Christian school is moving to KC — to site near 13 sex offenders: ‘Blindsiding’
Board members of a local Christian school are knowingly choosing to relocate to a site surrounded by more than a dozen registered sex offenders, according to a parent with children who attend.
The school board did not tell parents that 13 sex offenders live or work near the new location before announcing the upcoming move, Katie Fetzer said, and board members of Blue Ridge Christian School have dismissed her concerns and moved ahead with the plan.
“They’ve hunkered down,” said Fetzer, founder of a nonprofit aimed at preventing and stopping child sex abuse and exploitation. “The parents have not been publicly notified that their children and school are going to be within the range of sex offenders.
“Sex abuse is everywhere. This is in our backyards. We’ve got to pull our heads out of the sand.”
The private school with about 80 students from kindergarten through 12th grade will move from its two sites in Belton and Raymore to 8524 Blue Ridge Blvd. in Kansas City, the board recently told parents. The new location, the board said, will allow the school to consolidate all the students into one building instead of housing lower grades in Belton and upper grades in Raymore.
School board chairman Barry Watts told The Star that “the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.”
“As part of our due diligence in evaluating potential sites, we considered a number of factors, including the safety of the surrounding area,” Watts said in an email. “Unfortunately, schools in every community are grappling with an issue that cannot be eliminated.”
Watts, who is pastor at Southview Christian Church in Grandview, said the school “is being intentional and proactive to mitigate any security risks.”
“We are confident that the comprehensive safety measures we have in place at our new location at 8524 Blue Ridge Blvd. will provide a safe and secure environment for our school community,” he wrote. “We’ve communicated openly with our families throughout this process, including offering multiple opportunities for input and feedback. We remain available to answer any questions or concerns from our school community as we move forward.”
Board says relocating is God’s will
In a Feb. 26 message to parents announcing the plan, the board said that “although we realize not everyone will be in complete agreement with the relocation decision, we believe that this is what God would have us do at this point in time.”
“Since 1968, the Lord has used this school to change the lives of countless students,” it said. “We believe this move is in the best interest of the school both in the short and long term, and we are confident that God is going to continue to do mighty things through Blue Ridge Christian School.”
The board had sent a survey to parents on Feb. 5, saying the school had the opportunity to return to the original building that it had left nearly nine years earlier and asking for their feedback. The school had moved to Belton and then to another Belton location before being split into two campuses.
The new site would be back on the campus of Grace Baptist Church of Greater Kansas City, and the school would be leasing space from the church, the board told parents. The location also houses Carver Baptist Bible College, Institute and Theological Seminary.
In its Feb. 26 note to parents, the Blue Ridge Christian School Board said that more than 70% of families and more than 80% of teachers were in favor of the move. But parents didn’t know about the registered sex offenders, Fetzer said, and at an informational meeting about the plan on Feb. 27, they weren’t allowed to ask questions. Instead, she said, they were told to write down their questions and put them in a box and someone would get back to them.
“When they handled the meeting the way that they did, my antenna went up,” Fetzer said. “So then that’s when I started to dig.”
Fetzer, who is also the advocacy director of the CARE Group, a legal nonprofit that represents victims of clergy sexual abuse and exploitation, found that 13 registered sex offenders live or work near the proposed school site. Two of them live within 1,000 feet of the property, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Sex Offender Registry. That would be less than one-fifth of a mile.
The other sex offenders live or work within 3,000 feet of the school. A query by The Star came up with the same results.
Missouri law prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a public or private school. But a spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol, which maintains the state’s sex offender database, said those living near Blue Ridge Christian School’s new site would not have to move.
That’s because the Missouri statute also says that if an offender has already established a residence and a school is subsequently placed within 1,000 feet of that residence, the offender shall notify the sheriff in that county within one week of the school’s opening. The offender also must provide proof to the sheriff that they lived there before the school opened.
On March 9, Fetzer sent an email to Head of School Sherri Moore raising the issue, telling her that “to say that I am concerned is an understatement.”
“Not only would I be negligent as a parent not to bring this up, but I would also be negligent as someone who has advocated for exploited children for nearly a decade,” Fetzer wrote. “I have seen firsthand the results of decisions to disregard risk and turn a blind eye. I hope to hear a strong response from the board regarding this serious matter.”
“It’s been totally heartbreaking”
But instead of taking action and informing parents, Fetzer said, the board dismissed her concerns, saying it was confident in its safety plans and putting its trust in the Lord.
“Unfortunately, safety and security challenges are not unique, specific or limited to certain locations or demographics,” the board said in a March 18 response to Fetzer.
“Every school in every community is faced with grappling with issues resulting from a sinful world. We believe the Lord is leading the school in this direction, and we are trusting His wisdom, protection, and provision to make Blue Ridge Christian School a healthy, thriving, and safe place to educate those most precious in His sight.”
Fetzer said her four children, who are ages 5 to 16, won’t be returning to the school this fall. She loves the school and the teachers but worries that children won’t be safe at the new site.
“It’s been totally heartbreaking, because the teachers there are phenomenal,” she said. “My kids thrived at the school this year. It’s the school board that is choosing to handle it this way.”
Fetzer said she toured the school last spring when she was considering enrolling her children there. She said she asked a former administrator what policies and procedures were in place to protect children.
“And her response was, ‘Well, we don’t have that problem here.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s a problem for me.’ I’m not going to enroll my kids in any school that has that kind of response. So I walked.”
Later, she said, Moore contacted her and asked why she had decided not to enroll her children there. When Fetzer explained, she said Moore told her that the school had been looking into resources on how to protect children. Fetzer told Moore that her former organization, Empower the Fight, conducted prevention and safeguard training for schools and churches in the community.
“And so they actually had the nonprofit come in and do safeguard training before the school year,” said Fetzer, who did not conduct the training. “That was the only reason why I agreed for my kids to go there, was because they were embracing safeguarding procedures. They seemed like it was a really important priority to them. So that’s another level of why this decision was so blindsiding.”
Fetzer said she decided to go public with her concerns in hopes of educating people to be vigilant about ensuring children’s safety.
“This whole thing, that we’re just going to trust God and pray for his protection, we’ve heard this song and dance so many different times,” she said. “And I know of cases and situations in other Christian schools where parents just turned a blind eye.
“These kids are vulnerable, and awareness is all about unmasking the scheme. This is in the churches you love, in the schools that you love and in the board of directors you’ve put all your trust in. This is not a world away.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
