<p>As part of her deal, Morrison got to pick where she served her time \u2014 the Greene County Detention Center, which is newer than Craighead County\u2019s jail and gave her a private cell. And she\u2019s serving house arrest on her boyfriend\u2019s Missouri ranch, where she can ride horses.<\/p>\n<p>She passed the time while incarcerated on the phone and on video calls from a personal tablet. It\u2019s standard for all communication from jail to be recorded, and ProPublica obtained more than 500 recordings. They show she was still involved with the administration of the school while jailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She spoke frequently to Sportsman about school finances, including telling her to make sure the EFA money still was coming in. Sportsman, who owns Delta Therapy Group, the occupational therapy practice that works with Delta Institute students, said that the jail conversations were \u201cinformal conversations between friends\u201d and disputed the idea that Morrison was running the school while incarcerated.<\/p>\n<p>Morrison chatted for hours with her new board members and school employees and gave them to-do lists. She asked how some kids were doing. In a call with the teacher who also entered a plea deal, she called the victim\u2019s mother \u201cevil\u201d for going to the police.<\/p>\n<p>She also spoke with a documentary filmmaker who is interested in the school\u2019s story and plans to pitch a project to a big streamer, like Netflix or HBO. In one call with the documentarian, Morrison described the abuse she\u2019d been jailed for as a \u201crestorative\u201d technique to try to help the children treat one another more respectfully.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Private school founder Mary \u201cTracy\u201d Morrison speaks with a documentary filmmaker from jail\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/8CfhTtTczCw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Mary \u201cTracy\u201d Morrison was jailed for permitting child abuse at her school, The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain. In a video call with documentary filmmaker Alysia Sofios from jail, Morrison explained her goal in conducting the \u201cgroup discussion\u201d with students.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Obtained by ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt was never about, like, \u2018Go hit him,\u2019 right?\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cAnd the concept is so sophisticated that it\u2019s like, if the prosecuting attorney wanted to know my story, if the detective \u2014 they would\u2019ve interviewed me. They would have couched it like, \u2018Oh, this is an intervention of individuals who are high risk, who will end up in prison themselves if they behave this way.\u2019 They didn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both the prosecutor and detective tried to interview Morrison during the investigation but she refused to speak with them.<\/p>\n<p>Morrison was released from jail June 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she should be prevented from teaching anywhere in the United States of America and having children around if she\u2019s going to try to influence them the way she did,\u201d Bailey, the detective on the case, said. \u201cIf we can\u2019t protect our kids, who can we protect?<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Latest Complaint<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s nothing in state law that prevents Morrison from still owning Delta or another private school and benefiting from public funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Records still list Morrison\u2019s family business as the owner of the Delta Institute property. State business records also show that she still is the registered agent for a private school at the same address. The school recently took a new name: North Star Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lipscomb said the school\u2019s board changed the name \u201cas part of the process of healing for our community of families and students that are here and still trying to make sense of the world as we know it now.\u201d Lipscomb said Morrison has \u201czero involvement\u201d with the school right now.<\/p>\n<p>She said she expects as many as 35 students to attend this upcoming school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Renee Johns said Jacob has never recovered from his traumatic time at the Delta school. He has grown increasingly aggressive. He\u2019s used martial arts moves that the school taught children in lieu of P.E. to punch holes in the wall of her home and lash out at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her daughter, Addison, returned to public school. She loves her new school, but was so far behind that she needed to repeat third grade. \u201cSchool is for helping, not for hurting,\u201d the 10-year-old recently told a ProPublica reporter.<\/p>\n<p>Johns said parents who chose Morrison\u2019s school and went along with her methods were sold lies. \u201cWe honestly thought we were doing the best for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"940\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A woman with long blonde hair blowing in the wind faces the camera and stares off into the distance. She wears a white knit sweater, a silver necklace and silver hoop earrings. Out-of-focus plants appear behind her against a blue sky.\" class=\"wp-image-86876\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg 3200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=240,300 240w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=768,960 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=819,1024 819w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1229,1536 1229w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1638,2048 1638w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=863,1079 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=422,528 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=552,690 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=558,698 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=527,659 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=752,940 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1149,1436 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=556,695 556w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1112,1390 1112w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1280,1600 1280w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=400,500 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=800,1000 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1200,1500 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=1600,2000 1600w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/26-HC-DELTAINSTITUTE-ProPublica-0007.jpg?resize=2000,2500 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Renee Johns says she regrets sending her two children to Morrison\u2019s school.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Houston Cofield for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The public keeps filing complaints about private and microschools with the Education Department. In late March it received a new request to investigate The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain. It came from a woman who had heard concerning reports from a family with a child at the school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the population served by this program, ensuring a safe, structured, and educationally appropriate environment is especially important. I would greatly appreciate your office\u2019s attention to reviewing these concerns,\u201d the woman wrote to the state\u2019s hotline.<\/p>\n<p>Lipscomb said she\u2019s not aware of any active complaints. The state won\u2019t comment on whether it\u2019s investigating.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-callout\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group story-card is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group story-card__description is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"story-card__dek wp-block-propublica-dek\">\n\tHave you had trouble finding a school or using a voucher-style program? Do you have concerns about schools \u2014 public or private \u2014 in your area? Help us understand how families across the country are navigating their school options.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reporting Highlights Private School Abuse: At an Arkansas school, a boy was hit by the school\u2019s founder and attacked by classmates in a group session the founder led, prompting a complaint and her arrest. State Money Still Flows: Despite a jail term for the school\u2019s founder, The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain continues to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Vouchers-Arkansas-Growth-social.jpg?resize=2000,1050","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1986,1264,1989,1987,1988,81,322,1990,324],"class_list":["post-960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-arkansas","tag-funds","tag-harmed","tag-knew","tag-private","tag-propublica","tag-school","tag-sending","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}