“Why did you take us in if you guys knew and you guys planned that the school was going to close? How is that fair to us?” Stone Academy student Jazlynn Castillo said.
Castillo enrolled in the academy's nursing program this past December.
“I was excited. Now I’m not. What is there to be excited about anymore?” she said.
Others were just months away from the finish line.
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“We can’t start over. We’re done with class. All we need now are the clinical hours,” student Judyann Campbell said.
Now, Stone Academy’s closure has many feeling devastated and even betrayed by the lack of transparency regarding compliance issues uncovered by the state back in July.
“I feel betrayed because I’m giving you my money and my time to be able to come to this school so you guys can teach me, and you can’t even do it correctly,” student Leah Kardulis said.
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Among those violations include invalid reports of clinical hours, sub-standard test scores, sparse attendance and under-certified instructors.
According to Connecticut’s Office of Higher Education, roughly 20% of Stone Academy’s staff were not qualified to teach in the practical nursing program.
“They’ve been dealing with this for months, they said, so why would you not let us know that there are issues going on?” Kardulis said.
After the school did not address the concerns raised in July, the Office of Higher Education sent a letter to the school back on Jan. 26, calling for an audit of the school, and for new enrollment to be suspended.
“It’s unacceptable the behavior that they’ve been putting forward,” said Executive Director of the Office of Higher Education Tim Larson said.
Laron’s office said Stone Academy agreed to the terms, but about a week later, the school announced it would be shutting its doors, leaving their students searching for answers.
The Office of Higher Education said it will help guide students with transfer and refund options after reviewing individual records.
“There are other schools in the state where they may be able to convert those transcripts or they may want their money back, and we’ll make sure what they’re entitled to, they get back,” Larson said.
Part of those refunds may include the direct federal loans, depending on disbursement dates to the students.
For those wishing to continue, Stone Academy told its students that existing financial plans may be accepted at other institutions.
“I’m not going to let this derail me. You can’t let one little bump in the road stop you. That’s just not how it is,” said one student, hoping to continue at another school.
Stone Academy did not respond to requests for comment at the time of this story’s publishing.
More information on closed school discharge on federal loans can be found here.
