The Delta Institute for the Developing Brain, a private school located in a rural white colonial house in Craighead County, Arkansas, became the focus of a ProPublica investigation after reports surfaced of student abuse. Journalist Jennifer Smith Richards visited the school on July 24, 2026, seeking to understand the circumstances surrounding an assault on a student that occurred a year earlier.

Inside the school, Richards observed preteens in hammock chairs and noted security cameras in the foyer and classrooms, which were crucial for capturing video evidence of the assault. However, as a private institution, the Delta Institute was not subject to the same public records transparency as public schools, limiting access to incident reports, emails, and videos.

The investigation revealed that the Arkansas Department of Education had not investigated or visited the Delta Institute, even after police arrested the school's founder. The founder had sent a video to Renee Johns, whose 10-year-old autistic son was a student, explaining why her son was being kept after school on the day of the incident.

The founder described her intervention method as a "sophisticated" restorative group discussion aimed at guiding students at risk of criminal behavior, insisting it was never about encouraging violence. Despite this, David Bailey, the detective on the case, strongly condemned her actions, stating, “I think she should be prevented from teaching anywhere in the United States of America and having children around if she’s going to try to influence them the way she did. If we can’t protect our kids, who can we protect?”

This investigation underscores concerns about oversight in private schools and the protection of vulnerable students, particularly those with autism and other neurodivergent conditions.

Sources